Peru has an amazing variety of places to visit, from exotic jungle and the Andes mountains, to coastal deserts, giving lots of potential for adventure. Wherever you go, Peru’s vibrant Andean culture, one of the most exciting in the Americas, will brighten your travels: tucked-away highland towns explode into colour on market day, and local fiestas are celebrated with unbridled enthusiasm. This wonderful tourist potential is thanks to a rich heritage drawing upon the Inca Empire and its fabulous archeological gems, the monumental adobe temples and pre-Inca ruins along the desert coast and of course the magical Machu Picchu.

Peru can claim the highest tropical mountain range in the world, along with one of the best preserved areas of virgin Amazon rainforest and remarkably diverse wildlife, with sights such as jaguars slinking through the jungle, caimans sunning themselves on riverbanks and dazzling macaws. If you’re after an adrenaline boost, there’s a host of outdoor activities available, from trekking and whitewater rafting to paragliding and hurtling through the desert on dune-buggy rides.

But perhaps you’re after something more restful? On the culinary front, Peru is one of the world’s hotspots, with Lima in particular offering an array of exotic tastes to appeal to curious palates, as well as a laidback, vibrant dining scene, ranging from backstreet cevicherías to gourmet restaurants. In the big cities, you can expect buzzing nightlife too. Peruvians are always very welcoming to visitors and there is always enough time for a chat, a ceviche, or another drink. The resourceful and open-minded traveller can break through barriers of class, race and language relatively easily. Even the Amazon jungle region – nearly two-thirds of the country’s landmass, but home to a mere fraction of its population – is accessible for the most part, with countless tour operators on hand to organize trips to even the furthest-flung corners.

Your arrival in Peru is most likely to be at the elegant capital, Lima; a modern city which effortlessly blends the traditional Peruvian heritage with twenty-first-century glitz. Cusco is perhaps the most obvious place to head from here. A beautiful and bustling colonial city, it was once the ancient heart of the Inca Empire, and is surrounded by some of the most spectacular mountain landscapes and palatial ruins in Peru. The world-famous Inca Trail, which culminates at the lofty, fog-shrouded citadel of Machu Picchu, is just one of several equally scenic and challenging treks in this region of Peru alone.

Along the coast, south of Lima are the bizarre Nasca Lines, which have mystified since their discovery some seventy years ago, as well as the vast Reserva Nacional Paracas, dense with wildlife, and the oasis resort of Huacachina, which offers both relaxation and white-knuckle thrills. If that sounds too active, you could always duck away to spend a day lazily sipping wine at the many Ica Valley bodegas.

North of Lima lie the great adobe city of Chan Chan and the Valley of the Pyramids. The surfing hangouts of Puerto Chicama and trendy Máncora beach are big draws along this stretch, but almost all of the coastal towns come replete with superb beaches, plentiful nightlife and great food.

For high mountains and long-distance treks, head for the stunning glacial lakes, snowy peaks and little-known ruins of the sierra north of Lima, particularly the ice-capped mountains and their valleys around Huaraz, but also the more gentle hills, attractive villages and ancient sites in the regions of Cajamarca and Chachapoyas. The central sierra is crammed with tradition and stunning colonial architecture, at its peak in Ayacucho and Huancayo; the region around Tarma is also worth exploring, offering a variety of landscapes, from jungles and caves to waterfalls and stupendous terraced valleys.

For wildlife enthusiasts, there’s plenty to see almost everywhere, but the jungle provides startling opportunities for close and exotic encounters. Whether you’re enjoying a tourist lodge or river excursion, the fauna and flora of the world’s largest tropical forest can be experienced first-hand here more easily than in any other Amazon-rim country. Not far from Iquitos, the Reserva Nacional Pacaya-Samiria is a remote and stunningly beautiful, though little-visited region; while close to Cusco, just below the cloud forest, the Manu Biosphere Reserve is another wildlife hotspot. Further towards the Bolivian and Brazilian jungle frontier, the Reserva Nacional Tambopata holds some of the most exciting jungle and varied wildlife in the world.

Title Image Credit: McKay Savage (Image Cropped)