Lima, founded by Francisco Pizarro in 1535, is a fascinating city and a treasure trove of history. Explore ancient Incan archeological sites, or stroll through the elegant cathedrals and opulent palaces dating from Spanish colonial times. Downtown Lima is crowded, but you'll enjoy exploring the city's neighborhoods—especially the beachfront areas, which have great shopping and dining and fabulous hotels.

Incan majesty and Andean baroque exist side-by-side in Cusco's stone streets, epitomized by the Qoriacancha palace and the church of Santo Domingo flanking the Plaza de Armas. In this high-altitude melting pot of Amerindian and mestizo culture, you'll find extraordinary textiles, lively summer festivals and archeological wonders.

In Mancora, it’s all about the beach. Calm Pocitas Beach is a great place to soak up some sun, float serenely in a natural swimming pool or simply stroll the beautiful shoreline. Vichayito Beach is great for diving and kitesurfing, while the South Beach bustles with vendors, surfers and rowdy tourists. Book a guided adventure tour to visit nearby waterfalls and mud baths, or book a motorbike or horseback ride to explore the beaches and back roads.

In Peru's second-most populous city, aka "The White City," stunning colonial buildings made of pearly sillar stone vie for attention with the surrounding volcanoes and snow-capped peaks of the western Andes. Founded in 1540, it's a smorgasbord of mansions and museums. The top attraction, 215,000-square-foot Santa Catalina Monastery, is like its own city within a city, complete with fountains and cobblestone streets. Arequipa is the favorite base for visiting Colca Canyon and its massive condors.

Peru’s Aguas Calientes offers weary travelers the chance to soak in thermal baths and browse for artisan souvenirs before (or after) using the town as a gateway to Machu Picchu. Its remote location deep in the Urubamba Valley is accessible to tourists only by train.

MUSEO LARCO OPENS FROM 9AM TO 10PM, DAILY. The Museo Larco is housed in an exquisite 18th century vice-royal mansion, built over a 7th century pre-Columbian pyramid and surrounded by beautiful gardens. The museum’s galleries exhibit the finest and most magnificent gold and jewelry treasures from Ancient Peru and the renowned erotic collection, one of Peru’s most celebrated attractions. Founded in 1926 and located in Lima, the Museo Larco holds the largest and most important archaeological collection of Ancient Peru in the world. Peru is known worldwide thanks to the legendary Inca Empire on the Andes Mountains; however few are aware that this society existed only for the last 100 years before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores. The Museo Larco portrays to the visitor an engaging narrative, recounting 5000 years in the development of Peru’s pre-Columbian history; thus becoming the ideal means to understand and enjoy Ancient Peru. On the Museum’s terraces overlooking its vibrant and stunning gardens, find Museo Larco´s Café restaurant, where one can savour the best of Peruvian and International cuisine.All in all, it’s accurate to say that to become fascinated by Peruvian history, the journey begins at Museo Larco!

This beachfront residential district features many of Lima's excellent shops, restaurants, nightspots and first class hotels.

Considered a masterpiece of colonial architecture, this monastery is a large complex of rooms, picturesque plazas, ornate fountains and a maze of narrow, cobblestone streets.

The Wayna Picchu mountain, Wayna Pikchu in Quechua, (with an altitude of 2667 meters above sea level) is part of the eastern foothills of the Salcantay massif, in Cusco, Peru. It is part of a large orographic formation known as Batolito de Vilcabamba, in the Central Cordillera of the Peruvian Andes and is known mainly as the backdrop of most photographs