My good friend Kate and I had the best trip ever to Peru in March, 2026. I can’t take any of the credit for this itinerary, Kate really was the mastermind here! If I could go back and do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing about it at all.
Lima
We started our trip in Lima. This city is pretty massive- just a heads up. It really isn’t that walkable between the districts, but Ubers are ridiculously cheap and very helpful. The best area to stay in would be Miraflores or Barranco for iconic views, good food, and shopping vibes.
We stayed in the city center which had some interesting things to explore and cool architecture, but I would probably recommend one of the options above over that.
The weather here is also very random. By the coast it looked like the photo above, gray and foggy. Just a 10 minute Uber away from the coast it was hot, sunny, and UV 11!
Amazon Rainforest
Kate and I agreed that our rainforest tour was the most unforgettable time of our trip. We did a 2 night excursion through this company. All meals, excursions, and accommodation were included and the guides were super knowledgable.
Just know that they are not playing when they say to bring plenty of bug spray, sun screen, and dry clothes. Once my hair got wet it did not dry for over 48 hours due to the humidity.
To get to the jungle, you will fly in and out of Puerto Maldonado (the smallest airport ever) and arrange transport with your tour company. I don’t think it’s a wise idea to try to rough out the jungle without a guide because pretty much everything is deadly <3
Cusco
Cusco was a bit of a reality check after 3 days roughing it in the jungle. The city feels like a European city dropped into South America. Cusco is at an extremely high altitude, so normally easy activities feel very taxing.
All of the recommendations we read said to take it easy your first day there to acclimate, but our time was precious and we had to make the most of it. Neither of us experienced any sickness symptoms but did feel like our hearts were pounding out of our chests after a small flight of stairs.
If you find yourself in Cusco, you MUST eat at Mauka. This was the best Peruvian food we had (and the food in Peru is already insane). It is worth the slightly higher price tag than most restaurants here.
Ollantaytambo
Our next stop was Ollantaytambo, the last city you can make it to by car before Machu Picchu. I feel like this city often gets overlooked by this, but this was my favorite place we went of the whole trip.
The city is nestled inside of the most beautiful landscape of mountains, blue skies, and colorful artwork everywhere. We also saw our first alpacas here!! I really recommend taking some time to explore this town and fall in love with it.
My best recommendation for this city is to go to Latente Specialty Coffee and get either the ginger or orange cold brew. Best coffee of 2026 for me!
Machu Picchu
To get to Machu Picchu, you will need to first make it to the town of Aguas Calientes. The only option to do so is taking the train from Ollantaytambo. Once there, you can choose to hike or bus up to the ruins.
Our original plan was to hike it, but due to some really interesting events that I’ll tell you about on another day, the best course of action for us was to get on the bus. And honestly, the hikers looked miserable, so I don’t regret it.
To actually see the ruins, you have to book a ticket on their super sketchy website wayyyy in advance. Try to book route 2 if possible!
Another pro tip was that we both really did not like the town of Aguas Calientes. It is unfortunately dominated by the tourist industry and has none of the authenticity of the rest of the cities we went to in Peru. I would totally recommend to stay in Ollantaytambo and just make Machu Picchu a day trip versus spending a night in Aguas Calientes.