Peru culture travel guide

The ancient city of Qusqu was founded by Manco Capac, who grew huge wings, flew away, and landed upon this spot – whereupon he transformed into a stone. If this Inca legend sounds farfetched, the truth is equally as preposterous. From Cuzco itself, through the Sacred Valley, all the way to Machu Picchu, the Andes are adorned with Inca walls and temples constructed of stones weighing many tons. Each one was quarried, transported many kilometres and cut with precision – fitting together perfectly without cement. To this day, no one knows how.

Today, the Quechua people – descendants of the Incas – still live amongst these mysterious stones, and their language, textiles and farming techniques have changed little over the centuries. Our Peru cultural vacations travel guide reveals the ways in which you can explore Quechua villages and markets, discover little visited ruins, be welcomed into a homestay and travel far beyond Peru’s llama and panpipe clichés.

Cultural vacations in Peru are clustered around its southern Andean region – the spiritual home of the Inca and of their contemporary descendents, the Quechua. Spending a week or two here will give you more than just a glimpse of this rich culture, with homestays, village tours, workshops and markets all featuring on these bursting itineraries. Most international flights arrive into Lima, giving you a great opportunity to spend a day or two exploring this modern capital; from there you can fly into the mountains for chance to acclimatise before to beginning your tour of the Inca heartland. Extended tours allow for exploration of Amazonian culture, too.