THIS ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH, SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE. No travel itinerary in Peru is complete without a long glimpse of the world-famous ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu. Overlooking Peru’s majestic Urubamba Valley from approximately 7,000 feet in elevation, these iconic ruins high in the Andes are a shining example of the history and skill of the Inca Empire that once dominated much of South America.

THIS ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH, SPANISH, PORTUGUESE AND FRENCH. Lima, the intriguing capital and largest city of Peru, has long been an important hub in Latin America. The Spanish founded Lima in 1535 as a strategic position from which to explore the unknown treasures that the interior country was believed to hold. They had no idea just how accurate this assumption would prove to be.

THIS ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH, SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE. Although the legendary Sacred Valley of the Incas of Peru has become a tourist destination in its own right, many people only discover it because the usual Inca Trail route traversing Peru’s highlands to Machu Picchu passes through it on the way from Cusco. One glimpse is all that’s required to see why the ancient Incans thought this land was holy.

THIS ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE IN SPANISH, PORTUGUESE AND DUTCH. For good reason, the antique city of Cusco is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Peru. Once the capital of the Inca Empire – and officially designated the Historical Capital of Peru by the Constitution of Peru – Cusco is the oldest still-inhabited city in all of South America.