Boutique hotels in Peru

Peru offers some of South America's most striking places to stay: colonial mansions in Cusco, haciendas in the Sacred Valley, jungle lodges on Amazon tributaries and cliff-top houses above the Pacific. Many are small, run by families or conservation-minded companies, and built around the landscape.

Cusco and the Sacred Valley

Cusco, the former Inca capital, is the starting point for most visitors, with converted monasteries and courtyard houses around the Plaza de Armas. The Sacred Valley, lower and warmer, has haciendas and lodges beside the Urubamba River, while Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes are the gateways to Machu Picchu. Altitude is a factor: many travelers spend a night in the valley first.

The coast, desert and highlands

Lima is a culinary capital with art-filled hotels in Miraflores and Barranco. South of the capital are Paracas, Huacachina and Nazca; north are the beaches of Máncora and Punta Sal. Arequipa, the white-stone city at the foot of volcanoes, leads to the deep Colca Canyon, and Puno sits on Lake Titicaca. In the north, Chachapoyas, Cajamarca and Trujillo are quieter, historic and archaeological.

Amazon and Andes

Iquitos and Puerto Maldonado are the gateways to the rainforest, with lodges reached by boat. Huaraz is the base for the Cordillera Blanca.

When to go

The dry season in the Andes, from May to September, is best for trekking and Machu Picchu. The rainy season, from December to March, is greener and quieter, and the coast is warmest in summer, from December to April.