Peru Attractions

Located high above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, the Incan city of Machu Picchu is the most popular tourist attraction in the country. This ancient city dates back to the fifteenth century and was built on the order of the first ruler of the Incan empire, known as the Sapa Inca Pachacuti. The city was inhabited for over one hundred years until Peru was conquered by the Spanish in 1532. The city was then lost for several hundred years, and subsequently re-discovered by Western civilization in 1911, when an American historian named Hiram Bingham was shown the site by locals.

The exact function of the city is uncertain. The city is just five miles square and was inhabited by less than one thousand people. It is thought by some archeologists that the city may have been a kind of country retreat for Incan nobility. Others see the site as a base which was established as an "Ilacta" – a settlement from which the Sapa could maintain control over conquered regions...

The Lake Titicaca is one of the most spectacular, high altitude, Lake in the world.

This famous natural attraction straddles two countries – the borders of both Peru and Bolivia. The lake is one of South America's largest, by virtue of its volume. It is also 3,812 meters above sea level, making it one of the highest navigable lakes in the world. The turquoise waters are cold (some may even say icy), but this does not detract from the lake's natural beauty.

Lake Titicaca covers some 3,305 square miles and is fed by quite a number of sources, chief of which are the Rivers Coata, Huancane, Ramis, Suchez and Ilave, as well as some smaller rivers. Other sources include water from glaciers and rainfall. Lake Titicaca has two sub-basins – the Lago Grande (or Lago Chuchuito) and the smaller Lago Huiñaimarca (also called Lago Pequeño). These basins are connected by the Tiquina Strait...

Alpamayo Mountain Peak in Peru is a place of ethereal beauty and splendor. At its peak, you may just reach the "roof of the world". It has the distinction of being voted as "the most beautiful peak in the world". And UNESCO concurs with this vote. This moniker is well earned, as it has an extraordinary pyramidal shape. Many a mountaineer come here yearly in an attempt to scale its picturesque and yet difficult peak. From the top, it's a sheer drop of around 450 meters – a challenge that sounds like an invitation to climbing enthusiasts all around the world. One look at it and avid climbers will want to pack their bags and go up, up, up! But, to get to the top, you will need experience in technical climbing as well as in high altitude performance.

Alpamayo Mountain is located in Peru's Ancash region at the northernmost edge of the Cordillera Blanca – a mountain range of the Peruvian Andes...

Colca Canyon in southern Peru has twice the depth of Arizona's Grand Canyon, with over 3,000 meters at its deepest. It begins high in the Andes and is a land of rich history, as the area used to be inhabited by Cabanas and Collagues. In fact, there are still traces of majestic Inca and pre-Inca terraces that hark back to over 1,000 years. The word Colca actually means smalls holes that were dug in the cliffs of the canyon and the valley. These holes were used to store the pre-Incan and Incan people's food, as well as to bury important people.

The valley is sometimes dubbed "The Valley of Wonders", as it is replete with natural geological attractions – gorges, volcanoes and agricultural slopes or terraces. Colca Canyon is also famed for being the home of the Andean condors. The species, whose scientific name is Vultur gryphus, is one of the endangered species and there have been concerted efforts to save the species...