From sea lions and desert wind to mountain trains and Inca stone
When to go
April-October
Trip length
12 days / 11 nights
Typical investmentPrice
from $6,490 pp
This 11-night family route spaces out Peru’s biggest sights across the trip. Spend two days in Lima, then head south to Paracas for sea lions around the Ballestas Islands and an afternoon of dune buggying at Huacachina, before flying into the Sacred Valley for three hands-on days of weaving, farming and Inca ruins. Machu Picchu and Cusco close out the trip, paced for families with fewer early starts and time to reset between outings.
Along the way
Sea lions and Humboldt penguins around the Ballestas Islands
Dune buggying and sandboarding at Huacachina
Weaving and natural dyeing with a Chinchero cooperative
Ancient, magnificent Machu Picchu
Your route
A gentle start on the Pacific
Arrive in Lima and settle in, steps from the clifftop Malecón. Keep the day simple, with time to rest and walk the boardwalk before an early dinner.
Explore the Surquillo market and a historic Lima neighborhood with a guide who works well with kids, weaving in tastings of causa and alfajores along the way.
Sea lions, seabirds & desert dunes
Travel south along the desert coast to Paracas and settle into your hotel, set on its own private beach and marina. Spend the afternoon at the pool or walking the bay.
Take a morning boat excursion to the Ballestas Islands, watching for sea lions, Humboldt penguins, and the seabird colonies that have earned them the nickname “the poor man’s Galápagos.” Return for a relaxed afternoon at the resort.
Head inland to the desert oasis of Huacachina for an afternoon of dune buggy riding and sandboarding across towering sand dunes, a favorite adrenaline break for families before the flight into the Andes.
Hands-on days in the Sacred Valley
Return to Lima for the flight to Cusco, then descend into the Sacred Valley to acclimatize at lower altitude. Settle into your valley hotel, where alpacas roam the grounds and an onsite planetarium makes for an easy first evening.
Spend the day with a weaving cooperative in Chinchero and a nearby farm, choosing activities around your children’s ages and energy: natural dyeing with cochineal and plants, a harvest, or a hands-on Andean cooking lesson.
Explore Moray’s circular Inca terraces, thought to be an ancient agricultural testing ground, and the salt pans of Maras, still harvested by hand by local families, before continuing to Ollantaytambo’s fortress terraces and the living Inca town below, still home to families whose ancestors occupied the same streets. Keep the pace relaxed with a long lunch built into the day.
From the Inca citadel to Cusco’s stone streets
Travel by rail to Machu Picchu and explore the citadel on a family-paced guided circuit, with plenty of stops built in for questions and photos. Overnight in Aguas Calientes, where the town’s thermal baths give kids somewhere to unwind before dinner.
Return by rail and private transfer to Cusco and settle into your hotel just off the main plaza, with a light afternoon and no scheduled touring.
Explore the city with a private guide, combining the Coricancha and Plaza de Armas with a hands-on stop suited to your family: a chocolate-making workshop at ChocoMuseo, San Pedro Market, or a Peruvian Paso horse show nearby.
Transfer to the airport for onward travel.
Let's discover your next adventure
Our top picks
Miraflores Park is an all-suite Belmond hotel with 87 rooms overlooking Lima’s Pacific coastline. A rooftop pool, spa, two restaurants, broad rooms, and a position between Miraflores and Barranco make it the city’s strongest full-service luxury option.
Monasterio places 97 rooms and 20 suites around a 16th-century seminary courtyard near Cusco’s Plaza de Armas. Religious art, a historic chapel, live opera, oxygen-enriched categories, two restaurants, and a centuries-old cedar tree preserve the character of the former monastery.
Antigua Casona San Blas places approximately 50 rooms around a firelit colonial courtyard in Cusco’s hillside artisan district. Radiant heat, soundproofing, Piedra & Sal restaurant, Exhala spa, yoga, sauna, and local art create a warmer, less formal alternative to Cusco’s palace hotels.
Tambo del Inka places 128 rooms and suites beside the Urubamba River in a full-service Sacred Valley resort. A large indoor-outdoor pool, extensive spa, three restaurants, gardens, family facilities, and a private rail station for selected Machu Picchu trains distinguish it from smaller valley hotels.
Sol y Luna spreads 43 freestanding casitas through approximately 25 acres of gardens in the Sacred Valley. Horses, spa, pool, two restaurants, riding, mountain activities, and a foundation supporting local education give the hotel both resort depth and a clear social purpose.
Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba combines 12 rooms in a main hacienda house with 24 standalone casitas across a hillside above the Sacred Valley. Fireplaces, terraces, a working farm, spa, earth-to-table dining, and approximately 100 acres create a quiet residential alternative to larger resorts.
Las Qolqas places 16 safari-style tents in an Andean botanical garden outside Ollantaytambo. Private terraces, wood stoves, electric heat, hot showers, a greenhouse restaurant, sauna, spa, and room for up to 58 guests create a low-impact base near the archaeological site and railway.
Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel spreads 83 adobe casitas through cloud forest, waterfalls, gardens, and stone paths at the edge of Machu Picchu Pueblo. Orchid walks, birding, tea, spa, dining, and several room formats create a nature-led alternative to staying beside the citadel.
A private dock and yacht for Ballestas Islands excursions, set on minimalist bamboo-and-stone architecture by Peruvian architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia, inside Paracas National Reserve where desert meets ocean. It's a genuine 3-hour transfer from Lima best justified by a 2 to 3 night stay, ocean-view rooms don't front directly onto the water since the pool sits between rooms and beach, and Paracas town itself outside the resort has limited dining and lodging options.
Set directly on the Vilcanota River at the foot of Machu Picchu mountain, with the shuttle buses to the citadel passing right outside, and a public art collection of over 300 Peruvian pieces displayed throughout. There's no swimming pool, in-room WiFi can be unreliable, and the setting feels more like a modern boutique hotel than the botanical-garden immersion of Inkaterra's nearby property.
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