Peru Travel Guide

Few destinations have as much to offer visitors as Peru, an astonishingly varied country. Here you'll find panoramic mountain ranges, vast deserts, beautiful beaches and tropical jungle, not to mention fantastically rich history, archaeology, wildlife and enduring indigenous cultures.

Endless Archaeological Wonders
Images of the extraordinary remains of ancient civilizations will inevitably jump to mind. The Inca stronghold Machu Picchu is one of the most famous and photogenic archaeological sites in the world and the mysterious Nazca Lines boggle the mind, but there are hundreds of similarly fascinating and even older sites to discover.

Extreme Eco-adventuring
All are set in stunning landscapes, whether parched desert costa (coast), soaring sierra (mountains) or remote selva (rainforest) overflowing with wildlife. Such a diverse landscape generates diverse pleasures; the visitor can hike through snowy peaks one day, and relax on the beach the next; paddle a dugout through lowland rainforest or hop on a traditional tortora reed boat on some of the world's highest lakes.

Museums to Mountain Bikes
There is a wealth of sports and activities on offer, from sandboarding and surfing to extreme mountain biking and rafting. Add to these medicinal hot springs, mesmeric music, well-stocked museums, rich culture and uncommonly friendly people and you have a destination with something for everybody.

Geography
Peru is a large, mountainous country on the Pacific coast of South America that borders Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil and Bolivia to the east, and Chile to the south. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west.

There are three natural zones: The Costa region, which contains Lima (the capital), is a narrow coastal plain consisting of large tracts of desert broken by fertile valleys. The cotton, sugar and rice plantations and most of the so-far exploited oil fields lie in this area, as does the majority of the population. 

The highland Sierra contains the Andes, with peaks over 6,000m (20,000ft), most of the country's mineral resources (silver, zinc, lead, copper and gold) and the greater part of its livestock. 

The Selva, an area of fertile, subtropical land, lies between the Andes and the borders with Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador. The Amazonian jungle has vast natural resources. The absence of land communications, however, left the area largely uncharted until full-scale oil exploration began in 1973. Even today roads barely penetrate the region. 

The population of the country is largely Indian and Mestizo with a noticeable influence from African, Chinese, Japanese and European (mainly Spanish) settlers.