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CUZCO & THE SACRED VALLEY

For Incas, Cuzco was the navel of the earth. A visit to this city and its nearby ruins forces you back into the realm of ancient Andean culture – knocked down and fused with the colonial imprint of Spanish conquest, only to be repackaged as a thriving tourist centre. The capital of Cuzco is only the gateway. Beyond lies the Sacred Valley, Andean countryside dotted with villages, high-altitude hamlets and ruins linked by trail and railway tracks to the continent’s biggest draw – Machu Picchu. A fantastic Inca citadel, a secret held by local Quechua people until the early 20th century, Peru’s Machu Picchu stands as a ruin among ruins.

With its emerald terraces and steep peaks that echo on the horizon, the sight simply surpasses the imagination. This marvel of engineering has withstood half a dozen centuries of earthquakes, foreign invasion and howling weather. Discover it for yourself, wander through its stone temples and scale the dizzying heights of Wayna Picchu.

Old ways are not forgotten in the Sacred Valley. Colourful textiles keep the past vivid, as do the wild fiestas and carnivals where indigenous tradition meets solemn Catholic ritual. A stunning landscape careens from Andean peaks to orchid-rich cloud forests and Amazon lowlands.

CENTRAL HIGHLANDS

If it’s breath-taking ancient ruins or immersion in uninterrupted wilderness that you crave during your trip to Pero, this is it. The rocky, remote Central Highlands can match any of Peru’s better known destinations for these things and more – with the almost absolute absence of other travellers. This section of the Andes is Peru at its most Peruvian - reaching its zenith from Easter to July during its myriad of fiestas. Although travel here is not for the fainthearted, adventure spirited souls will discover better insights into local life than are possible elsewhere: bonding with fellow passengers on bumpy buses perhaps or hiking into high hills to little-visited Inca palaces. Life in this starkly beautiful region is lived off the land: more donkeys than cars often ply its roads and bright indigenous dress predominates in communities housing Peru’s best handicrafts.

NORTH COAST

This intense shore has some of the world’s best surfing and plenty of other tanned travellers to keep you company. It’s also home to a jaw dropping array of archaeological sites, colonial cities and evocative deserts capes straight out of a Mad Max movie. In this land of rock and desert sand, you’ll also find a few verdant valleys, while Peru’s only mangrove forests cling for their lives up north. It holds no shortage of exaggerated claims – one of the world’s longest left breaks challenges surfers in Puerto Chicama, South America’s oldest civilization vexes archaeological explorers at Caral, and the massive pre-Columbian adobe complex at Chan Chan was once the largest city in the Americas.

The backpacker hubs of Máncora and Huanchaco kick into full party mode from November to March, while those seeking tranquillity can seek out unique adventures in fishing villages such as Zorritos and Cabo Blanco.

HUARAZ & THE CORDILLERAS

Easily ground zero for outdoor-adventure worship in Peru, the Cordilleras are one of the pre-eminent hiking, trekking and backpacking spots in South America. Wherever you look, perennially frozen white peaks poke their way through expansive mantles of green valleys. In the recesses of these giants huddle scores of pristine jade lakes, ice caves and torrid springs. The Cordillera Blanca is one of the highest mountain ranges in the world outside the Himalayas, and its 18 ostentatious summits of more than 6000m will not let you forget it for a second. Huaraz is the restless capital of this Andean adventure kingdom and its rooftops command exhaustive panoramas of the city’s dominion: one of the most impressive mountain ranges in the world. This is first and foremost a trekking metropolis. Whether you’re arranging a mountain expedition or going for a day hike, Huaraz is the place to start – it is the epicentre for planning and organizing local Andean adventures. Numerous outfits can prearrange entire trips so that all you need to do is show up at the right place at the right time. Many visitors go camping, hiking and climbing in the mountains without any local help and you can too if you have the experience. Just remember, though, that carrying a backpack full of gear over a 4800m pass requires much more effort than hiking at low altitudes.

NORTHERN HIGHLANDS

Vast tracts of unexplored jungle and mist shrouded mountain ranges guard the secrets of Peru's Northern Highlands like a suspicious custodian. Here, Andean peaks and a blanket of luxuriant forests stretch from the coast all the way to the deepest Amazonian jungles. Interspersed with the relics of Inca kings and the jungle-encrusted ruins of cloud-forest dwelling warriors, connections to these outposts are just emerging from their infancy. Cajamarca’s cobbled streets testify to the beginning of the end of the once-powerful Inca Empire, and remnants of the work of the famed Andean masons still remain. The hazy forests of Chachapoyas have only recently revealed their archaeological bounty: witness the staggering stone fortress of Kuélap, which clings for dear life to a craggy limestone peak. At the jungle gateway of Tarapoto, the Amazon waits patiently on the periphery, as it has for centuries, endowed with a cornucopia of wildlife and exquisite good looks.

AMAZON BASIN

The best-protected tract of the world’s most biodiverse forest, the strange, sweltering, seductive country-within-a-country that is Peru’s Amazon Basin is changing. Its vastness and impenetrability have long protected its indigenous communities and diverse wildlife from external eyes. Tribes exist here that have never had contact with outside civilization, and more flora and fauna flourish in one rainforest hectare than in any European country. But as the 21st century encroaches on this enticing expanse of arboreal wilderness, exploitation of the rainforest’s abundant resources threatens to irreversibly damage it. No doubt the Peruvian Amazon still offers phenomenal wildlife-spotting and dalliances into untamed forest from the jungle’s best selection of lodges. But it also begs for ongoing protection. To maximise wildlife-viewing, visit during the dry season (July to October).