Florencia y Fortunata Café

Cusco is a unique city among its South American peers. The capital of the Inca Empire, the Spaniards built a city on top of the old Incan city - using the Incan rocks all over the bottom of buildings. The facades of the buildings diverge significantly from the colorful stucco of its peers; it whitewashed buildings with blue accents as far as the eye can see. It would be easy to confuse this for coastal Greece or North Africa if you weren't aware of the lack of water. Cusco - just a comfortable train ride from Peruvian Disneyland (aka Machu Picchu) - has become the center of Peru's tourism industry. And while some parts of this make traveling to Cusco less authentic (you'll be able to imitate the ladies trying to sell massages really well by the end of your trip), Cusco's food and drink scene has exploded from the tourism rush. The best part (in my opinion)? A coffee scene predicated around local Peruvian coffee. The coffee shops in Cusco could rival coffee in most large cities in Western countries. If visiting Cusco, make sure to set aside some time in the morning or afternoon to look into some of these awesome coffee shops!

Peru is a country that truly has it all: mountains, deserts, beaches, cities, lakes, Inca ruins, etc etc etc. There is so much diversity to explore that it can be a bit overwhelming to conquer it all. So to ease your worries, I have put together a list of all my personal recommendations in each must-visit destination from North to South. I spent two months backpacking Peru and I curated this guide purely based on places I have actually been (all 116 of them!) and would advise to go. I also include all of my favorite restaurants, cafes, markets, and bars in each area. At the end of the guide, I include helpful tips n tricks like how to avoid common scams, locals apps, and which food to try. This guide is all you'll need to have the absolute best trip to Peru.