Mancora Beach: Mancora is mostly for Surfers and Peruvian Families with second homes. It is not full of tourists. It is though an interesting option for clients who want to add some beach to the Peru Vacation. It is a rather long drive from the airport and hotels are at most 4 star.
Photo courtesy of Monica Irauzqui
Aqua Amazon River Cruise: We were so happy to hear about this cruise because before there were no good upscale options for Amazon Cruises. This cruise was perfect, the rooms even have AC which is unheard of in the Amazon. We took the kids to visit a local school and gave out little packages of crayons and notebooks to all the kids, what a wonderful experience to show these manhattan kids another kind of school. The boat is working to make minimal impact on the environment. I have those details in any one is interested. The tours are not Strenuous at all so this is a great tour to take with your parents or your kids (kids over 7 are welcome).
Photo courtesy of Monica Irauzqui
Casitas del Colca: Casitas Del Colca is a lovely place to take in the real Peru with your family. Most tours rush your time in Colca Canyon but if you have the luxury of time this is a nice place to stay for a few days. The have some beautiful horses, a spa, art and cooking lessons. There are lovely little authentic villages and local markets, not to mention Condor Viewing in the Canyon.
Photo courtesy of Monica Irauzqui
Lake Titilaca: I had been to Lake Titicaca before and stayed in Puno, but I really enjoyed staying on this small Peninsula at Titilaka much more. We went to places which were not overrun with tourists, the peninsula has a nice local community which get much work now that the hotel is there and the food and service was first rate amidst a beautiful atmosphere. We include this hotel in all deluxe Lake Titicaca packages.
Photo courtesy of Monica Irauzqui
Macchu Piccu: The best thing to do is to take an overnight in Aguas Calientes. This way you will have time to go twice to the ruins. There are many hikes around the ruins which you can take to get a wonderful view of the ruins from above. One is the Sungate which is where I took this package. The best hotels to stay in are the Sumaq, the Inkaterra Pueblo, and the Sanctuary Lodge. You should book your trip to Peru before you go as much as you can because the best trains sell out and if you wait until you are there you will be stuck with trains that give you little time to see the ruins.
Photo courtesy of Monica Irauzqui
Remote Andean Village: You have to take a private tour in dry season to get to this remote village. (April to October). We drove up a narrow dirt road, but we were one of the only cars for hours as most people do not have cars. We took in some wonderful views of Sacred Valley. We visited a group of lovely ladies who weave the scarfs that you find in the Pisac Market. They offered us coffee and stories about the trips down to the market in the wees hours( they walk for hours to the market down to the valley and then back up at the end of the day) Then we went to meet a nice lady who has a room she rents out to people who want to stay with a local. We also went to see how they farm the potatoes and after this, once in Pisac Market, I had a whole new appreciation for all the people who were there selling their wares.
Photo courtesy of Monica Irauzqui
Guide by Monica Irauzqui
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Erin Kiskis is the Community Manager at Ruba, a new online travel site that lets users share their favorite places and travel experiences in a highly visual guide format. She’d rather spend all her time actually traveling if she could.
Her favorite places to travel are Kenya and Australia and her favorite things to do on vacation are take photos and eat bizarre and delicious foods.
