Many travellers who take cheap flights to Peru will follow the well-trodden backpacker trail - Lima, Arequipa, Cuzco, Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. It's one of the must-visit countries.
Peru is a country of awesome geography; its attractions could fill the Guinness Book of Records. World's highest navigable lake? Titicaca. Deepest canyon? Colca Canyon. Oldest city in the Americas? Caral. Longest waves? At Chicama. Largest river? Peru is the source of the Amazon.
Lima is the capital, home to about a third of Peruvians. It was founded by Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish conquistador in 1535, and called La Ciudad de los Reyes (the City of Kings). It was the capital and most important city of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru and several of its beautiful buildings hail from that time.
Peruvian cuisine is one of the world's great cuisines. It's a blend of pre-Inca, Inca, Spanish, African, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French and British. Cebiche (marinated raw fish) is the national dish, but you'll also find Cuy (Guinea Pig) on the menu in the Andes, all washed down with Inca Kola, the lemon verbena-flavored soft drink that outsells all others in Peru.