PERU

There are few archaeological sites more intoxicating than Machu Picchu, the mist-cloaked Incan citadel clinging to a granite ridge 2,430 metres (8,000 feet) above sea level on the eastern edge of the Andes. But Peru’s Incan heritage is only part – albeit a big part – of its cultural appeal. The thrill of travelling in the country is to leap back and forth through time, from pre-Incan civilisation on the high-altitude waters of Lake Titicaca, where the floating reed islands built as a defence against the Incas are still inhabited by the Uros people, to the ruins of the Sacred Valley and Cusco, where handsome colonial architecture is built on older foundations. Don’t miss Arequipa, Peru’s elegant second city, with its baroque buildings, cobbled streets and opportunities for Andean condor-spotting on the deep terraces of the nearby Colca Canyon; nor vibrant Lima, where a new generation of chefs is making a name for the city with a fusion of indigenous food heritage with Spanish, Japanese and Chinese influences and the freshest seafood. It is worth a visit for the ceviche alone.