Gill - Frommers EasyGuide to Lima, Cuzco and Machu Picchu

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Frommer's Star Ratings System

Every hotel, restaurant, and attraction listed in this guide has been ranked for quality and value. Here's what the stars mean:

Recommended

Highly recommended

A must! Don't miss!

AN IMPORTANT NOTE

The world is a dynamic place. Hotels change ownership, restaurants hike their prices, museums alter their opening hours, and buses and trains change their routings. And all of this can occur in the several months after our authors have visited, inspected, and written about these hotels, restaurants, museums, and transportation services. Though we have made valiant efforts to keep all our information fresh and up-to-date, some few changes can inevitably occur in the periods before a revised edition of this guidebook is published. So please bear with us if a tiny number of the details in this book have changed. Please also note that we have no responsibility or liability for any inaccuracy or errors or omissions, or for inconvenience, loss, damage, or expenses suffered by anyone as a result of assertions in this guide.

CONTENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Food and travel writer Nicholas Gill lives in Lima, Peru, and Brooklyn, New York. His work appears in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fool, New York Magazine, and Roads & Kingdoms, among others. He is the co-founder of NewWorlder.com, a website dedicated to exploring food and travel in the Americas.

ABOUT THE FROMMER's TRAVEL GUIDES

For most of the past 50 years, Frommers has been the leading series of travel guides in North America, accounting for as many as 24 percent of all guidebooks sold. I think I know why.

Though we hope our books are entertaining, we nevertheless deal with travel in a serious fashion. Our guidebooks have never looked on such journeys as a mere recreation, but as a far more important human function, a time of learning and introspection, an essential part of a civilized life. We stress the culture, lifestyle, history, and beliefs of the destinations we cover, and urge our readers to seek out people and new ideas as the chief rewards of travel.

We have never shied from controversy. We have, from the beginning, encouraged our authors to be intensely judgmental, criticalboth pro and conin their comments, and wholly independent. Our only clients are our readers, and we have triggered the ire of countless prominent sorts, from a tourist newspaper we called practically worthless (it unsuccessfully sued us) to the many rip-offs weve condemned.

And because we believe that travel should be available to everyone regardless of their incomes, we have always been cost-conscious at every level of expenditure. Though we have broadened our recommendations beyond the budget category, we insist that every lodging we include be sensibly priced. We use every form of media to assist our readers, and are particularly proud of our feisty daily website, the award-winning Frommers.com.

I have high hopes for the future of Frommers. May these guidebooks, in all the years ahead, continue to reflect the joy of travel and the freedom that travel represents. May they always pursue a cost-conscious path, so that people of all incomes can enjoy the rewards of travel. And may they create, for both the traveler and the persons among whom we travel, a community of friends, where all human beings live in harmony and peace.

Arthur Frommer

The Best of Lima, Cusco & Machu Picchu

P eru may be inseparable from Machu Picchu and the legacy of the Inca Empire, but a scratch beneath the surface reveals a fascinating and dynamic country that preserves its Andean traditions. Cosmopolitan types dive into Limas world-class dining, while travelers in Gore-Tex outdoor gear gather at pubs around Cuscos 500-year-old Plaza de Armas in anticipation of ruins treks. Yet even in this cross-section of some of Perus highlights, theres much more. In Sacred Valley markets, artisans haggle over handwoven alpaca textiles. On the desert coast, a 5,000-year-old city is being excavated as you read this. There are beaches for surfing, fervent religious processions, and highland celebrations with surreal masks.

Sightseeing Cusco revels in its Andean traditions, with exquisite Inca stonemasonry on nearly every street. Take a train though the Sacred Valley to the Inca town of Ollantaytambo and legendary Machu Picchu. The fast-paced capital, Lima, has revitalized its colonial quarter to go along with its sophisticated nightlife and shopping. Visit the ancient pyramid complex of Caral, which parallels the ones in Egypt, or surf some of South Americas most consistent waves at Punta Hermosa.

Eating & Drinking The words out: Contemporary Peruvian cuisine is one of the worlds most surprising and sophisticated. Get a heaping plate of tuna, sliced into Asian-inflected tiradito right off the boat, or savor ceviche at a hip, open-air restaurant. The highlands are famed for what the Incas ate: 300 varieties of potatoes and grains like quinoa. There are giant river fish such as paiche and exotic tropical fruits from the Amazon and aj peppers that spice up all kinds of dishes. Taste a coca or passion-fruit sourmixologists takes on the classic pisco sour.

Nature Even in this small selection of terrain, Perus natural diversity is astounding: bold Andes mountains running down the middle of the country, a 3,220km (2,000-mile) Pacific coast, and the lush rainforest at the edge of the Amazon, which surrounds Machu Picchu. Whether youre into extreme sports, birding, or photography, youll find islands full of sea lions, snowcapped mountains, raging rivers, and hillsides blanketed with orchids.

History Peru wears its complex web of pre-Columbian cultures and Spanish colonialism on its hand-woven sleeve. From Inca ruins such as the mammoth Sacsayhuamn fortress overlooking Cusco and pre-Inca archaeological sites like Caral, to colonial mansions built by conquistadors over Inca palaces in Cusco and the Republican-era houses turned art galleries and boutique hotels in Limas Barranco neighborhood, you dont have to look far for a thrilling history lesson.