Machu Picchu had been at the very top of my list for years — one of those places I would point to on a map and think, someday. When I finally made the ten-day journey through Peru, it more than lived up to everything I had imagined, and then some.
The citadel itself is difficult to put into words. You climb, you round a corner, and suddenly the whole of Machu Picchu opens up beneath the peaks — the stone terraces, the ruins, the green falling away into the valley. Photographs never quite capture the scale of it, or the quiet. It’s the kind of place that makes you stop talking for a while.
But the trip was never only about the famous view. Cusco surprised me just as much: the living culture of the old Inca capital, the markets and cobbled streets, the way the altitude slows you down and asks you to pay attention. History isn’t behind glass there — it’s in the walls, the language, and the daily rhythm of the city.
And then there was Lima, and the food. Peru’s culinary reputation is well earned, and eating my way through the city — the ceviche, the markets, the small family-run spots — became one of the most memorable parts of the whole journey. Travel, I’m convinced, is half about what you see and half about what you taste.
That trip is a good example of how I like to travel, and how I plan journeys for other people: experience a place, don’t just check it off a list. The best trips leave room for the culture, the history, the food, and the people of a destination — with all the logistics handled quietly in the background so you can simply be there.
The Lost City of Machu Picchu is now one of our upcoming In Good Company trips — ten days in Peru, June 27 to July 5, 2027. If it’s been sitting on your own someday list, I’d love to tell you more. Take a look at the trip, or reach out and let’s start planning your journey to the top of the world.
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