The high-flying Andean city of Cuzco (also Cusco, or Qosq’o in the Quechua language) is the uneasy bearer of many grand titles. It was once the foremost city of the Inca empire, and is now the undisputed archaeological capital of the Americas, as well as the continent’s oldest continuously inhabited city. Few travelers to Peru will skip visiting this premier South American destination, which is also the gateway to Machu Picchu.

Although Cuzco was long ruled by an inca (king) or a Spanish conquistador, there’s no question of who rules the roost in the 21st century: city life is almost totally at the whim of international tourists. These days nearly every building surrounding the historic Plaza de Armas seems to be a tourist hotel, restaurant, shop, travel agency or busy internet café.

 

 

Rocked by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes nearly every century since the Spanish arrived in 1540, Peru’s second-largest city doesn’t lack for drama. Locals sometimes say ‘When the moon separated from the earth, it forgot to take Arequipa,’ waxing lyrical about the city’s grand colonial buildings, built from an off-white volcanic rock called sillar that dazzles in the sun. As a result, Arequipa has been baptized the White City. Its distinctive stonework graces the stately Plaza de Armas, along with countless beautiful colonial churches, monasteries and mansions scattered throughout the city.

What makes Peru’s second-biggest city so irresistible is the obvious relish with which its citizens enjoy all the good things in life, especially the region’s spicy food, stylish shopping and nightlife. The pulse of city life is upbeat. The streets are full of jostling vendors, bankers, artists, students and nuns – in short, a microcosm of modern Peru. There’s no better place in the south to rejuvenate your weary bones, especially while waiting a few days to acclimatize before scaling the higher elevations of Lake Titicaca and Cuzco.

 

 

At the crossroads of the mighty Andes and Peru’s windswept altiplano (Andean plateau) grasslands, fertile Lake Titicaca was a cradle for Peru’s ancient civilizations. Settled life began here in 200 BC with the Pukara culture, which erected huge pyramids and monuments. A millennium later, the influential Tiahuanaco culture spread into Bolivia. Warlike tribes such as the Collas and Aymaras arose shortly thereafter, only to be violently shoved aside by the Inca empire. Hot on the heels of the Inca warriors were Spanish conquistadors, who came lusting for mineral riches to be wrested from the bowels of the earth.

Today the department of Puno, focused on magnificent Lake Titicaca, is a stronghold of rural Peruvian life. You can amble around the peaceful lakeside communities of the South-Shore Towns or dive into celebrations of traditional dance and music during the wildly colorful folklórico festivals for which the region is world-famous.