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A flock of scarlet macaws with wings spread in the green trees of the Peruvian Amazon

Sample journey · 11–13 days

Peru with children: from macaws to the Machu Picchu train

Lima, the Tambopata rainforest, the Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu by train

Photo: Dylan Shaw / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

For a family, Peru can seem too high, too far and too complicated. This route is shaped to leave as few of those questions as possible. The journey begins not in the mountains but in the Amazon rainforest, almost at sea level: nobody is in a hurry, the days revolve around a boat, a trail and a canopy tower, and in the evening a chorus of frogs starts up around the lodge. Once everyone has recovered from the long flight, you travel up into the Andes — and straight down again into the Sacred Valley, which lies lower than Cusco.

Machu Picchu is reached by train along the Urubamba River rather than on foot, and visited early in the morning while it's still cool. The journey ends in Lima, at the table, where Peruvian cooking turns out to be as varied as the country's nature. The pace, the stays and the activities are shaped around your children's ages: one thing for little ones, another for teenagers.

The route

The journey

  1. Lima
  2. Puerto Maldonado & Tambopata
  3. Sacred Valley
  4. Machu Picchu
  5. Lima
  1. A wall of palms and rainforest beside a still lake in the Peruvian Amazon

    01Days 1–3 · Tambopata

    By boat into the forest

    A night in Lima after the long flight, then a short morning flight to Puerto Maldonado. The air here is warm and humid, with no altitude to worry about. From the port a boat takes you up the Tambopata River to a lodge in the forest; depending on where it is, the river journey takes from an hour to several. The first afternoon brings a short guided trail, and the next morning a canoe across a palm-fringed oxbow lake where caimans, hoatzins or even a family of giant otters sometimes appear.

  2. A squirrel monkey on a branch in Tambopata, Peru

    02Days 4–5 · Tambopata

    Canopy, clay banks and night sounds

    The following mornings start early, which children usually enjoy. One morning the boat heads to a clay riverbank where, on many days, parrots and macaws gather; on another you climb a tower above the canopy, where monkeys and toucans are at eye level. Afternoons are for rest, and after dark there's a torchlit walk looking for frogs, beetles and spiders. Wildlife is never guaranteed, but the forest rarely leaves you empty-handed.

  3. Hundreds of white salt pans on the hillside at Maras, with two small figures among them

    03Days 6–8 · Sacred Valley

    Down into the valley, not up into the city

    A flight to Cusco and, from the airport, straight down into the Sacred Valley, where both sleeping and playing come more easily. The first day is almost entirely for resting in the garden. Then the Maras salt pans, where salt is still gathered much as it was centuries ago, the circular terraces of Moray, and alpacas and weavers in Chinchero who show children how wool becomes coloured yarn. For teenagers, bikes or a gentle raft on the Urubamba in the dry season.

  4. Blue railway carriages among forested mountains at Aguas Calientes, below Machu Picchu

    04Days 9–10 · Machu Picchu

    By train along the river

    From Ollantaytambo a train with panoramic windows runs down the gorge as the mountains grow steeper and the vegetation greener. A night in Aguas Calientes, then in the morning a bus up to Machu Picchu while it's still cool and quieter. A good guide tells children stories rather than dates: how the Inca moved the stones, what the terraces were for, and why the city stayed hidden for so long. After lunch, the train back and a last night in the Andes.

  5. Andean potatoes with fresh cheese, toasted corn and a yellow chilli sauce in clay bowls in Lima

    05Days 11–13 · Lima

    Ending at the table

    A flight to Lima and two days by the ocean. A market visit with a cook, where children taste fruits whose names they've never heard, a cooking class from ceviche to causa, and an afternoon at the Larco Museum, whose ceramic figures often win over even the museum-averse. The last evening is on the clifftops of Miraflores, watching the sun set over the Pacific.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    A tower above the canopy

    A morning at treetop level as the forest wakes and toucans fly past.

  2. 02

    The parrot clay bank

    A riot of colour and noise on a riverbank, one of the Amazon's great sights when the birds come.

  3. 03

    The Maras salt pans

    Hundreds of white pools on a mountainside, where local families have gathered salt for centuries.

  4. 04

    Machu Picchu in the morning

    An early bus up and a guide who knows how to tell the story to children.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • With little ones

    A lodge closer to Puerto Maldonado with a shorter boat ride, and in the Andes more nights in the lower valley and a shorter visit to Machu Picchu.

  • With teenagers

    The one-day Short Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, mountain biking in the valley, or kayaking on Lake Titicaca.

  • More wildlife

    A lodge further upriver, closer to the larger clay licks, or the Manú area for families happy with longer journeys.

  • More culture

    A few days in Cusco once you've adjusted to the altitude, or a night with a family on an island in Lake Titicaca.

Practical considerations

  • Cusco and its airport lie at around 3,400 m, the Sacred Valley somewhat lower. Altitude affects children, like adults, differently, so please speak to your family doctor or a travel clinic before planning the journey.
  • For travel to the Amazon region (vaccinations or protection from mosquitoes, for example), it's worth asking a travel clinic well in advance, ideally a few months before you go.
  • Most rainforest lodges are reached by boat, and luggage on domestic flights and boats is often limited. River levels and trail conditions depend on the season, so we check the details before you travel.
  • The Andean dry season usually runs from about May to September; in the Amazon it can rain at any time, though the wetter months are usually around December to March.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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