Peru Itinerary With Kids: Our Real Family Route (Trujillo, Machu Picchu & the Amazon)

A quick note: some links here are affiliate links, at no extra cost to you, and they help keep this blog free. This is the real route our family took. Xoxo.

If you only read one of my Peru posts, maybe make it this one. The thing that made Peru with kids work for us was the order we did it in: ease in at sea level, sink into real cultural immersion, climb slowly for the altitude, and save the wildest adventure for when everyone had found their feet. Here is our real Peru itinerary with kids.

First, a few days in Lima (sea level, soft landing)

We added our own days in Lima at the start. It sits at sea level, so it is the smart place to beat jet lag and ease in before anything higher. We ate our way through the city, ran the kids out at the parks, and let everyone reset. (Full details in Lima with kids.)

The heart of the trip: Trujillo with Travec

This was the part I did not expect to love the most, and did. Trujillo sits on Peru’s northern coast, and it is not built around tourism, which is exactly what makes it so real. With Travec we settled into a home there for over a week and actually lived: we visited the Moche sites and the vast adobe city of Chan Chan, spent time in the seaside town of Huanchaco, did a family cooking class, and our kids even attended a local school for a day. Their City Friends program paired our girls with local kids their own age, and that is the memory they talk about most. This is cultural immersion, not sightseeing. Here is our full Trujillo with kids guide.

Then up to Machu Picchu (the Sacred Valley extension)

From Trujillo we did the Machu Picchu extension. We flew via Lima to Cusco, gave ourselves easy guided days to adjust to the altitude, headed out into the Sacred Valley and Ollantaytambo, and then had the big early morning hiking Machu Picchu itself.

• Give yourself easy days in Cusco to acclimatize (read the altitude guide first)
• Explore Cusco and the Sacred Valley, including Ollantaytambo
• Machu Picchu with kids, early in the morning

Last, the Amazon (our own wild add-on)

We finished with a week in the Amazon, which we added ourselves with Expedition Amazonas once everyone was rested and travel hardened. Monkeys, pink river dolphins, night walks, and wildlife everywhere you looked. It is the kind of epic adventure to give your kids while they are young, before the school years lock the calendar down. (Here is our full Amazon with kids guide, and you can see the operator at Expedition Amazonas.) Prefer to book the jungle yourself? Compare Peru Amazon tours and river cruises on Viator here.

Only have two weeks? Here is what I would do

If you have about two weeks, this is my honest advice: do the guided Travec trip and skip the Amazon for now. The Trujillo immersion plus the Machu Picchu extension fills two weeks beautifully, it is genuinely easy because everything is handled, and it is the perfect introduction to the country. Then come back another year and add the Amazon as its own adventure. You do not have to see all of Peru in one trip, and trying to with kids is how a dream trip turns into a slog.

What we are saving for next time: Lake Titicaca

We researched Lake Titicaca and really wanted to go, but we simply ran out of time, and honestly the altitude jump felt like a lot with a two year old in tow. So we left it, the way we always leave one thing to come back for. For us, that one thing is the floating reed islands of the Uros, the famous straw islands the Uros people have built and lived on from totora reeds out on the lake. That is the trip already waiting for us.

How we made a route this big feel easy

Stringing together a coastal city, the mountains, the Inca rail, and the jungle with kids is a logistical mountain of its own. The backbone of our trip was planned by Travec, and it is the reason it felt like a joy instead of a project. They handle every flight, transfer, and timing while keeping the cultural immersion fully alive, from City Friends to local schools to home cooked meals.

Your family gets $200 off a Travec family group trip with code BRAVEFAMILY at traveltravec.com. Honest fine print: family group trips only, not combinable with other promos, applied at booking. If you would rather DIY any portion, you can browse family stays in Lima, Trujillo, Cusco, and the Sacred Valley.

Insure the whole route

A trip this varied, with altitude and jungle, is exactly when you want coverage. We use SafetyWing, built for families always on the move. Sort it before you fly.

This route gave us the trip of a lifetime, in the right order. Start with the full Peru with kids guide, and grab all my family guides here.

What family travel insurance actually costs

We never travel or live abroad without it. Here is the live price from SafetyWing:

Xoxo, Marae: your travel mom bestie
www.bravefreetravel.com

More Peru guides: altitude sickness with kids in Cusco, our week in the Peruvian Amazon, Lima with kids, and what to pack for Peru.

Peru Itinerary With Kids: Frequently Asked Questions

How many days do you need for a family trip to Peru?

A minimum of 14 days gives families a meaningful Peru experience. This allows 2-3 days in Lima, 2 days acclimatizing in Cusco, a day trip to Machu Picchu, time in the Sacred Valley, and 4-5 days in the Amazon. Families with more time can add Trujillo and the north coast. Two weeks is the sweet spot for a purposeful trip that doesn’t feel rushed.

Should I visit Machu Picchu or the Amazon first on a Peru family trip?

Do the Amazon first, then Cusco and Machu Picchu. The Amazon is at low altitude (300-400m) and gets humid and rainy in the afternoons, so energy levels matter less. Flying from Lima to Puerto Maldonado or Iquitos first, then finishing in the highlands, means you end the trip at altitude, where acclimatization is cumulative and you’ll feel better by the time you hike to the Sun Gate.

Is Machu Picchu worth it with a toddler or young child?

Yes, with the right preparation. Buy tickets weeks in advance (the daily limit sells out fast), choose the early morning entry, and bring a carrier for children under 4. Machu Picchu is largely unpaved and stroller-unfriendly, but the experience of watching a small child take in those ruins is something that stays with families forever. Stick to the main circuit and skip the Sun Gate hike with very young kids.

Shop Our Amazon Picks

We put together everything we actually travel with in one place. Browse our full Amazon storefront, packing lists, worldschooling supplies, and family travel gear organized by destination.

A Note on Group Travel: How We Did This Route

We traveled Peru with Travec, a woman-owned, teacher-owned family travel company, on one of their Group Adventures with five families. If you are wondering how we managed Trujillo-first (rather than flying straight to Cusco), Machu Picchu tickets at the right time, the altitude acclimatization, and the logistics between regions with young children: the answer is that we did not manage it ourselves. Travec’s local team did.

Their City Friends program in Trujillo pairs your family with a local Peruvian family with children the same age as yours for a full day together, one of the most genuinely immersive things we have done on any trip anywhere. It is not arranged tourism. It is an actual connection.

For Machu Picchu, they booked us midday entry (fewer crowds than dawn, and children who had already eaten breakfast) and split the group by age, younger kids on the lower circuit, older kids higher. Both groups got Machu Picchu. Nobody was pushed past what they could do.

If you want to do this itinerary without building every piece yourself: traveltravec.com. Use code BRAVEFAMILY for $200 off.

For everything we actually travel with for kids ages 2-8, browse our Worldschooling Supplies list on Amazon, curated from real trips to Spain, Italy, Japan, and Peru.

Packing for Peru with kids? Browse our Peru Family Packing List on Amazon, everything we packed for the Amazon jungle, Machu Picchu, and Cusco with kids.