Peru & Bolivia Travel Blog: Expert Guides & Insider Tips 2026

There has been much ado about quinua this year, and whether the rising popularity of the highly nutritive grain will actually benefit the poorer Andean communities in which it's grown. Yet if the intensive Bolivian efforts to popularize quinua worldwide are any indication, Bolivia expects to benefit greatly from the grain's rising profile.

A demanding and exciting route's been announced for this January's Dakar 2013, which is expected to bring more than a million spectators to its starting point in Lima and 10,000 to Arequipa. Challenges will include the largest chain of dunes the off-road racers have ever had to face, and the south to north route is expected to cause some big gaps and high drama early on.

Each February, the little city of Puno alongside Lake Titicaca throw's one of South America's most spectacular festivals in honor of its patron saint Mamacha Carmen, the Virgen de Candelaria Festival. The city is currently preparing its UNESCO application for "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" status for the festival.

The Festival of the Virgin of Candelaria is celebrated in Copacabana twice a year, on Feb 2^nd & Aug 5^th. It's marked by folkloric parades with live music and vibrantly costumed dancers, religious processions combined with drunken street parties and feasting, shamans selling fortunes along streets lined with new vehicles festooned with streamers and presented for blessing with beer. It's a fun and fascinating time to be a tourist in Copacabana!

Cusco expects to receive 25 thousand tourists during this year's Holy Week (Semana Santa) festivities. This is the time of year when the Imperial City of the Incas celebrates its patron saint, the Lord of Tremors (Señor de los Temblores), also known as the Black Christ, with feasting, dancing, and processions in his honor.

The San Juan Bautista Festival is one of the year's largest and most important events for the Peruvian jungle provinces. The festival honors the patron saint of the region, John the Baptist. It takes place at the same time as Cusco's Inti Raymi Festival, on June 24th, although celebrations and events begin as early as ten days prior to the main day, and generally continue for a few days after as well.