Why you should spend Christmas in Peru

If you’re planning to spend Christmas in Peru this year, we can design the most incredible holiday. Here is our pick of six of the best experiences in this South American country during the festive season.

If you’re looking for somewhere beautiful, vibrant, warm and a bit different to enjoy Christmas, Peru just might be the answer. December is an excellent month to travel in this incredible South American country – at this time of year, the coastal regions, including Lima and northern Peru, experience glorious sunshine, warm temperatures, minimal rainfall and fewer tourists. If you choose to spend Christmas in Cusco, the Sacred Valley or the highlands, it is the start of the wet season so may see some rain, but you also have an amazing opportunity to experience some Peru’s biggest attractions without the crowds.

Although ‘Navidad’ is celebrated in a more low-key way than in the West, Christmas traditions in Peru are still taken seriously in some areas, particularly Lima, making it a fun-filled place to celebrate the festive season. Usually, Peruvians exchange non-compulsory presents on Christmas Eve (often just the small children), followed by feasting at midnight.

Below, we reveal a few must-have experiences if you are tempted to enjoy a magical Christmas in Peru:

A couple of hours from Cusco, in the towns of Qu’ehue, Santo Tomas or Checca, one of Peru’s more interesting – and certainly different – Christmas traditions takes place. Takanakuy, which translates as ‘fight’ in Quechua. At this unusual celebration, people fight with their friends, foes and everyone in between. The tradition aims to ensure a happy and peaceful new year by releasing and resolving all tensions on one day. Perhaps surprisingly, it apparently works.