Peru: a guide for beginners

Lima was the trading hub and nearby Callao the key port in South America for Spain. Uprisings in the name of independence began in 1809 but were suppressed. After helping to liberate Chile, San Martín continued to Peru and tried to negotiate a peaceful settlement with the colonial authorities, suggesting the establishment of a wholly independent constitutional monarch of Spanish descent. But the royalists were divided and a military coup deposed the viceroy. San Martín entered Lima and independence was declared on July 28 1821.

Top five attractions

Machu Picchu (reopening in April, after recent floods), whether by train, trek or bus; Iquitos and the Upper Amazon river; Arequipa, known as the ciudad blanca for its buildings made from pearly white volcanic material, and a Unesco World Heritage site; the archaeological site of Chan Chan, including the ruins of the largest adobe city in the world; the high peaks of the Cordillera Blanca to see tropical glaciers and turquoise lakes on off-the-beaten-track hikes; and the mysterious, geometrical Nazca Lines, thought to have been etched into the stony desert as far back as 900BC.

Best city

Cuzco, because, despite being backpackers-ville, it has many impressive monasteries, churches and pre-Columbian buildings and is, as Che Guevara recorded in The Motorcycle Diaries, tangibly "the navel of the [Inca] world".