Peru
Lima
Stay
Miraflores
This is a chain of hostels and haven't stayed at the others but I'd definitely recommend this one if you're concerned about traveling on the cheap and don't want to stay on the corner of Stab Street and Hooker Ave. The area is one of the richest in Lima and this place is walking distance to a lot of good restaurants, shopping, and cabs. The people who work here are also the friendliest and funniest and it definitely feels like home.
Eat
Miraflores
I've eaten at many places in Barcelona, some of which are crazy imaginative and fancy. This is the one place I'd eat at if I could only eat at one restaurant in Barcelona. It's literally a food stall within the market, there's a wait, but each dish I tried was absolutely different and delicious. People who don't eat meat or seafood I'm sorry, you will be tempted to go to the dark side.
Barranco
Their ceviche is off the hook. This place has an entrance on the corner of the building so it's kind of confusing but if you ask around it's a real neighborhood joint so people can direct you to the right place. It's pretty popular so expect a wait (but it's worth it), and know that it's closed between lunch and dinner. Barranco is an artist district so even though there's pretty bad traffic in Lima, it could be worth it to come here for lunch and explore the area after.
Miraflores
One of the best restaurants I've ever had the pleasure of dining in. If you get the tasting menu, they feature dishes inspired by al of the gastro regions of Peru- so alpaca, deer, fish from the Amazon, food incorporating coco leaves. I magically got in here without a reservation because it was lunch on Christmas Eve but it's worth it just to try and make it in. Just look at the food pictures and you'll know what I'm talking about...
Do
Barranco
This is a museum devoted to fashion photographer Mario Testino's work- he was born in Lima but has worked internationally with the likes of Kate Moss, Gisele Bundchen, and Princess Diana. Aside from the big names, he's also taken gorgeous photos of local festivals and people in traditional dress. I would highly recommend taking a trip out to Barranco just for this. There's also a museum next door, can't really say what that's about since I didn't go.
Pueblo Libre
One of the most beautiful museums I've ever been to. I've gotta say, coming from the U.S., Peru knows how to do their museums well. This museum is huge and focused on Inca artifacts, and there's also a sex section so you could get awkward with your family while still enjoying a taste of history. In the garden near the sex section there's a restaurant that's absolutely gorgeous as well, so sit back in the garden and down a few glasses of wine while you're there. Just a note though, this place is pretty far from everything but I think you can get the front desk to call you a cab.
Barranco
Yet another cool museum devoted to contemporary art. I'd recommend going here as well, last time there was an awesome exhibit by photographer David LaChapelle as well as exhibits on resource mining around Peru. That last part sounds pretty lame, but really it was cool. Another definite recommendation.
Cusco
Stay
San Blas
Very quiet, cute hostel located in the north of town, in the slightly-hilly and trendy area of San Blas. The wifi totally sucks (like most places I've stayed at in Peru), but there's a cafe down the street (Latelier by Grid mentioned below) that's super cute and has excellent wifi. Not a party hostel by any means, more of a place to stay if you want to be alone and rest. Staff is super cool too and you can leave your stuff if you're going to Macchu Picchu.
Eat
This is where I went to eat guinea pig, and DAMN was it good. They cook it in the oven for about an hour (I waited and it was worth it), and let me tell you the other stuff on the menu was awesome as well. The owner is one of the nicest, most considerate people- it was raining and I was soaked and he brought over a heater just for me, called me a cab afterwards and even helped me down the staircase and spoke to the cabbie in the pouring rain to make sure he knew where to take me. The ambience of this place was great as well, very arty (not in a gross hippy way but a rich hippy way) and cozy.
Shop
San Blas
There are two locations of this place, one at Carmen Alto 227A (which has a cafe upstairs) and the main store at Atoqsaycuchi 605A (which closes for a month when the owner travels). French-owned, this place is impeccably decorated in a Peruvian-French style with high-quality knits, handcrafted (chic and not crappy hippy-made) bags and clothes, and vintage purses. I can't even describe how hella cute this place is.
Macchu Picchu and Huaynapicchu
Warning: Do
About late December to March is the rainy season, which early on starts out with a few super light showers with strong sunlight in between on some days, then later in the season it pours every day. Bring sunscreen and bug spray. The park itself is closed for the month of February for maintenance so if you're planning your trip just keep that in mind.
When you buy your tickets there's also the option to get one for the museum/ botanical garden, I'd say it's not worth it. I've seen front lawns bigger than that garden and the museum itself contains some mislabeled items with wrong descriptions. I'd suggest hiring a guide to tour around with for the day to explain the different features of the park (around $10 in a group, as of December 2014).
Tickets
Yes, you can buy them online but that's super painful since the website sucks and will only work on a Windows computer, but if you're able to do this because you're a wizard of some sort then go ahead- that way, you can get this done in advance in your home country.
If you already find yourself in either Cusco or Aguas Calientes (most likely Cusco because I don't know why you'd trek out to Aguas Calientes without a ticket to Macchu Picchu already), you can go to the town's cultural ministry office and buy one there. And don't lose hope if you don't have a ticket already and people are telling you you have to buy it months in advance- I literally bought my ticket for Macchu Picchu and the museum two days in advance in Cusco and then one for Macchu Picchu and Huaynapicchu literally the day before I went while in Aguas Calientes. Just try.
While you're at the cultural office in Cusco you might as well walk a bit more to the bus ticket office where you can buy the tickets for the bus that'll take you from Aguas Calientes to Macchu Picchu and back, which will run you US$40 roundtrip. You could buy them here before your trip since they're valid for a few days, or at Aguas Calientes although there you won't be able to buy tickets for the next day until after 3pm.
Warning: Do
DO NOT go into the water of the thermal baths at Aguas Calientes. Literally about a thousand people go into that water every single day after hiking, and it's a single pool- think about it. A guide I spoke to said a friend of his got herpes after going there, and whether or not this is true it's definitely a testament to how gross the water must be.
Getting There
So you can do Macchu Picchu a couple of ways, if you want to cram it in one day going from Cusco then you can take a train straight there and back. I didn't do this, I did what a guide recommended to me which was:
Sacred Valley Tour
Go on any one of the hundred Sacred Valley Tours you can find in Cusco just walking around the town. You need to book the day before as they are all-day tours and leave early in the morning. I took one through Llama Path (US$20 as of December 2014) that I'd totally recommend. The guide was really good, bussed us around to the main spots, and lunch wasn't included but you could pick from 3 places they were already going to. Tell the people at the office and the guide you'll want to break off from the group at Oyataytambo, which is a normal thing.
Oyataytambo
While in Cusco, you'll want to book a train ride from Oyataytambo to Aguas Calientes (the stop is called Macchu Picchu) and back. Since the tour will get you there sometime in the afternoon, I'd suggest booking the train around 7pm so you have time to eat before getting on and don't have to freak out when the tour is running late. Now, the guide who gave me the advice said that on the way back when you arrive to Oyaytaytambo you can find a collectivo or a group of tourists to tag along with to see the other sites like Moray. Unfortunately, since it was the off-season and a bit late I only found a taxi driver at the train station and when I arrived to Moray it was super obvious that no other vehicle would ever arrive there that day so I had him wait and take me to Cusco afterwards. Anyway, you could also take a train back to Cusco from Oyataytambo, the ride is about 4 hours but you'll have to take a taxi in between two of the stops which will run you about US$40.
Aside from this, before you get to Aguas Calientes I'd say buy your essentials (snacks, water, etc.) here since it'll be about double when you get to Aguas.
Train to and from Aguas Calientes (Macchu Picchu)
There are two train companies that run this line, Peru Rail and Inca Rail. I was recommended Peru Rail which is the one I took both ways. There are different classes of trains that you can see on the website, and I took the cheapest class going to Aguas Calientes (since it was dark so you couldn't see anything outside anyway) and took the mid-level train back. On the mid-level train there was a random fashion show (where you could buy everything there, of course) and a guy dressed up as a monkey clown that danced around and scared people (totally not joking about this). But the views and seats were a noticeable upgrade from the other class, so you can decide what you want to deal with.
Aguas Calientes
I'm not going to beat around the bush, there is nothing really to do here aside from go to the gross baths, everything is way more expensive than the other towns, and wifi is pretty bad almost everywhere. For food, I went to the local market located around the corner of where you take the bus up to Macchu Picchu and had every meal there (ask the locals where it is- the food court is located on the third floor of the market). The meals are all cooked in front of you, you can get typical plates like carne asado with beans, rice, and chamomile tea (for digestion) for 5 Soles ( about US$1.85) rather than the 50 Soles you'd pay for the same thing in a restaurant 20 feet away.
Macchu Picchu
I recommend you get a guide while there, you can ask for one that speaks almost any language you want. No need to book this in advance in town or in Cusco, you can literally just show up to the entrance of the park and there will be s bunch of guides just waiting there. I'd suggest doing a group tour, which will run you about US$10. I personally don't like tours, but I'd suggest them here since you could easily walk through Macchu Picchu and see it as a bunch of rocks, but on the tour they explain to you that this boulder is shaped like a condor and that's where they did animal sacrifices, etc.
Also, eat well before you come, bring your own water and some snacks to eat while in the park, since the prices at the cafes there are eyeball-exploding, like US$5 for a friggin candy bar. Note too that the only bathroom in the whole park is in the front near the bus stop, and you'll have to pay 1 Sole to use it. Right next to it is also a lace to dump the belongings you don't want to carry around all day, which is nice.
Huaynapicchu
This hike gives you access to the tops of the two peaks overlooking Macchu Picchu and from here you can see the other ruins like the Moon Temple which you can't see from the park itself. My thinking is, you've just made the trip all the way there, so why not do this too? The tickets here are limited as only 400 people per day are allowed to go up and there are two different time slots. The entrance to the hike is at the very end of The Macchu Picchu park (which is why you have to buy tickets to both Macchu Picchu and Huaynapicchu at the same time) so you have to get there about 30 mins early to give you time to navigate through the crowds to get there. This hike is literally like doing the Stairmaster for 45 minutes straight, in the harder narrow parts you can grab a chain to help you but that's only in a couple of short sections. My friend saw a pregnant lady do it and when I went there was a hipster who hiked in straight-up leather dress shoes and designer jeans with rolled up cuffs.
Arequipa
Eat
Zig Zag
This is the only restaurant I went to, since it was super good the first time and I was only really in Arequipa for two days. It's known for serving you various meats like Amazon river fish, alpaca, duck, beef, etc. on a volcanic stone and with little flags to help you identify the animal, and you get to pick a side order of a few of the billion types of potatoes they have in Peru or quinoa with cheese, etc. Also, the restaurant itself is cute, with a staircase designed by the architect of the Eiffel Tower and a sunny seating area upstairs.
Do
Convent
I had some time to kill and thought that maybe I'd hit up this place for like 2 hours just to do something touristy. Honestly, this place is more like a mini town with actual streets, it's super well kept, and every corner you turn its like you can do a photoshoot there, it's so pretty. Also, the exhibits are so curated, I mean in the US you'd be starting at a hole in the wall and the plaque would say "they used this as a stove" but here there was even an area where they used to keep guinea pigs and they had ACTUAL LIVE GUINEA PIGS living there. Props to them.
Pablo Tours
I totally recommend this tour group, they were actually the ones who gave me the advice for Macchu Picchu without expecting anything in return, and I did a hybrid scientific expedition/tour of Colca Canyon with them and they took really good care of us. It's a family-owned company, and Edwin, who is the current owner, even took me out for a drink while in Arequipa to ask about how everything went. If you want to do a tour, pick them- they also have a network of people they work with in other parts of Peru, like Nasca.
Warning: Do
Just FYI, I went to the "magical Alpaca factory" and reality it was a giant store with a small corral for a few animals out back and some indigenous people sorting the wool and weaving. You can tip the indigenous women working there (which I recommend) but really, you're going there to shop.