Experience the best of Ayacucho

Ayacucho sits at about 2,750 metres in the Andes of southern Peru, its centre built around a broad Plaza de Armas, a seventeenth-century cathedral and a great number of colonial churches. Whitewashed houses with carved balconies line the streets, and local craftsmen are known for their retablos, painted wooden boxes with scenes in miniature. The city's older name is Huamanga, which the surrounding province still uses.

Ayacucho's Holy Week, with its processions, carpets of flowers and street fairs, is one of the most famous in Peru. About 35 kilometres to the north-east, the plain of Pampa de la Quinua was where the last major battle of South American independence was fought in 1824, and a tall obelisk marks it. The Wari ruins, remains of a great empire that predates the Incas, lie a short way north-east of the city.

Puca picante, a stew of pork and potatoes in a peanut and chilli sauce, is the dish most associated with the city, along with mondongo soup. The climate is dry and sunny from May to October, with cool nights, and rain falls from December to March. The streets are quiet and the pace unhurried.