There are some fantastic holiday destinations in the north of Peru but infrastructure and transport have always been a bit tricky. Slowly, however, things are coming together with more domestic flights and huge improvements to the road network in this part of Peru. A further piece of good news came today with the announcement that LanPeru - the largest and best of the domestic airlines, will be flying daily between Lima and Cajamarca from the first of September.

No surprises to any of us here at RealPeru, but his week, Machu Picchu, Cusco, and several of Peru's top hotels won a host of international awards from Travel and Leisure magazine, TripAdvisor, and IExplore.

The big news this week is that your visit to Machu Picchu looks like getting easier as the Peruvian government has now approved licences for two new companies, Andean Railways and InkaRail (respectively Anglo-Peruvian and American-Peruvian) to begin operations on the line to and from Cusco.

Cusco is somewhere most people visit on their Peru holiday and a new discovery seems set to add even more to the amazing historical riches the Inca capital has to offer.

Easter is arguably the biggest holiday in Peru, and in also increasingly popular with foreign holiday-makers, so it's always a busy time for accommodation, travel and other services. This year, that is heightened as Peru gets ready to play host to the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Trekking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is one of the most famous ways to visit this incredible lost city and for three years now the government has been issuing 500 permits a day to do just that. For the peak months of May-September they always go quickly and this year is no exception! Permits for April and May are completely booked-up and June, July and August are all now looking very busy too.

Travelling on the Andean Explorer as part of your Peru holiday is always an incredible experience: we've been saying it for years! Now we're pleased to say that the US-based International Society of Train Travellers has officially recognised it as one of the top 25 railway journeys in the world!

The Inca Trail is one of the most popular Peru holidays but the permit system now in operation means it's not always possible to get on at busy times of year and would-be trekkers often have to look at some of alternative treks to Machu Picchu. In particular the Salkantay to Machu Picchu trek, which is arguably the most spectacular, has just been named by National Geographic as one of THE top 25 destinations worldwide in its pick of the top places to visit in 2008.

A couple of pieces of flight news affecting Peru holidays this week: one is that the airport in Tarapoto (the gateway to the South-eastern Amazon basin) is going to have restricted flight hours for the rest of October; the other concerning Lufthansa restarting direct flights to Peru

Travellers planning to be on holiday in Peru during October may like to be aware that Peru's 2007 National Census takes place on the 21st of October this year. This normally does not affect travel plans but this year is a little different in that the Peruvian authorities are trying to restrict the movement of people within the country by stopping inter-provincial transport. This is to "encourage" Peruvians to register in their places of residence but it obviously has some knock-on effects for Peru holidays as well.

The relief effort has moved up a gear and things are beginning to move past the immediate need for food and clean water, although thousands remain without regular and sufficient supplies of both, particularly in outlying areas. As a company we have delivered several thousand dollars-worth of tents, sleeping bags, food and water to Pisco, which remains the area worst-affected but it is clear that normal operations will not be resumed in Pisco or the Paracas peninsula for some time. Normal bus services are operating between Lima, Ica, Nazca and Arequipa, however, and we are hopeful that normal operations can resume in Ica shortly.

Although the authorities in Peru are now talking about upwards of 500 fatalities in the affected area, the casualty figures do now seem to be stabilising. Travellers should avoid the province of Ica (Ica city, Pisco and Nazca) to allow relief workers and aid to get to the affected area. Anyone south of Nazca who is trying to get to Lima is advised to head back south to Arequipa or Tacna and fly due to the heavy traffic on the Pan-American Highway and the on-going relief effort.

Our staff in Lima have driven through to Pisco and the roads are passable, albeit with difficulty; beyond Pisco the situation is still not clear. The death toll has risen sharply over night and over 16,000 homes are estimated to have been destroyed but the national and international response is gathering pace and teams from the Red Cross, the EU and the UN are already on the ground assisting the Peruvian government. Obviously, anyone thinking of travelling to the area at the moment should change their plans to allow the relief work to begin.

Friends and relatives of people currently on holiday in Peru, or people who are looking to travel to Peru in the next few weeks will no doubt have seen this morning's news with great concern. An earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale hit the coast of Peru at 18:41 local time (23:41GMT), with four strong aftershocks following.

Wondering whether the current strike will affect your Peru holiday? Well, you'll be pleased to hear that for the moment at least, there doesn't seem to be anything to get too worried about. Although these are undoubtedly the worst strikes to affect Peru for a number of years, the claim of a "general strike" is taking things a little far and in fact life is continuing as normal in most parts of the country.

Planning a Peru Holiday trekking the Inca Trail this summer? Well, you'd better get a move on! All of the passes for the Inca Trail this year are going really quickly! Permits for July and August are completely booked-up and September is looking very busy now too. Even normally unusual times for trekking the famous trail to Machu Picchu like November and December are starting to get filled up so you really do need to get your name down soon!

Trekking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is at the centre of many people's Peru holidays, but all these people keen to follow in the footsteps of the Incas to the famous lost city does take its toll on the countryside. This is why the Peruvian goverment now closes the Inca Trail every February in order to carry out necessary maintenance work and to let the environment breathe for a month.

Cusco and Arequipa are popular places on our holidays in Peru so we, along with many other people, were understandably concerned to hear about long-term closures to the cities' airports. Luckily, after speaking to our contacts in Peru and at the Peruvian embassy here in the UK, we have been able to clarify the situation and can offer the following update.

For those of you wanting a Peru holiday with some real luxury - look no further! Confirmation of Peru's status as a growing destination for high-end travel has just been provided in the news that the Monasterio and Sanctuary Lodge hotels (at Cusco and Machu Picchu, respectively) have just been voted into the top 100 hotels in the world in the Travel and Leisure Magazine 2006 awards.

A mixed bag of news affecting Peru holidays today, as we keep you up-to-date with all the latest bits and pieces which could potentially have an effect on your holiday in Peru this year, including Inca Trail restoration work and a price rise at Machu Picchu...

Permits for the Inca Trail are getting snapped up at a rate of knots for the peak trekking months this year. Passes for July have completely gone, August will be following soon and even September is looking busy already!

More people will include some of the lesser-known areas in their Peru holiday this year, according to the regional tourist authorities of Ayacucho, Junin and Ica. The three departments have combined their research findings and they are expecting nearly 40,000 people to visit the three areas during Easter 2006.

The Peruvian government announced today that it will present a demand to the United States that it returns thousands of artefacts taken from the famous lost Inca city of Machu Picchu and which are currently in the posession of the Universtiy of Yale.

UPDATE - Thursday 16th of February- We are sorry to announce that the Peruvian domestic airline TANS have ceased trading and will no longer be offering flights to several popular destinations for holidays in Peru.

Trekking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is at the centre of many people's Peru holidays, but all these people keen to follow in the footsteps of the Incas to the famous lost city does take its toll on the countryside. This is why the Peruvian goverment now closes the Inca Trail every February in order to carry out necessary maintenance work and to let the environment breathe for a month!

UPDATE - Saturday 28th of January - We are sorry to announce that the Peruvian domestic airline TANS have ceased trading and will no longer be offering flights to several popular destinations for holidays in Peru.

UPDATE - Thursday 12th of January - In a statement released today, TANS have claimed that 90% of DGAC's recommendations have already been met and that remaining items will be cleared up during the course of the next few days.

Peru's Ministry for Transport and Communications has today grounded all flights by TANS, one of the major internal aviation companies in Peru. This surprise action by the MTC has suspended indefinitely all flights by TANS (Transportes Aéreos Nacionales de la Selva) on the grounds that they no longer feel able to 'guarantee the security of passengers'. The director of Peru's Civil Aviation Directorate, Oscar Rodríguez, explained that the decision was taken in the light of a succession of mechanical failures in TANS aircraft.

Your Peru holiday just got easier! Lima International Airport has been voted the best airport in South America in a survey conducted by Skytrax, who questioned 5 million passengers of more than 90 nationalities to come up with their results.

Problems hit the premier Peru holiday destination yesterday causing problems for thousands of people on holiday in Peru. Supporters and former railway workers for the company previously charged with running the railway line between Cusco and Machu Picchu launched strike action against the railway line and stations, preventing the normal running of the trains which daily take thousands of tourists between the two major Peru holiday sites.

The Inca Trail was chosen as the greatest "Wonder of the World" by the London-based Wanderlust magazine.

Plans are afoot for a tourist train to link the major northern Peru holiday sites.

Those of you interested in trekking as part of your Peru holiday should be aware that the current weather conditions in the central Andes are a little unsettled this year.

After much uncertainty, we can confirm that possibilities for train travel as a part of your holiday in Peru just improved with the announcement that the Central Train Service from Lima to Huancayo will run this year, although only as a limited service.

Passes for the Inca Trail this summer are going really quickly! Permits for July, August and September have now all gone and even traditionally unfashionable times for trekking the trail are starting to get filled up.

An all-new flight company has made holidays in Peru even cheaper, with the launch of a low-cost service of cheap flights direct from Madrid to Lima, Peru.

A casual encounter with the lead archaeologist in the Royal Tombs of Sipan team, led Peruvian scientist Cesar Alcorta Suero to investigate the diet of of the Lord of Sipan himself. What exactly did this person eat 2000 years ago?

From the 25th March, the government agency regulating the Inca Trail has introduced new legislation restricting the use of the trail to 500 people a day.

RealPeru took part in a workshop organised by the Inka Porter Project this weekend, where a group travelled to the village of Rumira in the Urubamba valley to participate in a cultural exchange. The village is traditionally a weaving community but the men almost exclusively work as porters on the Inca Trail.