Any time is a great time to be in Cusco, Peru in my opinion, but the dry months of May through September are the most popular for a reason. If you’re lucky enough to be in the area in mid-June, you may get to witness the Inti Raymi Festival. If you want to be sure of it, book a tour through our partner Southwind Adventures. They run a variety of in-depth tours in Peru.

Although I’ve been to Cusco a couple times and I’ve caught a Peruvian festival here and there (like this festival in the Colca Canyon), I haven’t witnessed this grandest one of them all. The spectacle takes place on June 24, around their winter solstice, in honor of the sun god. A procession of Inca-costumed participants starts at the Sun Temple, makes its way through Cusco, and ends at the impressive hilltop fortress Sacsayhuaman. Imagine the gold flashing in the sunlight and all the colors of Peru next to walls that appear to be built by superheroes. Here’s a bit more about it on Southwind’s Inti Raymi Festival page.

You can book several of Southwind’s luxury Peru tours in conjunction with Inti Raymi including World of the Incas and Southern Highlights of Peru.

On these group tours you’ll be staying in the kinds of places you would book yourself. Southwind guests can stay at some of the best hotels around in Peru, ones we’ve reviewed in detail such as Hotel Monasterio, Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo, Luxury Collection Hotel Paracas, and Casa Andina Private Collection Arequipa.

....Kaana Boutique Resort pool villa in Belize

It’s hard to tell from tourism visitor numbers how many luxury travelers are headed to various places in Latin America. The overall numbers include shoestring travelers and billionaires, business travelers and honeymooners.

So it’s always kind of fun to look at our stats and see which countries are getting searched on the most. You can see them below.

Keep in mind this is always a bit flawed in several ways. Our audience is 2/3 U.S. and Canadian, so getting to Belize is a lot easier than getting to Buenos Aires. Also, search engine rankings are fickle, especially for content sites like ours not spending ad money with Google, so results can vary over the course of the year. Nevertheless, here goes.

Belize Luxury Hotels – This page is consistently at or near the top, throughout the year, with readers checking out reviews of resorts like Ka’ana, Turtle Inn, and Cayo Espanto to find their perfect spot in the sun.

Luxury Hotels – For those figuring out where they want to go and where to stay.

Luxury Destinations in Latin America – Ditto, with links to each country.

View from Finesterre Suites pool in Panama City

Panama Luxury Hotels – The long shot moves up the ranks as more upscale places to stay keep opening. What recession?

Costa Rica Luxury Hotels – Beat out by Panama this month, but usually near the top.

Luxury Tours – Detailed features stories on tours run by upscale adventure companies, wine tour leaders, and more.

Upscale Travel in Mexico – Resorts, tours, and a plethora of vacation/retirement real estate stories.

Upscale Travel in Ecuador – Quito, haciendas, and the Galapagos

Real Estate in Latin America – More for your money and better weather on top.

This will undoubtedly change as the year goes on from shifts in travel patterns and vacation schedules. Right now Colombia is moving up ahead of Travel Mart Latin America and my recent trip to Nicaragua brought a boost to Jicaro Eco Lodge and Aqua Wellness Resort.

I’ll be in Chile in November doing a tour with Explora, so more to come from the other end of the hemisphere…

There’s no shortage of tour companies in Peru who can lead you across the Andes to Inca monuments and Sacred Valley villages. One of our writers just went out with one of the best though: the tour company Butterfield and Robinson, best known for their upscale “slow travel” walking and biking tours.

Our correspondent got to experience that difference we try to capture, the special moments and personalized service that separate a routine tour from a fantastic one. Definitions of “luxury” can get blurry when you’re talking about an adventure tour. Paying a lot isn’t necessarily going to get you 5-star rooms every night and caviar at dinner. What it will get you is better access, unique experiences, and guides who are going to take care of every little details—including many you didn’t expect. In the case of this tour, you get a deserted Machu Picchu at sunset, hikes to villages where you’re the only group who comes by, and nothing to keep track of but yourself and your camera.

That’s the definition of luxury we go by when deciding to run any story making it into our section on luxury tours in South America, Central America, or Mexico. Sometimes that means a couple months go by between features, but we’re okay with that. When you see a story like this one, you’ll see the kind of standards we maintain. See the full feature here: Walking Peru with Butterfield and Robinson.

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There are some destinations in a country that few foreigners seem to know about, but mention the name to a local and it’s like a secret password. You’ll get a smile and a big dose of envy that you’ve gone or are about to go.

Our writer found that Fernando de Noronha is a prime example of that phenomenon, an island reserve way off the coast of Brazil. It’s exclusive, protected, and yes—expensive—but this former penal colony has kept its magical state as a result. Unspoiled coves, abundant wildlife, and stunning beaches aren’t about to get trampled. No plans for government-supported “master tourism plans” that involve a wall of condos and hotels.

All is not perfect, of course, and the fact that most tourists are domestic means that language can be an issue and some operations don’t meet international standards, as our contributor found on his scuba diving trip. Other aspects more than made up for that though. See the full story here in our Fernando de Noronha Brazil tour feature.

We’ve been covering luxury travel in Nicaragua since we launched in 2007, but the boom in tourism everyone was expecting then has taken longer to arrive than hoped. There are a few reasons for this—fear of the ex-Sandanista president’s regime for a start. Plus while there are some great luxury hotels in Nicaragua, there haven’t been many organized tours run by experienced, well-known companies in the U.S.

That’s about to change this coming April. International Expeditions, a company that’s been taking travelers to Latin America for three decades, is launching a 9-day Nicaragua tour that will start April 21.

This tour hits highlights of the northern half of the country: the colonial gem of Granada, the colonial college town of Leon (founded 1524), Lake Nicaragua, and multiple expedition areas. Over the course of the nine days, you visit four nature reserves, sleep next to a coffee plantation, and take boat rides that glide past Central America’s bird bounty. Naturally you’ll have a guide who can spot what you want to see and you can concentrate on the experience instead of taking care of logistics. Not just any guide though: “Nicaragua’s first licensed naturalist” will be with you.

Rates are set at $3,198 double, $3,987 single before airfare. This program is so new it’s not on their website yet, but they will send the detailed flyer in PDF form by e-mail. Contact International Expeditions to request it.

[Flickr Creative Commons photo by puroticorico]