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In this town, the South American spirit, Pisco, has been made for centuries.

At a working cattle ranch in Northern Patagonia, visitors can ride horseback, eat traditional Argentine asado, and yes, stay the night.

Overview

Overview

Make the most of three days in Lima, South America’s second-largest city, and the third-largest desert city in the world. Day 1: Immerse yourself in pre-Columbian Peru at the Larco Museum, followed by a visit to the ruins of Huaca Pucllan, then taste the best ceviche and Pisco sours in the world in the Miraflores District. Day 2: Head to the Plaza de Armas in the historic center of the city, then to the lively, trendy Barranco District known for its art galleries, boutiques, and clubs. Day 3: Stroll through Parque del Amour overlooking the Pacific Ocean before heading to nearby Larcomar for some last-minute shopping.

Take the pulse of Chile’s vibrant capital, Santiago, in a day. Rise and shine near the Plaza de Armas, Santiago’s civic heart, with a “coffee with legs”. Visit the Museum of Memory and Human Rights. Have lunch in the capital’s oldest restaurant. And sip frothy pisco sours with a view from Cerro San Cristobal at sundown over the Andes.

The iconic pisco sour is Peru’s national drink, but there are plenty of other must-try beverages around the country. Check out coca tea and the different alcoholic and non-alcoholic corn-based drinks, for starters. The Amazon is home to various sweet and flowery elixirs, many of which are said to be aphrodisiacs. And Peru is also one of the world’s most important coffee producers. Here are the best places to drink around Peru.

Peru hotly contested a UNESCO recognition of Mexican food as cultural heritage, arguing its cuisine was equally worthy. While diners wait for that second designation to be made, they can drop in at San Miguel’s La Parada—literally “The Stop”—and enjoy a local taste of the Andean nation. Owner Juanito is best known for his ceviche—seafood cured in citrus juices—but also offers Los Fresquitos, coastal dishes served tapas-style; romantics should order the arroz afrodisiaco, accompanied by an artisanal Peruvian cocktail, such as the most authentic pisco sour in town. Visitors dining in large groups often go for the whole tapas menu.

All of my memories of Antiqua Taberna Queirolo are fuzzy at this point--not because of time, but because, well, when I was there, I usually got really drunk. This, of course, was precisely the point; the place is one of Lima’s oldest pisco bars. The experience here is simple. You walk in. You grab a marble-topped table. You order a bottle of pisco. And, once the server brings over some juice glasses, you drink it. If you’re hungry (or if you feel the need to coat your stomach), there are “snacks” that include cheese cubes and cut-up slim jims. If you’re lucky, there’ll be a football match on the TVs and you can cheer along with the locals.

When the directions to El Huacatay lead you from an unassuming street into an overgrown garden, you may be surprised. When you taste the food here—at what is one of the top gourmet dining rooms in Cuzco and the Sacred Valley—you’ll be equally surprised. Whatever you choose from the menu, you’re unlikely to be disappointed, from the melt-in-your-mouth beef tenderloin to the delicious and fresh valley trout. Share appetizers like the ricotta cheese croquettes with tree-tomato sorbet or the alpaca carpaccio. The drinks are excellent as well, with top marks for the coca sour, made with coca-leaf-infused pisco. Reserve to assure a table in this tiny boîte.

The so-called Barrio Italia is a funky, up-and-coming Santiago neighborhood where you can easily while away an entire day exploring its shops, cafés, and artists’ ateliers. The community website suggests several walking routes by theme (design and decor, culture and heritage, gastronomy and galleries, for example). Or you can wander on your own, checking out antique furniture set on the sidewalk to catch customers’ eyes. In Barrio Italia, seemingly ordinary doors give way to hidden courtyards with small cafés and shops amid geranium- and fieldstone-finished gardens. Almost everything you see is on offer, from panama hats or one-of-a-kind lamps to futuristic sofas and handmade shoes. Set aside time to sip a pisco sour or dine at Sombrerería Girardi, a restaurant on the site of a former hat factory whose original structure is still intact. Casona La Candelaria houses several shops in a beautifully restored mansion.

There’s not a drink more Peruvian than a Pisco Sour. Where better to learn about -- and taste! -- Pisco than the Museo del Pisco? I initially thought that Museo del Pisco was an actual museum recounting the history of Pisco in Peru, but instead, it’s one of the coolest bars in Cusco. The walls are adorned with photos outlining the Pisco making process, while adept bartenders sling drinks using infused Piscos. You have your choice of dozens of infusions, plus you can opt to do the Pisco tasting to get a better handle on what makes a good Pisco. The tasting (40 nuevo soles per person) was much like a wine tasting that you would experience in Northern California. Four Piscos (grape brandy) are delicately poured with their bottles on display. As you sniff, sip and taste each, the bartender gives you the run down on how each is made, where the grapes are from and what you should expect to taste. I much prefer a Pisco Sour to straight Pisco, but it was an enlightening learning experience nonetheless. A must when in Cusco.

The beef goes back centuries, and will never be entirely resolved: what are the true origins of pisco, a grape-based, aguardiente distillate that became a national symbol of Chile…and Peru. To end the conflict, the people behind this bar and restaurant invented a new, independent republic dedicated to Pisco that is known as Chipe Libre. Inside a vast Lastarria mansion, this imaginary state unites lands in southern Peru and northern Chile, in obeisance to a sole monarch, pisco. The bar features a good 100 labels and cocktails like “Pisco’s in the Air,” made with lime juice, raspberry, papaya and basil; plus a full range of what are among Santiago’s best traditional sours. Standout food include the crunchy-seafood saltado (marinated and grilled beef strips), with mango, served on a sizzling grill; the joint’s star sandwich, El Presidente, is a solid slice of roast beef, fried egg, and shoestring potatoes. To avoid any sovereignty disputes, Chipe Libre flies its red-and-black, center-starred flag as the republic’s national colors.

The pisco sour cocktail, made with a grape brandy called pisco, egg whites, lime juice, ice, simple syrup, and bitters, is now served by mixologists around the globe. In the Ica region of Peru, about 180 miles south of Lima along the Pan American Highway, pisco has been produced for nearly four centuries. Here, in valleys surrounded by sand dunes, dozens of bodegas (wineries) welcome visitors to taste pisco—Peru’s national spirit—at its source. In the town of Ica, travel agencies around the Plaza de Armas can arrange bodega tours. You can also take a taxi six miles northeast to Hacienda Tacama Bodega, a 16th-century vineyard where sommeliers offer free sips of acholados (blends) and puros (single varietals) of pisco. “Try the Albilla,” Tacama guide Sandra Ximena Gomez suggested to me. “The grapes are from vines that are more than one hundred years old.” It’s sweet, with touches of banana, lime, and tangerine. At nearby Bodega El Catador, remnants of old, wooden distillery equipment decorate the property. Take a tour, then visit the bar to sample the crema de pisco, a sort of Peruvian Bailey’s. Next, ask your driver to take you to Bodega Vista Alegre, a former Jesuit monastery that is now one of the largest pisco producers in the region. Afterward, head north along the Pacific Coast to the new Libertador Paracas Resort and Spa. For a potent nightcap, try an algarrobina at the resort’s bar. This sweet, creamy pisco cocktail is made with syrup from the algarrobo (carob) tree of northern Peru. Or, order pisco served neat, in a tiny snifter—the drink of a true aficionado. This appeared in the March/April 2010 issue.

When I visited Ica, Peru, we took a three-part winery tour through the desert. We began at a Bodegas Vista Alegre. This winery had a beautiful entrance. I couldn’t help but flashback to the movie Blow, where Johnny Depp’s character first meets Pablo Escobar. But no need to fear, this is only a winery. The tour takes you through the chambers housing old wooden gourds, full of fermenting wine and pisco, Peru’s national drink. Next we went to Hacienda Tacama Bodega, my favorite of the tour. The landscape was breathtaking, and the view from the bell tower gave you a panorama of the winery, the desert and the mountains of surrounding Ica. The final stop was at Bodega El Catador, where we had the funniest tour guide of all. The pisco was so strong at this particular location, I almost choked! So before you sample, have a chaser if you’re a weakling like me. This stop also has a dining area where you can take an afternoon meal. The entire tour was so cheap that I couldn’t believe how much we paid for the experience we got. It is definitely worth your time to take the winery tours in Ica!