Peru at $351 RT

Everyone wants to see Machu Picchu when they visit Peru. But you don't have to travel all the way out to the mountains to see ancient ruins.

You don't even have to leave Lima!

There are about 20 of these millennia-old complexes, called huacas, scattered around the city. You could spend days visiting them all, but if you only have the time (or energy) for one, definitely make it Huaca Pucllana, located in the ritzy Miraflores suburb. This massive adobe pyramid was most likely built as an administrative site for the nearby irrigation networks, but was later used as a burial place for Wari nobles.

It also happens to look pretty dang good, considering it was built 1,500 years ago! That's about a thousand years before Machu Picchu—not that it's a competition or anything.

Oh, and did we mention they serve pretty great ceviche there? :-)