Nazca & Around
Spread over 500 sq km (310 sq mi) of arid, rock-strewn plain in the Pampa Colorada (Red Plain), the Nazca Lines are one of the world's great…
Must-see attractions in South Coast
Nazca & Around
About 4km southeast of town are the 30-plus underground Cantalloc Aqueducts, many of which are still in working order and are essential in irrigating the…
Ica
In the suburban neighborhood of San Isidro, Ica pulls out its trump card: a museum befitting a city three times the size. While it might not be the…
South Coast
Grandiosely nicknamed the ‘poor man’s Galápagos,’ the Islas Ballestas make for a memorable excursion. The only way to get here is on a boat tour, offered…
Reserva Nacional Pampas Galeras
Nazca & Around
This national reserve is a vicuña (threatened wild camelids) sanctuary high in the mountains 90km east of Nazca on the road to Cuzco. It is the best place…
South Coast
A tiny settlement 6km further up the valley from Lunahuaná, Catapalla is a traditional mountain village with quiet, traffic-free streets and a pretty…
South Coast
Provoking many visitors to make the trip all the way down from Lima, this former slave plantation with its stately hacienda offers a window into race and…
South Coast
Located on the site of the former cathedral, this museum funded by a multinational mining company is an excellent little repository of local…
South Coast
Just before the Lagunillas turnoff, a spur road branches off the main La Mina road and heads to the southwest for a few kilometers to a parking area near…
South Coast
This vast desert reserve occupies most of the Península de Paracas and houses remote beaches backed by dramatic arid landscapes and plenty of wonderful…
South Coast
This 43-hectare archaeological site is an outdoor gallery of pre-Hispanic art and is considered to be one of the most important collections of rock art in…
Nazca & Around
The most popular excursion from Nazca, this cemetery, 28km south of Nazca, will satisfy any urges you have to see ancient bones, skulls and mummies…
South Coast
Right next to the park visitor center, in front of the Paracas Necropolis burial grounds on Cerro Colorado, this recently expanded museum features…
Nazca & Around
Like Nazca, Palpa is surrounded by perplexing geoglyphs, the so-called Palpa Lines, which are serially overshadowed by the more famous, but less abundant,…
South Coast
This beach is a short drive or walk south of Lagunillas on a dirt road and has gentle waters that make it the best swimming area in the reserve…
Nazca & Around
On the east side of town, this excellent archaeological museum has an aqueduct running through the back garden, as well as interesting reproductions of…
South Coast
A giant three-pronged figure etched into the sandy hills, which is more than 150m high and 50m wide. No one knows exactly who made the glyph, or when, or…
South Coast
A village unlike any other in Peru, El Carmen is a place where African and Latin American cultures collide with hip-gyrating results. It's famed for its…
Museo Municipal de Sitio Mallqui
South Coast
About 15km inland at El Algarrobal is the Museo Municipal de Sitio Mallqui, which hosts a surprisingly noteworthy collection of exhibits on the area’s…
South Coast
A rustic bodega producing both wine and pisco (Peruvian grape brandy), venerable La Reyna de Lunahuaná presides over the main plaza in Catapalla, about…
Centro Cultural Amador Ballumbrosio
South Coast
The home of El Carmen’s most famous dancing family is a museum to Afro-Peruvian culture. Music breaks out here spontaneously most weekends; pop in if you…
South Coast
A park on a cliff high above the town is dominated by the Cristo Blanco, a white statue of Christ raised in 2002. There are swinging seats, a knee…
South Coast
The reserve protrudes south a fair few kilometers below the Paracas Peninsula. Dirt roads branch off just east of Lagunillas to Yumaque Beach where there…
South Coast
This narrow bay southwest of the visitor center features a peculiar reddish sand that contrasts dramatically with the low yellowish cliffs behind and the…
South Coast
The most notable archaeological site in the Cañete Valley is Incahuasi, the rough-walled ruins of the military headquarters of the 10th Inca king Túpac…
Nazca & Around
You’ll get only a sketchy idea of the Lines at this lookout on the Panamericana Sur 20km north of Nazca, which has an oblique view of three figures: the…
Nazca & Around
When Maria Reiche, the German mathematician and long-term researcher of the Nazca Lines, died in 1998, her house, which stands 5km north of the mirador …
South Coast
This early-Inca lowland outpost, about 45km northeast of Pisco, was named for the red paint that once completely covered its adobe walls. It’s one of the…
South Coast
Post-earthquake, Pisco’s main Plaza de Armas is a mishmash of the vanquished and the saved. The equestrian statue of José de San Martín, hand raised…
Santuario Nacional Lagunas de Mejía
South Coast
About 6km southeast of Mejía along an unbroken line of beaches, this 690-hectare sanctuary protects coastal lagoons that are the largest permanent lakes…
South Coast
Located 1.5km south of the entry point to Reserva Nacional de Paracas, this visitor center seems to be aimed for the most part at school groups rather…
Reserva Nacional Punta de San Juan
Nazca & Around
Just outside the coastal town of Marcona, this small, rarely visited nature reserve is home to large colonies of sea lions and penguins in addition to…
Nazca & Around
A dirt road travels 25km west from Nazca to Cahuachi, the most important known Nazca center, which is still undergoing excavation. It consists of several…
South Coast
This museum located inside the train station gives the impression of stepping back in time. You can wander amid beautiful, though poorly maintained, 20th…
South Coast
The town’s oldest church collapsed during a massive earthquake in 1868. It's front wall has been reconstructed sans bell tower and fronts the plaza; the…
Nazca & Around
The Paredones ruins, 2km southeast of town via Arica over the river, are not very well preserved (primarily because they were constructed from adobe…
South Coast
This archaeological site marks the spot from where fresh fish was once sent all the way to Cuzco by runners – no mean effort! The ruins include some low…
South Coast
Unlike almost every other town in Peru, Tacna’s main plaza is not called the Plaza de Armas because the city was never formally founded by the Spanish. It…
Reserva Nacional de San Fernando
Nazca & Around
A large swath of rugged coastal wilderness lodged between two river mouths is protected by this reserve 70km northwest of Nazca. In addition to containing…
South Coast
Around 7km south of Pucusana, off Km 64 along Carr Panamericana Sur, is the turnoff to the village of Chilca, famed for its muddy and mineral-rich lagoons…
