Paracas, Ica & Nasca 2D/1N
sea, dunes and the Nasca geoglyphs

The first day of the Paracas, Ica and Nasca tour starts very early in Lima, with pickup at your hotel and the drive south along the Pan-American Highway to Paracas. On reaching the coast you board a boat to cruise around the Ballestas Islands, a marine wildlife refuge where you see sea lions, Humboldt penguins and large colonies of guano birds up close. During the boat ride you spot, facing the sea, the imposing Candelabra geoglyph, a mysterious figure carved into the sand that hints at the enigmas of the desert.

The trip then continues to Ica and the Huacachina oasis, a lagoon surrounded by giant sand dunes in the middle of the desert. Here you feel the adrenaline of a dune buggy ride racing across the dunes and slide down the sand on a sandboard, with time for photos and to admire the sunset, when the sun turns the landscape golden. The day is completed with a tasting at a traditional pisco winery, where you learn how Peru's flagship spirit is made and try its different varieties.

At the end of the day you continue by road to Nasca, where you spend the night ahead of the next morning's big activity. Nasca is a quiet desert town, separate from Ica, and serves as the base for the flight over the geoglyphs. Lodging is quoted separately according to the category you prefer, so it's best to bring light luggage for this single night. With a bilingual guide and comfortable transport, this first day combines sea, wildlife, dunes and tradition along Peru's southern coast.

The second day of the Paracas, Ica and Nasca tour is devoted entirely to the famous Nasca Lines, one of humanity's great archaeological enigmas and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They are huge geoglyphs traced in the desert more than a thousand years ago by the Nasca culture, with figures of animals, plants and geometric shapes stretching for kilometers across the arid plain. After an early breakfast in the town of Nasca, you head to the airfield for the star activity of the trip.

In the morning you fly over the lines in a small plane and, from the air, the most famous figures appear one by one: the hummingbird, the monkey, the spider, the condor and the well-known astronaut drawn on the desert. This aerial view, impossible to capture from the ground, reveals the scale and precision with which these mysterious drawings were made, whose purpose researchers still debate. The flight is included in the tour and only the airfield tax is paid separately; the activity is subject to weather and seat availability.

After this unique experience, you drive back to Lima along the Pan-American Highway, with rest stops along the way. You reach the capital in the afternoon or evening, closing two days that combine the Ballestas Islands, the Huacachina dunes, pisco and the Nasca Lines. The Paracas, Ica and Nasca tour is ideal for bringing together sea, desert and archaeology on a getaway from Lima, with a complete view of Peru's southern coast.