A Phenomenal Peruvian Cross-Country Adventure
Peru is a unique South American country with an extraordinarily diverse landscape. With the Amazon Rainforest to the North, arid coastlines to the West, and the towering Andes Mountains down South, each trip has the potential to be vastly different. Of course you can skip everything and head straight for the main attraction of Machu Picchu, but we decided to take a 2 week road trip to experience what Peru has to offer. Here’s everything you need to know for the perfect tour of Peru.
Peru Hop
After you’ve prepared all the travel entry requirements, It’s time to book tickets for the ultimate Peru road trip! I am convinced there’s no better way to see the country than Peru Hop. They offer a luxury bus service which takes you around the top sights in a plethora of cities that you choose. Customize your itinerary based on how much time is available to travel. We chose the “Get to Cusco Quick” option which is perfect for vacations around 10 days. This allowed us to explore 5 different cities while maintaining our schedule to hike the Inca Trail.
A tour guide accompanied us along every stop along the way and we made lots of friends during the trip. The guides were bilingual, super friendly, and passionate about sharing the wealth of information about each city. Tours were aligned perfectly to the timetable and each excursion was more thrilling than the next. Many expeditions are included and other recommended activities are easily available upon checkout! Peru Hop also offers discounts for certain hotels at each destination. Let’s get into the highlights of our epic adventure!
Lima, Peru
Most journeys begin in the capital of Peru, Lima. The city of kings is known for its abundance of pre-Columbian history, colonial architecture, and inspiring street art around every corner. We stayed in the trendy Miraflores district, which is right along the beachside cliffs and one of the safest places in the city. Peru Hop arranged for us be picked up directly in front of our hotel at 6:00am. An itinerary is provided so you can keep up with the fast paced plan. We rested on the 4 hour ride to Paracas in very comfortable seats. There wasn’t much time spent in Lima, but here are a few of the highlights we managed to see:
- Circuito Magico del Aguas
- El Malecon de Miraflores
- Love Park, Los Besos statue
- El Puente de los Suspiros in Barranco
- Eat Ceviche (of course)
Paracas, Peru
This small beach town in the Ica region has a great atmosphere, delicious seafood, and is home to splendid natural environments. Our first stop was Restaurant Paracas, where a wide array of authentic Peruvian dishes were available to try. The main attraction Ballestas Island is also known as “The poor man’s Galapagos”, and is home to many marine life animals such as penguins, sealions, and pelicans. Unfortunately the wave conditions to ride the boat were far too tumultuous so it was impossible to visit the island. Instead we toured the Paracas National reserve, which contains dramatic rocky cliffs, Peru’s only red sand beach, and one of the driest deserts in the world. After the tour we went paragliding over the shores of the National reserve for some marvelous views.
Paracas is really small so it’s possible to explore everything by walking around 30mins. For dinner we went to CevicherÃa Rustikarreta where I had the best grilled octopus of my life. There’s not much to do after the sun sets, but we managed to find a bar and drank a few delicious Pisco Sours. Our hotel pick for the night was Los Frayles which was really nice. In the morning there was enough time to explore the markets for souvenirs and I ate some of the best ceviche in Peru at Karamba. The 2 hour journey resumed to Huacachina around 1:30pm.
Huacachina, Peru
The moment after entering Huacachina we noticed the huge sand dunes towering over the city. This tiny desert oasis is an adrenaline junkie’s paradise. The picturesque lagoon in the center of town is surrounded by cool restaurants, bars, and the enormous sandy hills where dune buggies zoom off into the sunset. We dropped our bags off at Hotel Curasi and headed straight for the mountainous dunes for some sand boarding. Although walking up the hills with all the boarding gear was a bit cumbersome.
Riding the dune Buggy felt like an unrailed rollercoaster and was super intense! We got to the huge slopes to try our luck with the sand boards (which is quite different than regular snowboarding). It was a little daunting at first peering over the edge of the bluff, but it’s not so bad once you get the hang of it and take your time. There’s also the option to use the belly board, which goes much faster and has a lower learning curve so I would recommend trying it. There will be sand EVERYWHERE so be prepared. After a few runs, we made it just in time to watch a magnificent sunset over the dunes. Lastly, we ended the Radical night with some Pisco Sours and genuine Peruvian food at the Banana Hostel downtown. We opted for the early 7am private shuttle to Nazca the next morning to get more time in Cusco.
Nazca, Peru
We arrived in 3 hours directly to the Nazca airport, where we awaited the next exhilarating voyage. Keep your passports handy since flying over the mysterious Nazca Lines takes you in a small Cessna aircraft for the best possible views. These ancient geoglyphs are truly awe-inspiring creations that leave you wondering if aliens were involved (probably not, but maybe…). Flights last around 30mins, where you’ll circle around many of the 40 symmetrical animal patterns like a monkey, condor, dog and more. Motion sickness is a possibility so be warned. Afterwards we got personalized flight certificates and got dropped off at Mom’s Cafe for breakfast.
Since we had the rest of the entire day open, we scheduled two more interesting tours: to the mummified burial grounds of Chauchilla Cemetery and the enigmatic pyramids of Cahuachi. For a second I felt like we were back in ancient Egypt, and was surprised how similar the pre-Inca cultures were to the Egyptians. The tours were very informative and lasted about 5 hours including driving times. Once we got back to Nazca, we had some sensational Pollo a la Brasa at El Rey Brasero. The town of Nazca is pretty run down, and there really wasn’t much else to do so I would recommend skipping the night here and heading straight for Cusco. The original tour (without the early morning transport from Huacachina) included a Pisco vineyard tour and viewing the Nazca lines from a tower.
The Road to Cusco
The hellish highways on the path to Cusco certainly made for an interesting ride. Departure from Nazca was around 8pm, and the 15 hour journey was a direct route. If you can, I would recommend making stops for a night at Arequipa or Puno, but since we were short on time we decided to spend more in Cusco. However, the bus was pretty spacious and they did provide snacks. The change in elevation is drastic compared to the previous sea level destinations, with Cusco City being at 11,152ft (3,399 meters).
Hopefully the gradual elevation gain should help acclimatize better, but there were many people onboard that still got extremely sick. We took altitude pills before departure and managed to sleep 90% of the time which most likely helped. The limited time I was actually awake I saw winding roads swerving up gargantuan mountainsides all right on the edge of a cliff. The views were great but I can imagine why people felt ill. We made 1 stop around 7am in Abancay for like 15 minutes before pressing forward. Finally around 12:30pm we reached the city! The bus didn’t drop us off at our hotel, so we had to walk across the whole town to our final destination. No one felt sick at any moment, but the air was noticeably thinner.
Cusco, Peru
Our final destination was worth the journey it took to get there. Cusco is a magical city, imbedded with a mix of traditional Incan culture and Spanish colonial architecture. From the Roman Catholic cathedrals in Plaza de Armas to the archeological ruins of the ancient Inca empire, there’s so much to do in this city. There’s plenty of tours departing from the main square, and we went on excursion to 4 different Inca ruins. Plus as a starting point for visiting the world class Machu Picchu, you’ll want to spend as much time acclimatizing possible. We spent 3 days in the city before hiking the Inc Trail. There’s plenty of tours departing from the main square, and we went on excursion to 4 different Inca ruins. Once we returned from that we flew directly back to Lima from the Cusco airport. Check out this post for more details on each of Cusco’s iconic attractions:
- Sacsaywaman
- Plaza de Armas
- Qorikancha
- Cusco Planetarium
- San Pedro Market
- Rainbow Mountain
- Take a picture with a Llama (or Alpaca)
Peru has some of the most interesting natural landscapes in the world. The best way to immerse yourself in this unique culture is by road tripping to the coolest cities around the country. Peru Hop is an excellent way to learn all about the history and experience thrilling activities. Three weeks exploring the country might be just enough time to see the best highlights. Even without one of the mighty 7 wonders of the world, Peru has so much excitement to offer. I hope this post has inspired you to plan your own Peruvian road trip! As always, thanks for reading and keep leveling up!
