Nazca & Islas Ballestas 5-Day Tour - Peru

This morning you’ll travel by Royal Bus from Lima to Ica, which takes around five hours and follows the coastal road. On arrival, you’ll be transferred to Huacachina, a tropical lagoon set in the centre of a desert. Your hotel is a real little hideaway, nestled amidst the pastel-coloured houses that huddle around the lagoon. Scale the sand dunes in time for sunset and sip on a Pisco Sour.

This morning you’ll get up close to the Islas Ballestas. Inhabited only by animals, these islands are crammed coast to coast with seals, iguanas, sea lions, pelicans, penguins and dozens of other birds. Passing just metres from the shore, you’ll get a great close-up glimpse of the wildlife. Afterwards, you can explore Huacachina at your own pace, try a traditional lunch or ride the dunes on a sand board.

Next up you’ll hop on the bus to Nazca, home of an ancient mind-boggling mystery. You’ll stay in a cosy hotel with swimming pool in the centre of town, a friendly tourist mecca for travellers itching to see the fabled lines, geometric figures and plant drawings that criss-cross the desert. Nobody knows how these etchings got here, and the mystery throws a magical atmosphere over the whole area.

Today you’ll be free to explore Nazca. You have a couple of options to see the lines – either take the local bus to the viewing tower 20km north of Nazca, or book a 30-minute flight to get a birds-eye view. We can’t book this in advance, so make sure you do a little research on which company to use.

Towards the end of the afternoon, you’ll be transferred to the bus station to catch the overnight bus to Arequipa, which takes about 10 hours on the sleeper service. Arequipa lies at an altitude of 2300m and, with an average temperature of 20-25C and sunshine all year round, it’s a lovely place to spend a couple of days adjusting to the altitude.