Lima
~150 mThe capital, the clifftops and the best tables in South America
The Coast
Huacachina
A palm-ringed oasis surrounded by giant dunes
- Altitude
- ~400 m (1,312 ft)verify
- Altitude band
- Low
- Time needed
- 1 night
- Zone
- The Coast
A small lagoon, a ring of palms and dunes the height of office blocks. Come for a dune-buggy ride and a go at sandboarding late in the afternoon, when the light turns gold and the sand cools. Ica's pisco bodegas are ten minutes away.
No altitude effects expected. Altitude, explained
Highlights
- Dune buggies and sandboarding at sunset
- Pisco bodegas around Ica
What to eat here
Pisco
Grape brandy from the valleys south of Lima. Drink it in a pisco sour, or neat to taste the grape.
Pisco tasting
Visit a bodega near Ica or a Lima bar to taste pisco from different grapes, side by side.
Picarones
Squash and sweet-potato doughnuts fried to order and drizzled with fig-leaf syrup.
The Coast
Nearby too
Sea lions, desert cliffs and a boat ride to the 'poor man's Galápagos'
The Nazca Lines
~520 mGiant figures drawn across the desert, best seen from above
Add Huacachina to your trip
Tell us when you'd like to go and what you'd love to see. Your Peru Specialist will come back with ideas, honest advice on altitude and timing, and a clear price.