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Lima and the south coast in 6 days: itinerary and hotels

Six days between capital and desert: colonial catacombs, sea lion islands, an oasis in the hollow of the dunes and the Nazca lines seen from the sky.

Sequenced by Kylian Updated on 29 August 2026

The Huacachina oasis from above, ringed by dunes
  • 6 days
  • 21 places
  • 6 nights
  • sustained pace
Start
Lima (Jorge Chávez airport)
End
Nazca, night bus to Arequipa
Main transport
Private vehicle along the coast, bus to Nazca, final night bus
Recommended season
Year-round on the desert coast; the garúa mist veils Lima from May to November

What you get

  • The complete itinerary: 6 days sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening / Hotel
  • The card of every hotel, with the address and a direct booking link
  • Quota tickets, fixed-date tickets and surcharges flagged in advance
  • The country quick guide: weather, transport, formalities, budget
  • A PDF file of 14 pages

What the price does not include

  • Flights
  • Hotel nights
  • Tickets and admission fees
  • Travel insurance
  • On-the-ground assistance during your trip

The travel book preview

The free day in full, with its hotel card. This is the sample.

Day 4

Ballestas islands and the Paracas Reserve

Morning

Boat expedition to the Ballestas islands

Departure from the El Chaco quay for about 2 hours sailing around these islets nicknamed the Peruvian Galápagos: South American sea lions, Humboldt penguins, cormorants and boobies in their thousands on rocky arches sculpted by the Pacific. There is no landing on the islands, protected since 2009.

Booking · National reserve entry, official SERNANP portal: visitaareasnaturales.sernanp.gob.pe/anps/reserva-nacional-siipg-islas-ballestas/ (new tab)

The famous Candelabra

On the way, the boat passes the Candelabra, a 180-metre geoglyph carved into the dune of a peninsula. Its origin is still debated: Paracas culture, a landmark for navigators or a masonic symbol, the mystery is part of the show.

Afternoon

Paracas National Reserve and the road to Ica

Created in 1975, the reserve protects 335,000 hectares of coastal desert and ocean, where ochre dunes plunge into a turquoise sea. The classics: the Playa Roja with its garnet sand, the Catedral viewpoint and the fishing village of Lagunillas. It is also the cradle of the Paracas culture, master of the finest textiles in pre-Columbian America. Then the road to Ica, about 1 hr 15.

Evening

8 CEPAS

An evening in Ica around pisco, the national spirit born in this valley: a tasting at the restaurant-bar 8 CEPAS, whose name refers to the eight authorised pisco grape varieties.

Good to know

Take the 8 am departure: calmer sea and better light. A windbreaker is advised, the spray soaks the front rows. Port tax and entry fee on top of the ticket.

Hotel · Night 4

El Huerto Hostel

A small guest house with a flowered patio, right in the centre of Ica a few streets from the Plaza de Armas and close to the bus station. Home-made breakfast and 24-hour reception.

Address
· Calle Bolívar 634, Ica
Check-in
3:00 PM · Check-out 11:00 AM
Book this hotel (new tab)

Buy this itinerary

€39 incl. tax

that is €6.50 per day of travel

The buy button becomes active once the box is ticked.

  • Secure payment through Stripe, bank card, Apple Pay and Google Pay
  • Available immediately in your customer account: online reading with clickable booking links, downloadable PDF for offline use
  • Method: what is checked, and when

A hotel in the itinerary closed or impossible to find, a place to visit permanently closed?

Within 12 months of purchase, email contact@etaperia.com

Itinerary corrected within 7 days, or refunded in full. Terms in article 12 of the T&Cs, on top of the legal warranty (new tab)

€39 incl. tax · 6 days

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A question before buying? Email Kylian, reply within 48 working hours.

The day-by-day rundown

6 stops, 380 km as the crow flies

  1. Day 1 Arrival in Lima and Miraflores Arrival in Lima Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  2. Day 2 Colonial Lima and Barranco Plaza de Armas Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  3. Day 3 Pachacamac and the road to Paracas Santuario Arqueológico de Pachacamac Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  4. Day 4 Ballestas islands and the Paracas Reserve Boat expedition to the Ballestas islands Free
  5. Day 5 Ica and the Huacachina oasis Adolfo Bermúdez Jenkins Regional Museum Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  6. Day 6 The Nazca lines Flight over the Nazca lines Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF

Found an error in this itinerary? Report an error

Country quick guide and logistics

The essentials of the country, scannable in ten seconds.

Weather and when to go

  • It practically never rains on the coast, but the garúa, the ocean mist, veils the Lima sky from May to November.
  • Harsh sun on the water at Paracas: take the 8 am departure, calmer sea and better light, a windbreaker against the spray.
  • Fly over Nazca in the morning: the air is more stable and cancellations rarer.

Transport and permits

  • Private vehicle along the Panamericana Sur to Ica, then bus to Nazca and a sleeper night bus to Arequipa (9 to 10 hours, Cruz del Sur or Oltursa).
  • The dune buggy is booked through the accommodation in Huacachina: take the 4 pm slot to finish at sunset over the oasis.
  • In Lima, allow 45 minutes to 1 hr 30 between the airport and the hotel depending on traffic.

Formalities and safety

  • No tourist visa for many nationalities: authorisation on arrival for up to 90 days, passport valid 6 months after entry.
  • The San Francisco catacombs can only be seen on a guided visit; Pachacamac is closed on Mondays.
  • The Nazca lines flight is booked 1 to 2 months ahead; entry to the Ballestas reserve goes through the official SERNANP portal, port tax on top.

Budget and meals

  • The Peruvian sol (PEN), about 4 soles to 1 euro. Cards accepted in the cities, cash for port taxes and entry fees.
  • Local set menu 10 to 20 soles, good restaurant 40 to 80 soles; the fine dining happens in Lima.
  • Site entries around 15 soles (catacombs, Pachacamac), Huacachina dune tax on top.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly do I receive?

Your Étaperia itinerary, available immediately in your customer account after payment: readable online with clickable booking links, and downloadable as a PDF for the trip. Every day is sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening, with the hotel for each night, its address and its booking link, and timed-entry tickets flagged in advance.

How is this better than what an AI gives me?

A generative AI composes a plausible list in seconds, without saying what was checked or when. At Étaperia, every itinerary is sequenced by hand, place by place, with the booking constraints spotted before it is too late to get them. The Method page says what is checked, against which source and on what date.

Can I adapt it to my dates and my pace?

Yes. The days are self-contained blocks: you can shift the departure, stretch a stage or skip a day without breaking what follows. Only timed-entry tickets require adjusting the dates accordingly, and they are all flagged.

What if a hotel or a place in the itinerary has closed?

Email contact@etaperia.com within 12 months of your purchase. If a hotel in the itinerary is closed or can no longer be found, or a place to visit has closed permanently, the itinerary is corrected in your customer account within 7 days, or you are refunded in full. A hotel fully booked on your dates, a seasonal closure or a change in opening hours or prices is not covered. This guarantee comes on top of the legal warranty of conformity; details in article 12 of the terms and conditions of sale.

Who is selling you this itinerary

  • Kylian, sole trader, SIRET 927 587 709 00035
  • Consumer mediator: ANM Consommation
  • Payment handled by Stripe: Étaperia never sees your card number
  • Publisher, not a travel agency: you book flights, hotels and tickets yourself

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