Plus pit stops in the ‘Hamptons’ and ‘Galapagos’ of Peru.
A common path to see Machu Picchu ? fly front toLima , get on another flight to Cusco , then take a power train , hike , or take tour to the ancient internet site . But there ’s a estimable direction to pass your sentence in Peru that still gets you to the veneration - strike Incan ruins , while leave you to see more of the rural area . If you skim the flying between Lima and Cusco and elect to drive instead , you ’ll hit up a route littered with other unbelievable experience you ca n’t find anywhere else . BecauseMachu Picchuis really just one summit out of a mountain - range of telling pail list activities in Peru .
If you go by gondola , you could surf South America ’s largest sand dunes , ogle penguins in the “ Galapagos of Peru , ” see mummies that still have stiff of skin , and attempt to decrypt mysterious geoglyphs carve into a versant . remove the path into your own two manpower allows you to explore a slower , more rewarding and meandering journey through the unbelievable country . The itinerary also let in options to hop on a boat , propeller plane , or train before continuing via elevator car , so it ’s an all - out kind of road trip that go beyond just the road .
It ’s about 23 60 minutes of drive , though we ’ve broken the trip into a few manageable day . This agency , you ’ll have time to imbue in Lima ’s street fine art and innovative culinary art , the stunning shoreline of Peru ’s version of the Hamptons , wine - paired dinner circularise out on desert grit under the stars , and riotous valleys full of Inca - made stone streets still being used to this day . Here ’s how to road trip from Lima to Machu Picchu .
tbradford/E+/Getty Images
Driving and renting a car in Peru
Renting a car in Peru , at least at Lima ’s Jorge Chavez International Airport , is fairly similar to how you would go about it in the United States . Car rental companies likeHertz , Enterprise - Rent - a - gondola , andBudgetare available , and we advocate reserving your vehicle in advance since you ’re going to want to lock up in a rate and a gondola with four wheel drive ( Peru has some rocky roads , and potholes are common outdoors of big cities ) .
The just news is that you ’ll be push on the right-hand side of the road , same as in the US , and you wo n’t need to assure an international driver ’s permit to rent . Whoever is drive and renting will need to be at least 21 years old with a valid licence to motor . And go beforehand and get the indemnity , so you ’re shroud if you get pulled over or ( god prevent ) into an accident . The police in Peru sometimes gouge tourists for money , so be as prepared as potential with your rental document , license , and insurance at the quick .
It probably goes without tell , but mustering the courageousness to labor in another country commonly postulate being an experienced and confident equipment driver . After all , the unspoken rule of the route vary everywhere , so it ’s best to keep your brain about you . Drivers here tend to be on the assertive side and take on they have the right of way , even on minute , winding road . If you ’re aware going into it , you’re able to muscle up on your offensive and defensive skill for this trip .
Anna Gorin/Moment/Getty Images
Soak up the culture of Lima
In most fount , your flight of stairs to Lima will be a foresighted travel twenty-four hours and you might want to rest up before starting your journey — which give you the arrant opportunity to search the capital . Check in toThe Westin Lima Hotel & Convention Centerand bring your post - flight body back up to par with a span of rung in their caloric circuit . This hotel has got a great central location , the city ’s largest health club , and is home to one of the most historied restaurants in Peru , Maras Restaurant — a huge deal for those who know Lima is famous for its rich culinary scene . The try out carte from Chef Rafael Piqueras is a gorgeous , tastes - as - safe - as - it - looks introduction to Peruvian culinary art , with Andean white potato vine , fermented maize , and different ceviches in various tiger ’s milks done with Pisces , cauliflower , or even wasabi . While you ’re here , knock back a few pisco sours in the speakeasy - style cocktail bar because , hey , you ’re not get behind the wheel just yet .
Before you hit the route , take a trip to the Barranco Arts District , where cool intersects with culture via colorful street murals , cafes , modern-day art spaces , historic colonial buildings , and unripe residential area garden . Meandering on foot about 30 minutes Second Earl of Guilford will pop you in the wealthy Miraflores region . Get your fill of street food for thought at the Mercado28 food hall , watch surfers tackle thin-skinned wave from the Miraflores Beach Viewpoint , and find oneself your name on the Gaudi - style mosaic wall in Love Park . Miraflores is also a cracking shopping territorial dominion and home to Parque Kennedy , a public greenspace with a resident clutter of bozo .
Get your beach vibe on from Lima to Paracas
Rested and reinvigorated , you ’re quick for the highway . Hop on Route 1S and follow Lima ’s sullen coastline down to Paracas , the seaside holiday hot spot that ’s kind of like the Hamptons of Peru . With no stops , the 161 - mil straight shooting should take just under four hours . This stretch of the drive is n’t the most scenic , with miles of beige landscape dotted with the occasional improvised tin hut , so be sure to have a good play list cued up .
Five - whiz seaboard vacation vibes await on the water atHotel Paracas . The present moment you ill-use out of the car , there ’s an instantaneous vibration shift and change of scenery . It ’s blue sky and rustle palm tree get down now . Skip the hotel eating place and head straight for Chalana , a little eatery hutch at the end of the hotel ’s private dock with a reputation for extremely fresh ceviche .
Admire penguins and seals from Paracas to Isla Ballestas
The only way to reach the magical Ballestas Islands is by gravy boat , so suit - up and slather on the sun blocker . This triplet of uninhabited island — Ballestas Norte , Ballestas Central , and Ballestas Sur — are known as the “ Galapagos of Peru . ” The wildlife here is plentiful and moderately unique , so get your camera quick as you piano drive around the islands ’ border , eyes peel for sun ocean lions , fur seals , Blue - leg it booby , cormorant , Humboldt penguins , bright Sally Lightfoot crabs , and more .
The piddle of the Paracas Reserve are also home to pods of dolphins and Humpback whales , but be sure to keep one oculus on the land as well . Across the sprawl plain , you might be able to catch a glimpse of the mysterious Nazca Lines , enormous geoglyphs carved into the versant . Brought into popular culture after a Peruvian archaeologist came upon them in the 1920s , the who , what , when , and why of their macrocosm is still fairly unnamed ( discriminative stimulus theAncient Alienstheme birdsong and a dotty - hairedGiorgio A. Tsoukalos ) .
Several tour party in El Chabo offer tours to the Ballestas Islands , but if you need a more intimate experience , it ’s absolutely worth book the island excursion as a individual charter withVenturiathrough Hotel Paracas .
Fotos593/Shutterstock
Venture into desert sand dunes from Paracas to Ica
It ’s time to go from beach to defect with a visit to the impressive backbone dunes of the Ica Desert , an prolongation of the Atacama Desert , the driest place in the humanity . intrust that this epic risky venture will go down as one of the coolest experiences of your life . Wear tight clothing , pull your hair’s-breadth back , and be prepared to record an preternatural landscape painting . You ’ll be climbing , sliding , and hauling rump up , down , and across the largest sand dunes in South America ( as high as 1,600 feet ! ) .
To get to Ica , drive sou'-east down Route 1S , where you ’ll park the car and skid into a 4WD vehicle or dune buggy manned by a professional number one wood ( sorry , no personal vehicles are allowed in the desert ) . warp up , grab the “ oh shit handle , ” and try not to get the Adrenalin wipe out your body — store your vigor for when you pull over , get out , and get handed a sandboard to lather on and ride down the side of the silky lenient sand dune . Climbing back up the Alfred Hawthorne will be a sisyphean movement , but it ’s the only way you ’ll get another prospect to chase the rush . There are only so many runs you could do before the sun starts to localise behind the dunes , giving you 360 - degree views of out-and-out transcendent smasher .
Most tours compact it in after sundown , but theDesert Adventureoption from Venturia includes something extra special . After track the setting sun across the tops of the dune , you ’ll breast one final peak , only to speed down the side as a tented picnic — prepare up under the maven — seemingly come out of nowhere .
doramn/Shutterstock
Hunt for mummies and mysteries from Ica to Nazca
commend those mysterious geoglyphs you saw from the boat in Paracas ? Now you ’re hold out to shoot the breeze them at the seed . Three hours drive in the south on your ol’ pal Route 1S again will pass you flat to Nazca . Once you ’re here , you ’ll hop in a propeller woodworking plane for a bird’s - middle horizon of the ancient earth markings that have been stick scientists since their discovery a century ago .
Afterwards , head to Museo Antonio to soak up what we do know about the Nazca the great unwashed , indweller of the field between 200 B.C.E to 600 C.E. Keep the rarity flow with a visit to the imposingly preserve prehistoric remains at the Cemeterio Chauchilla , just a 20 mile drive south of Nazca . The combining of ancient funerary process and the arid desert mood have avail keep these momma so entire that you could still see the skin on many of the bodies as you walk through an telling collection of abstruse - dug grave . Postulate your own Nazca Line theories over a dinner party at La Kasa Rustica before lead to bed at a seemly minute ( the next day will be a hefty drive ) .
Tackle the Andes Mountains from Nazca to Abancay
lather in and get comfortable , because this nine - hour peg of the journeying is the longest — you’ll also be climbing over 5,500 feet in elevation , so sprout up on water and coca plant Camellia sinensis before you leave to combat any high - superlative core . For your patience , you ’ll be honor with window filmstrip snipping of low - settlement life and hyper - local roadside solid food place upright selling snacks that range from refreshing fruits to roasted cua cua ( guinea pig bed , a Peruvian delicacy ) . This route give unforgettable mountain view from a privied position as you cut through the Andes , whose sheer size and beauty can only humiliate you .
Do n’t permit the astral sentiment deflect you too much — you’ll require to stay alert , as route conditions vary and bus topology do n’t mechanically give passenger cars the rightfield of way . This stretch of the trip should only be driven by experient drivers .
If the driving condition freak out you out a bit too much , or you ’d rather just focus on fill your camera infinite with jaw - dropping picture , hiring a professional equipment driver is also an choice . Will it cost more ? Yes . But you ’ll also have someone behind the wheel who is used to the driving conditions and route etiquette — and knows the good places to stop , grab great local food , capture snap of the spectacular environs , and refuel along the mode .
Pakhnyushchy/Shutterstock
Head towards Machu Picchu on the drive from Abancay to the Sacred Valley
Resting quietly at the foot of the Andes , the Sacred Valley is a 127 - mile journey heading east from Abancay via Route 3S. The vale is a popular stop for traveller who require to acclimate to higher elevation before impose Machu Picchu . But fair admonition — the impossibly prominent views at this acme and the plentiful hairpin turns you ’ll take as you worm through the mountains are evenly probable to take your breath away . Again , be argus-eyed as you repel .
Several small small town and of import Incan cultural site are hide throughout the Sacred Valley , conceal and protected by the paste of stack . Check out Pisac to see some of the best preserved Incan ruins in Peru , and hit up the ruining of Ollantaytambo , once the royal estate for Emperor Pachacuti the Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cusco . ( Some historiographer believe Machu Picchu was actually build as a royal mansion house for Pachacuti . )
Once you ’ve had your fill of story and refinement , you may pump your adrenaline with river rafting , lead trekking , and careen climbing . Or snag snaps of the fragile white valley landscape produce by the Maras Salt Mines , a collection of thou of natural salt goat god that have been harvested since Incan times .
Gaile Juknyte/EyeEm/Getty Images
Assuming you ’ve stupefy Machu Picchu on your bucket list , you may maneuver flat there from the Sacred Valley . Just hold a spell through your hotel , or stay at Tambo del Inka , a divine lavishness hotel with a secret wagon train station that links up withPeruRail power train to Machu Picchu .
The Best Way to Hike to Machu Picchu Is Not the Inca Trail
End in the ancient city of Cusco
On this final leg of your route trip , you ’ll up the altitude one last clock time on a 35 - minute crusade to Cusco . This ancient city sit down high at over 11,100 feet above ocean level and is packed with almost unfathomable chronicle , most notably as the former capital of the Inca Empire between 1400 and 1534 C.E.
Steep spill street , drove of people , and narrow , rocky road make Cusco a nervus - wracking place to drive , just FYI . Park the car and get around on groundwork to natter the Cathedral of Cusco , colonial Plaza de Armas de Cusco , and the bustling and vivacious merchandiser of the San Pedro food market . You do n’t have to locomote far to find ancient narrative here ; this small but fascinating city is packed full of visible history with surviving foundations , structures , and paseo from the pre - Incan Killke , Incan , and Spanish compound times .
If you find yourself out of breathing place , it might not just be the altitude . You ’ve now driven 744 milesacrossthe country and over 11,000 above sea level . From here , you could fly out of the airport in Cusco , where you ’ll surely sleep well on the retentive flight rest home .
javarman/Shutterstock
lialina/Shutterstock
ElOjoTorpe/Moment/Getty Images
Piero Damiani/Moment/Getty Images
