Lima City Tour Half Day: Old Center and Miraflores
Four hours with a guide in Lima: the Miraflores clifftop, a look at Huaca Pucllana, then the colonial center and the San Francisco catacombs. US$97.
From, per personUS$97
Day trips from Lima
City tour, Pachacamac, Paracas, Huacachina and Nazca. From US$97. 5 packages, prices per person in a double room, free quote by email within 24 hours.
Photo: Diego Delso, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)
Pachacamac Half-Day Tour from Lima
A half day south of Lima at Pachacamac, the adobe temple city of a coastal oracle, with the Inca Temple of the Sun and the wooden idol in the site museum. US$97.
From, per personUS$97
Paracas, Ica and Huacachina Full Day Tour from Lima
One long day from Lima: a boat around the Ballestas Islands, a pisco winery in Ica and dune buggies with sandboarding at Huacachina. About 17 hours door to door. US$207.
From, per personUS$207
Nazca Lines, Paracas and Huacachina: 2-Day Tour from Lima
Two days from Lima: the Ballestas Islands and Huacachina dunes on day one, a night in Nazca, then the Nazca Lines overflight and the bus back. From US$307.
From, per personUS$307
Nazca Lines Flight from Pisco, with Paracas and Huacachina, 2 Days
Ballestas Islands and Huacachina on day one, a night in Paracas, then a flight of about 1 hour 40 minutes from Pisco over the Nazca and Palpa lines. US$607.
From, per personUS$607
About day trips from lima
Last reviewed October 2026.
Five tours leave from Lima: two half days in and near the city (US$97), one long day south to Paracas, Ica and the Huacachina oasis (US$207), and two 2-day versions that add the Nazca Lines flight (from US$307). All include pickup at your Lima hotel, the transport, a licensed guide in English and the entrance tickets. Meals are not included except where the itinerary says so, and the Nazca airport tax is paid at the airstrip.
Most travelers land in Lima and fly to Cusco the next morning, which is a mistake if you have the days. Use one day for the city and one or two for the coast. The half-day city tour is the right first afternoon, since Lima sits at sea level and needs no adjustment. The Paracas and Huacachina day is the one to book if you have exactly one free day, and the 2-day Nazca version if you have two.
Pick by the time you have
The table lists the five tours with the hours, the distance from Lima and the price. Lima to Paracas is about 260 km (160 mi), Lima to Huacachina about 300 km (186 mi) and Lima to Nazca about 450 km (280 mi), all on the Panamericana highway along the coast.
| Tour | Days | Hours door to door | Farthest point from Lima (km / mi) | Nazca flight | Meals | From (US$ per person) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lima city tour (half day) | 1 | 4 | 15 / 9 (Miraflores to the center) | no | none | US$97 |
| Pachacamac (half day) | 1 | 4 | 40 / 25 | no | none | US$97 |
| Paracas, Ica and Huacachina (full day) | 1 | 15 to 16 | 300 / 186 (Huacachina) | no | none | US$207 |
| Paracas, Huacachina and Nazca, 2 days | 2 | 2 days, bus back to Lima near 11 p.m. | 450 / 280 (Nazca) | yes, 30 to 45 min from the Nazca airfield | box breakfast on day 1, breakfast in Nazca | US$307 |
| Paracas, Huacachina, Pisco and Nazca, 2 days | 2 | 2 days, back in Lima about 3:30 p.m. | 300 / 186 by road (Huacachina), Nazca by air | yes, about 1 h 40 min from Pisco airport, with the Palpa geoglyphs | breakfast at the Paracas hotel on day 2 | US$607 |
Half-day tours in Lima
The city tour (US$97) covers the Plaza Mayor, the cathedral, the San Francisco church and its catacombs, then drives to Miraflores for the clifftop park over the Pacific. Pachacamac (US$97) is a half day south of the city to the adobe pyramids of the pre-Inca oracle, with the museum that holds the wooden idol. Both run in the morning or the afternoon.
One long day on the coast
Paracas, Ica and Huacachina (US$207) is a 15 to 16 hour day: pickup around 4 a.m., the Ballestas Islands by boat in the morning (you do not land, the boat circles the sea lion colonies and the Candelabra), a pisco distillery in Ica, and a dune buggy and sandboard run at Huacachina at sunset. About nine of those hours are on the road. It is worth it exactly once.
Two days with the Nazca flight
Both 2-day tours do the same coast day: the Ballestas boat, a pisco bodega near Ica and the Huacachina dunes. The US$300 gap between them buys where the plane leaves from and how you get home. Paracas, Huacachina and Nazca (US$307) drives on to Nazca for the night, flies from the Nazca airfield on the second morning for 30 to 45 minutes over the hummingbird, the monkey and the spider, then puts you on a regular bus back to Lima, about nine hours, arriving near 11 p.m. The Nazca hotel is added to your quote at the category you choose. The Paracas, Huacachina, Pisco and Nazca version (US$607) sleeps in a Paracas hotel, included, and flies from Pisco airport for about 1 hour 40 minutes over the Palpa geoglyphs and the Nazca figures, then drives four hours back to Lima for a drop-off around 3:30 p.m. Pay the extra if a night bus seat is the part you dread. Flights depend on morning fog from June to September, and the pilots wait for it to lift.
Distances and the road
The Panamericana south of Lima is a good two-lane highway, and the tour vans leave early to beat the city traffic, which is the worst in Peru. Paracas is 3.5 hours, Ica 4.5 hours, Nazca 7 hours. The Ballestas boat runs in the morning only, because the afternoon wind off the Pacific makes the crossing rough. Dress for two climates: fog and 60 F (16 C) on the Lima coast, sun and 85 F (29 C) in the Ica desert on the same day.
What is included
- Pickup and drop-off at your hotel in Miraflores, San Isidro, Barranco or the center.
- Tourist van with a licensed guide in English for the whole route.
- Entrance tickets: Ballestas boat and the Paracas reserve, the Pachacamac site, the San Francisco catacombs.
- Dune buggy and sandboard at Huacachina on the coast day.
- Nazca overflight with a licensed operator on both 2-day tours: from the Nazca airfield on the US$307 tour, from Pisco airport on the US$607 tour.
- Hotel night in Paracas on the US$607 tour. On the US$307 tour the Nazca hotel is quoted separately.
Not included: meals except the breakfasts named in each itinerary, the Nazca airfield tax on the US$307 tour (PEN 37, about US$12, paid on the spot), any fee charged on the spot at Pisco airport, tips and insurance.
Read before you book
Read our Huacachina oasis guide: dunes, buggies and when to go and what the Nazca Lines flight is like, and who should skip it, since the small plane is not for everyone.
Destinations in these packages
Each place has its own page with altitude, how to get there and every package that includes it.
Questions about day trips from lima
Can you see the Nazca Lines in a day from Lima?
Not comfortably. Nazca is about 450 km (280 mi) and seven hours each way, and the flights go in the morning, so a one-day attempt means fourteen hours in a van for thirty minutes in the air. Our two 2-day tours do the coast on day one and fly on the morning of day two. The US$307 tour sleeps in Nazca, flies from the Nazca airfield and takes the bus back to Lima, arriving near 11 p.m. The US$607 tour sleeps in Paracas, flies from Pisco airport and has you back in Lima by about 3:30 p.m.
How far is Paracas from Lima?
About 260 km (160 mi) south on the Panamericana, 3.5 hours by van without the city traffic, which is why the tours leave around 4 a.m. The Ballestas Islands boat leaves from the Paracas pier in the morning and circles the islands for about two hours. You are back on the road by 11 a.m. for Ica and Huacachina.
Is the Nazca flight safe?
Flights run with licensed operators out of the Maria Reiche airstrip in Nazca, or out of Pisco airport for the US$607 tour, in light aircraft with 4 to 12 seats, and the pilots bank the plane on both sides so every window sees each figure. The banking makes some people queasy, so eat a light breakfast and skip it if you get motion sick. Fog can delay departures from June to September. Bring your passport and the airport tax in cash.
Which day trip should I do if I only have one day in Lima?
Paracas and Huacachina, if you can handle a 4 a.m. start and a 9 p.m. return, because the sea lions, the desert and the oasis in one day are what people talk about afterward. If you want to sleep, do the half-day city tour and a long lunch in Miraflores. Both are easy at sea level and both end at your hotel.
Do I need to be in Lima the night before?
Yes, for the coast tours. The pickup is between 3:45 and 4:30 a.m. from hotels in Miraflores, San Isidro, Barranco and the center, so a flight that lands at midnight works, but one that lands at 3 a.m. does not. For the half-day city tour an afternoon arrival is fine, and we pick you up after check-in.
Not sure which one fits?
Send your dates and who is traveling. A planner on our team in Cusco replies with the package that makes sense, or a custom plan.