Amazing Two Day Tour to Paracas and Huacachina in Peru
After visiting Cusco and doing the Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu in Peru, we wondered what else we could see in Peru. The answers are truly endless here as Peru is such a diverse country, but we settled on an amazing two day tour to Paracas and Huacachina in Peru! During this two day tour, you will see both areas in Peru, with experiences that show the stunning wildlife, landscape, and diversity of the country.
Paracas and Huacachina Tour Overview
We booked the 2 day tour with Lima Experience (with a night in Paracas) that you can find at this link. The tour basically hits the best spots / major things to do in Paracas and Huacachina, and it gives you extra time to relax and see more in Paracas which was a highlight for us (truly a stunning place and I definitely could have spent more time here).
You’ll start the tour with an early morning pick up from your hotel (make sure to book in the locations they specify to ensure you can get picked up, or meet them at the identified location), a long drive to Paracas (you’ll likely sleep the entire way), and then hit the ground running with a quick breakfast stop and early morning tour to see the Ballestas Islands. With this tour, you will then grab your stuff and head to the hotel you booked to spend the afternoon either relaxing, or hopping one of the afternoon tours, and exploring Paracas for the rest of the evening.
The next morning you can opt for another tour, or sleep in and spend the day by the pool or beach! You will then be picked up around lunch where they will then take you to the Pisco vineyard for lunch, to learn about the production and history of Pisco, and of course a tasting. After this, head to Huacachina where they will let you explore around a little bit (enough time to walk the oasis perimeter), before heading up the sand dunes for your afternoon THRILL – dune bugging and sand boarding in the middle of the desert. Ofcourse, this is topped off with a STUNNING sunset over the rolling dunes which brings the end of an amazing two day tour to Paracas and Huacachina in Peru to a close.
What’s Included
We highly recommend this tour as we really felt we got to see everything we wanted during this period. Here’s what was included when we booked the tour:
- Ballestas Islands tour
- Lunch and Pisco tour
- Transportation between major activities and locations, and pick up and drop off from the hotel (from specific areas)
- Dune Buggy tour Huacachina
What’s NOT Included
Whilst this tour makes it easy and includes a lot, there are a few important items that are NOT included:
- Hotel in Paracas (& transportation to and from your hotel for pick up/drop off/activities).
- All meals (besides the one lunch included)
- Additional tours (the ATV tour and Kayaking tour in Paracas which you can add on when booking your tour)
- Additional snacks/items/etc that you decide to purchase
Our Experience in Paracas and Huacachina
In the EARLY hours of the morning (430-5am timeframe) we woke up to get picked up by the bus from our hotel in Miraflores (we booked hotels in Miraflores for before and after the tour). We were one of the last ones on which was nice as we got to sleep in a little more. Some buses have a washroom and some don’t (in case you’re wondering about the long drive!), but it’s so early we just ended up sleeping the whole way. We arrived in Paracas earlier than anticipated around 0830, and had about 30 minutes to grab a quick breakfast at Fruzion (delicious smoothies!), use the bathroom, and get ready for our morning tour to the Ballestas Islands.
The boat tour is included in the tour price, and you have about a 1.5-2 hour tour cruising the waters and heading to the islands to see tons of marine life. We saw tons of different bird species, seals, and most importantly penguins (we love penguins!!!). Plus the scenery of the islands and the coastline of Paracas is SO stunning. There’s also the chance to see dolphins, but we didn’t see them until the next morning.
In the afternoon, we grabbed our bags off the bus that was waiting for us, and headed off to our hotel. We stayed at The Legend Paracas resort (formally DoubleTree Resort) and managed to get an early check in and a DELICIOUS lunch. This hotel was luxury at it’s finest and we are personally really glad we stayed here, but it’s a bit expensive and far out of town thus requires extra coordination for taxi’s/tuk tun’s (they are really cheap though – 5 sol for a tuktuk one way and 10 for a taxi!). So if you plan on doing as many tours as we did and trying a bunch of restaurants, choosing a hotel closer to town is a safe option. After lunch and some relaxing by the pool, we had our afternoon tour!
The afternoon tour included pick up (but not drop off – weird) and they brought us to the ATV location. We had a two person dune buggy type vehicle (and not an ATV) which was more than fine! They provide you seatbelts, helmets, and goggles, but somehow my eyes were STILL crying from all the wind and sand (but everyone else was fine, so it must just be a me problem). This tour way about 2 hours total and we got to ATV around the National Reserve in Paracas. You are going through desert territory with stunning viewpoints of the rugged red coastline and the blue ocean and skies! This tour was one of the main reasons we were glad we booked the two day tour because you actually get to see so much of what Paracas has to offer outside of just the Ballestas Islands. Once we finished, we headed back to the hotel, got room service, and chilled out for the rest of the night as our wake up call was early!
We woke up just after 5am to make sure we were at the meet up spot in town for 545am for our sunrise kayaking tour. Although they were moving a little slow, we got to the kayaking location when the skies were still a little pink and you could see lots of bird and there were some flamingos in the water! The tour was advertised as kayaking with flamingos, and whilst we definitely did see them, they are pretty far away and there wasn’t tons of them so it’s more like a general wildlife kayak with potential to see flamingos/bird species, seals, dolphins, etc. You kayak around the coastline back to the hostel meet up spot in town, and look out for wildlife along the way whilst admiring the beautiful views and sun coming up! Near the end of our tour there were dolphins RIGHT beside us – this was the cherry on top for us.
After our kayak tour came to an end, we headed back to the hotel to relax for the morning before check out and returning to the meet up spot for 12. Between lunch on the first day and lunch on the second day, you’re on your own time (you’re no longer with the tour group you came with as they are on the one-day tour). This means you should ask to be added to the group chat for both days as they will be separate group chats as we didn’t and there was a lack of some communication, however we got picked up and everything worked fine! We headed out on our way to the vineyard, where we choose what we wanted for lunch (the food was really good and they had vegetarian and regular options), learnt about the process and history of Pisco making, and then got to try some (I wasn’t personally a huge fan, but I didn’t try the Pisco sour which is so famous!).
After the vineyard, we headed to Huacachina! It was a short bus ride over, so we had a little bit to explore the oasis and even put in some food orders at a delicious Italian restaurant so we could have dinner ready for the road back (to-go, there wasn’t enough time for a sit down dinner). Then it was time for the real deal – the dune buggy and sand boarding experience. We spent about two hours where we would dune buggy over TONS of dunes (which means steep up and downhill action, which was quite a ride), and we stopped in 2-3 different locations to sand board down. For this, they did sand boarding on your stomach because it’s such a short experience and they don’t know who has experience with snowboarding type activities so they make it accessible and quick/easy for everyone to be involved. It was still SO much fun and we went down some epic dunes (starting off small and ending big!) – it’s a lot less scary than it can seem and actually so fun! Our favourite part was definitely the end though, as they took us to a quiet location where we had a STUNNING view of the sunset over the sand dunes and watched the sky change colour until the sun dropped under the horizon. It was seriously something else!
\We then headed back and the iconic view over the oasis with the dunes in the background was crazy busy with SO many people, so we skipped that and headed back to the bus to head home. A long drive later and we made it back to our hotel where we dropped to sleep after a long shower to get rid of all the sand (you WILL get sandy during Huacachina – make sure you are prepared for this!).
Overall, this tour was such an amazing experience and being on an organized activity made it really easy to not stress about the logistics of it, but instead focus on everything fun that we wanted to pack into our schedule. We had so much fun and it was so unique compared to other activities we had done in Peru and honestly around the world – you don’t see these views everyday. We would highly recommend this experience.
Similar Tours
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If you don’t have the time for a two day tour and want to fit it into one day, or are looking for some other options, check out these tours for some more great choices!
Paracas Tours
Check out these tours if you are only interested in a day tour to Paracas, or are already there and looking for some options:
Ballestas Islands Tour: This is about 1.5-2 hour boat ride tour that takes you to the stunning Ballestas Islands to admire the scenery and spot wildlife (penguins, seals, birds, & more!).
Paracas National Reserve Tour: Buggy or ATV through Paracas National Reserve with this tour. It takes you to the most beautiful look out spots, with stunning drives to admire in between each location. Not to be missed in Paracas in our opinion!
Paracas Paragliding Tour: If you’re looking for a unique tour, this is the one! Paragliding will give you a better view of the area that most people don’t experience, and there’s SO much beauty in this area to admire.
Paracas Sunset Walk: They call this the golden trek for a reason – the views at Paracas National Reserve at sunset are stunning! Take in the scenery at one of the most beautiful locations with the sunlight bathing the area in its light.
Ballestas Islands & Paracas National Reserve Tour: This seven hour tour hits the two spots (the islands & the reserve) to give you the best views that Paracas has to offer.
Huacachina Tours
Here are some tours if you’re already in Huacachina but want to pack some adventure in your travels!
Dune Buggy at Sunset: This tour will take you through the sand dunes of Huacachina and end with the most stunning view of the sunset. You’ll also be able to sand board down the dunes on your stomach!
Sand board & Sand Ski: This tour is for those who really want to actually sand board / ski (standing up) instead on laying down. They get a few runs in, and even practice runs for those who may need a bit more guidance. PLUS they take photos and videos to share with you. This tour also includes a stunning sunset stop to admire the views before it gets dark!
Sleep Under The Stars (Camping & Sand Boarding): This tour lets you sleep in the middle of the desert under the stars, with beautiful views and adventure combined. You’ll get to sand board / sand ski, take in the sunset, and camp in the desert during the quiet hours when you don’t hear a million dune buggies flying around.
Paracas and Huacachina Tours
Full Day Tour (Paracas & Huacachina): This tour packs everything into one day, has amazing reviews, and hits the main three spots that the tour above covers (Paracas/Ballestas Islands, Pisco Vineyard, Huacachina).
Even More About Peru!
If you want more information on Peru, be sure to check out our other blog posts on Peru, and head over to our Thatch profile for our itineraries! Plus, they’re so much more on other countries to be explored if you’re looking for your next vacation inspiration.
