Arrival in Lima

Upon arrival in Lima, you are welcomed at the airport and transferred to your hotel in Miraflores. Peru’s Pacific capital, founded in 1535 and historically known as the City of Kings, offers a compelling introduction to the country’s many cultural layers. Depending on your arrival time, settle in and begin enjoying the coastal setting and atmosphere of Miraflores.

Overnight: Pullman Lima Miraflores. Meals Aloft

Lima, El Carmen, Hacienda San José, and Paracas

Depart Lima through the coastal desert toward Chincha. In El Carmen, explore the heart of Afro-Peruvian culture and learn how descendants of Africans brought to the coastal plantations created traditions expressed through music, dance, cuisine, and community life.

Continue to Hacienda San José, a preserved 17th-century estate closely connected to the sugar and cotton economy and the history of slavery in the Chincha Valley. A guided visit includes its architecture, courtyards, chapel, and underground passageways, followed by lunch. Continue to Paracas and enjoy dinner overlooking the bay.

Overnight: La Hacienda Bahía Paracas. (B) (L) (D)

Optional Nasca Lines Flight, Tacama, Pisco, and Paso Horses

Drive approximately 20 minutes to Pisco Airport for the optional Nasca Lines overflight. During the approximately 90-minute flight, weather and visibility permitting, guests may see several celebrated geoglyphs, including the hummingbird, monkey, spider, condor, tree, and the figure commonly called the Astronaut. The flight is charged separately.

Continue to Tacama, whose origins date to 1540, for an introduction to Peruvian wine and pisco production, a guided tasting, and lunch. A presentation of the Peruvian Paso horse highlights its naturally smooth gait and place in coastal culture. Return to Paracas for time to relax before dinner.

Overnight: La Hacienda Bahía Paracas. (B) (L) (D)

Ballestas Islands, Coastal Wildlife, and Pachacamac

Walk to the nearby pier and board a speedboat for a shared excursion to the Ballestas Islands. Pause to see the Paracas Candelabra before continuing toward cliffs and arches used by colonies of marine wildlife. Depending on natural conditions, sightings may include South American sea lions, Humboldt Penguins, cormorants, Peruvian Boobies, pelicans, and other seabirds. Guests remain aboard throughout the excursion.

Return to the mainland and travel toward Lima, stopping at Pachacamac. Explore the museum and selected areas of this major Andean pilgrimage center, shaped through the Lima, Wari, Ychma, and Inca periods. Enjoy lunch in the Lurín Valley before continuing to Miraflores.

Overnight: Pullman Lima Miraflores. (B) (L)

Lima Market, Cooking Demonstration, and Huaca Pucllana

Visit a lively local market for an introduction to the fruits, vegetables, seafood, herbs, and regional ingredients behind Peru’s culinary diversity. Join a local chef for a demonstration centered on ceviche and lomo saltado, followed by a tasting and selected beverages.

The afternoon is at leisure. In the evening, dine at Huaca Pucllana overlooking the illuminated adobe pyramid of the ancient Lima culture, bringing celebrated Peruvian cuisine and pre-Columbian heritage together in one setting.

Overnight: Pullman Lima Miraflores. (B) (D)

Lima to Chiclayo, Túcume, and Pachamanca

Transfer to Lima Airport and fly approximately one hour north to Chiclayo. After arrival, check in and enjoy lunch before visiting Túcume, a complex of 26 pyramids associated with the Lambayeque culture and set within the Equatorial Dry Forest.

Walk among selected pyramids, visit the site museum, and continue to Horcones for time with local residents and a Pachamanca cooking demonstration. This ancient technique prepares food with heated stones and provides a memorable connection between archaeology, landscape, and living culinary tradition.

Overnight: Casa Andina Select Chiclayo. (B) (L) (D)

Bosque de Pómac and the Royal Tombs of Sipán Museum

Travel early to Bosque de Pómac, where protected Equatorial Dry Forest surrounds pyramids of the Sicán culture. Birding may reveal regional endemics such as the Peruvian Plantcutter, Long-tailed Mockingbird, Fasciated Wren, Amazilia Hummingbird, and Tumbes Tyrannulet. The visit also includes community encounters, crafts, and panoramic views of the archaeological landscape.

Return to Chiclayo for lunch at Fiesta Restaurant. Later, visit the Royal Tombs of Sipán Museum, one of South America’s outstanding archaeological museums, where the burial assemblages of the Lord of Sipán reveal the artistry, authority, and ceremonial world of the Moche. Dinner includes a traditional Peña Norteña with music and dance.

Overnight: Casa Andina Select Chiclayo. (B) (L) (D)

Chaparrí Reserve

Drive approximately two hours to Chaparrí Reserve, stopping at Tinajones Reservoir when conditions allow for water-bird observation. Upon arrival, check in, enjoy lunch, and meet the local rangers.

Chaparrí is a private, community-owned protected area covering habitats from semi-desert to foothill dry forest. The reserve protects numerous mammals and birds, including many endemic species, and operates Peru’s first rescue center designed specifically for Spectacled Bears. In the afternoon, hike the Huachuma Trail in search of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and distinctive plants. After dinner, join a night walk focused on owls, nightjars, and nocturnal insects.

Overnight: Chaparrí Ecolodge. (B) (L) (D)

Chaparrí and Return to Chiclayo

Begin near the lodge, where hummingbirds may be seen bathing in the stream. After breakfast, take another guided wildlife walk and enjoy lunch at the lodge.

Return to Chiclayo in the afternoon, with birding and panoramic stops as conditions permit.

Overnight: Casa Andina Select Chiclayo. (B) (L) (D)

Chiclayo, Pacasmayo, the Lady of Cao, and Trujillo

Travel south toward Trujillo, stopping for lunch in the old coastal town of Pacasmayo. Continue across desert and agricultural valleys to El Brujo and the site associated with the Lady of Cao.

Visit the archaeological complex and museum and meet members of the research team when available. The 2006 discovery of the Lady of Cao, a woman who held authority in the Chicama Valley approximately 1,700 years ago, significantly changed scholarly understanding of leadership in Moche society. Continue to Trujillo and check in at the hotel.

Overnight: DoubleTree by Hilton Trujillo. (B) (L) (D)

Chan Chan, Huaca Arcoiris, Huanchaco, and Trujillo

Explore Chan Chan, the vast capital of the Chimú kingdom and the largest adobe city in the world. Visit the Nik-An Palace and Huaca Arcoiris while examining the city’s compounds, storage areas, walls, ceremonial spaces, and relief decoration.

Continue to Huanchaco for a ceviche and Pisco Sour cooking class with ocean views. After lunch, meet fishermen who continue the approximately 4,000-year tradition of using caballitos de totora. Guests may have the opportunity to ride a reed craft, subject to conditions and personal choice.

Return to the hotel, then visit Trujillo’s main square during the best light for photography. Dinner is served at Club Central inside the historic Iturregui Palace.

Overnight: DoubleTree by Hilton Trujillo. (B) (L) (D)

Temples of the Sun and Moon, Farewell Lunch, and Departure

Visit the Moche Huacas Museum and Huaca de la Luna, part of one of the principal centers of Moche civilization. Its polychrome murals and reliefs offer exceptional insight into Moche artistic traditions, religious beliefs, political authority, and ceremonial life within the sacred landscape of Cerro Blanco.

Enjoy a farewell lunch featuring modern Peruvian cuisine before transferring to Trujillo Airport for the flight to Lima and onward connections. Late check-out has been requested and will be confirmed closer to departure.

(B) (L)