Must-see attractions in South Coast

  • El Carmen District

    South Coast

    A village unlike any other in Peru, El Carmen is a place where African and Latin American cultures collide with hip-gyrating results. It's famed for its…

  • Islas Ballestas

    South Coast

    Grandiosely nicknamed the ‘poor man’s Galápagos,’ the Islas Ballestas make for a memorable excursion. The only way to get here is on a boat tour, offered…

  • Incahuasi

    South Coast

    The most notable archaeological site in the Cañete Valley is Incahuasi, the rough-walled ruins of the military headquarters of the 10th Inca king Túpac…

  • Catapalla

    South Coast

    A tiny settlement 6km further up the valley from Lunahuaná, Catapalla is a traditional mountain village with quiet, traffic-free streets and a pretty…

  • Paracas Necropolis

    South Coast

    A few hundred meters behind the visitor complex on Cerro Colorado are the 5000-year-old remains of a necropolis related to the Paracas culture, which…

  • Tambo Colorado

    South Coast

    This early-Inca lowland outpost, about 45km northeast of Pisco, was named for the red paint that once completely covered its adobe walls. It’s one of the…

  • Casa-Hacienda San José

    South Coast

    Provoking many visitors to make the trip all the way down from Lima, this former slave plantation with its stately hacienda offers a window into race and…

  • Plaza de Armas

    South Coast

    Post-earthquake, Pisco’s main Plaza de Armas is a mishmash of the vanquished and the saved. The equestrian statue of José de San Martín, hand raised…

  • Museo Contisuyo

    South Coast

    Located on the site of the former cathedral, this museum funded by a multinational mining company is an excellent little repository of local…

  • Punta Arquillo

    South Coast

    Just before the Lagunillas turnoff, a spur road branches off the main La Mina road and heads to the southwest for a few kilometers to a parking area near…

  • Complejo Arqueológico Miculla

    South Coast

    This 43-hectare archaeological site is an outdoor gallery of pre-Hispanic art and is considered to be one of the most important collections of rock art in…

  • Reserva Nacional de Paracas

    South Coast

    This vast desert reserve occupies most of the Península de Paracas and houses remote beaches backed by dramatic arid landscapes and plenty of wonderful…

  • Santuario Nacional Lagunas de Mejía

    South Coast

    About 6km southeast of Mejía along an unbroken line of beaches, this 690-hectare sanctuary protects coastal lagoons that are the largest permanent lakes…

  • Centro de Interpretación

    South Coast

    Located 1.5km south of the entry point to Reserva Nacional de Paracas, this visitor center seems to be aimed for the most part at school groups rather…

  • Museo Julio C Tello

    South Coast

    Right next to the park visitor center, in front of the Paracas Necropolis burial grounds on Cerro Colorado, this recently expanded museum features…

  • Playa La Mina

    South Coast

    This beach is a short drive or walk south of Lagunillas on a dirt road and has gentle waters that make it the best swimming area in the reserve…

  • Museo Ferroviario

    South Coast

    This museum located inside the train station gives the impression of stepping back in time. You can wander amid beautiful, though poorly maintained, 20th…

  • Iglesia Matriz

    South Coast

    The town’s oldest church collapsed during a massive earthquake in 1868. It's front wall has been reconstructed sans bell tower and fronts the plaza; the…

  • Puerto Inca

    South Coast

    This archaeological site marks the spot from where fresh fish was once sent all the way to Cuzco by runners – no mean effort! The ruins include some low…

  • Paseo Cívico

    South Coast

    Unlike almost every other town in Peru, Tacna’s main plaza is not called the Plaza de Armas because the city was never formally founded by the Spanish. It…

  • Lagoons

    South Coast

    Around 7km south of Pucusana, off Km 64 along Carr Panamericana Sur, is the turnoff to the village of Chilca, famed for its muddy and mineral-rich lagoons…

  • Laguna Grande

    South Coast

    Located around 34km, or an hour's drive, south of the reserve entrance, this remote village has a large inlet protected by a peninsula sand bar that…

  • Candelabra Geoglyph

    South Coast

    A giant three-pronged figure etched into the sandy hills, which is more than 150m high and 50m wide. No one knows exactly who made the glyph, or when, or…

  • Lagunillas

    South Coast

    Turkey vultures feast on the washed-up remains of yesterday’s marine carcasses on the lonely beach at Lagunillas, 5km south of the visitor centre, where a…

  • Geoglifos Chen Chen

    South Coast

    Located just 1.5km from town, these large carvings in the mountainside show a collection of llamas or alpacas and are attributed to Tiwanaku settlers who…

  • Museo Municipal de Sitio Mallqui

    South Coast

    About 15km inland at El Algarrobal is the Museo Municipal de Sitio Mallqui, which hosts a surprisingly noteworthy collection of exhibits on the area’s…

  • La Catedral

    South Coast

    This local landmark just south of Playa Yumaque was once a majestic natural arch that jutted out into the sea but was destroyed by the 2007 earthquake…

  • Museo Histórico Regional

    South Coast

    Patriotic like everything in Tacna, this museum above the town library broadcasts a grand, somewhat triumphant, air. Huge canvases depicting key moments…

  • El Castillo de Forga

    South Coast

    El Castillo de Forga was built in 1908 on a crag between two of the beaches just south of the city center by a rich arequipeño (inhabitant of Arequipa) in…

  • Gremio de Pescadores de Puscana

    South Coast

    This is quite a scene at any time of day with oil-skinned fishermen battling with huge whale-sized fish while snappy-beaked pelicans inspect their work…

  • La Reyna de Lunahuaná

    South Coast

    A rustic bodega producing both wine and pisco (Peruvian grape brandy), venerable La Reyna de Lunahuaná presides over the main plaza in Catapalla, about…

  • Catedral Santa Catalina

    South Coast

    Have a peek inside Catedral Santa Catalina, which houses the body of 18th-century St Fortunata, whose hair and nails are said to be still growing. The…

  • Museo de Zela

    South Coast

    The small, musty Museo de Zela provides a look at the interior of one of Tacna’s oldest colonial buildings, the Casa de Zela. Here you can see some period…

  • Centro Cultural Amador Ballumbrosio

    South Coast

    The home of El Carmen’s most famous dancing family is a museum to Afro-Peruvian culture. Music breaks out here spontaneously most weekends; pop in if you…

  • Casa Posada de Teresa Podesta

    South Coast

    At one corner of the Plaza de Armas, the Casa Posada de Teresa Podesta is a stately colonial mansion with its innards still intact. It's also known as the…

  • Iglesia Santiago Apostal

    South Coast

    Lunahuaná is small with little of architectural significance outside of its main square, which is crowned by the Iglesia Santiago Apostal dating from 1690…

  • Casa Museo Basadre

    South Coast

    Named for a local historian born in 1903, this place is more convincing as a cultural center than a museum (though there’s a handful of old photos and an…

  • Parque Cristo Blanco

    South Coast

    A park on a cliff high above the town is dominated by the Cristo Blanco, a white statue of Christ raised in 2002. There are swinging seats, a knee…

  • San Clemente Cathedral

    South Coast

    Pisco’s biggest casualty of the 2007 earthquake was the colonial San Clemente Cathedral. A new, modern, red-bricked church has gone up in its place,…

  • Playa Yumaque

    South Coast

    The reserve protrudes south a fair few kilometers below the Paracas Peninsula. Dirt roads branch off just east of Lagunillas to Yumaque Beach where there…

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