Buses leave daily at 22.00 from Cusco heading south to Puno, arriving at around 6.00 AM in the morning. Once in Puno you will be dropped at your central hotel/hostel.
Following the night in Puno we will be up early to be one of the very first out to visit the "Floating Islands" (optional extra - can be booked onboard) of the Uros people made entirely from one of the local lake reeds, totora. You can then spend the day in Puno before we head to Arequipa, leaving at 21.30 and arriving in the early morning of the following day (05.30 am) where you will dropped off again at your selected accommodation. Here you can visit the Colca Canyon, the second deepest canyon in the world or simple visit Peru's stunning colonial ‘White City’. You have a choice of hopping off for longer than the standard 2 days, or carrying on to Nazca and Huacachina.
Once you are ready to hop back on in, we will move north up the coast towards Nazca, home of the world famous Nazca Lines, which are a UNESCO world heritage site. In Nazca we stop to climb the Nasca Lines viewing tower, where you can see some of the Nazca Lines for free.
You continue north until you reach Huacachina in Ica, home of the only desert oasis in South America. Sandboarding and Dune-Buggying on these incredible dunes may just be the highlight of your trip to Peru.
After a night in Huacachina and a relaxed morning by the pool, you can visit for free El Catador pisco vineyard (bodega) where we can see how Pisco is made from the grape to the bottle. Pisco, the national drink of Peru, is fast becoming famous on the world stage, and Ica is the home of pisco growth in Peru, so this is a fantastic opportunity to sample some of the best sweet wines and pisco in the country.
Travelling a little further north the next hop spot is the small and peaceful beach town of Paracas. Here you find the 335,000 hectares of the Paracas Natural Reserve where the guide will take you on a free tour to capture some stunning photos. Paracas is also home to the Ballestas Islands, a natural group of rocks in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that contains approximately 500,000 birds, sealions and penguins all living in their natural habitat and is commonly referred to as little Galapagos.
After a night in Paracas and a day spent lying on the beach, you make your way north to a small town called Chincha. From here you leave the highway and visit a small village called El Carmen. Here you are able to visit Hacienda San José, one of the oldest and richest houses in the whole of Peru. At the hacienda, you will discover the underground tunnels that were used 300 years ago to help bring slaves from Africa from the port to the hacienda illegally.
After a fascinating tour of Hacienda San José, the bus then moves north towards the capital of Peru, Lima, and the guide will assist you with any airport transfers or hotel/hostel reservations and give you a lot of tips and advice about how best to spend your time in Lima.