Travel to Paracas | Hotels and Tours
Top things to do in Paracas
Paracas is for those with an interest in archaeology, lovers of boating, aquatic and extreme sports and wildlife watchers.
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Paracas Travel Guide - Planning to Travel to Paracas
The Paracas coast offers ecological and adventure experiences. Paracas is a small town catering to tourism. It serves as the jumping point for tours to Ballestas Islands and to Paracas National Reserve.
Paracas is a spa, a peninsula, a bay, a desert, a pre-Inca culture, a National Reserve and the name of a strong wind, which occurs sporadically desert sandstorms.
To enjoy the Ballestas islands the services include modern speedboats that get you close to the marine world of Paracas, where you can found sea lions, photograph the curious Humboldt penguins and thousands of marine birds. Paracas is an ideal place for water sports on its beaches highlighting sailing, windsurfing and kitesurfing, or an adventurous dune buggy safari and sandboarding.
Paracas has excellent hotels, seafood restaurants, important archaeological sites and much more .....
Generally used as a base to see the abundant wildlife of the Ballestas Islands and Península de Paracas, the area is also of historical and archaeological interest, having hosted one of the most highly developed pre-Inca civilizations – the Paracas culture from 600 BC until AD 200
Our guide to Paracas gives you expert recommendations on the best attractions, restaurants, hotels, and more.
Sights & Attractions in Paracas
Paracas Town
Small town, a spa, catering to tourism. El Chaco is the area where concentrate the tourist activities and are located the restaurants, craft market, hotels and inns and tourist pier. The jumping point for tours to Ballestas Islands, to Paracas National Reserve and desert adventures. Around the town are installed modern and luxurious hotel complexes on the sea front are where most of the luxury tourist services in the area are located. The Julio C. Tello Site Museum permanently displays items from the Paracas culture, discovered in cemeteries in the region.
Paracas National Reserve
Reserva Nacional de Paracas - Is a natural protected area that has for objective the conservation of the marine ecosystem and of the characteristic formations of a portion of tropical sub desert, protection of the cultural and historical patrimony of the pre-Inca Paracas culture, and to promote the rational use of the marine resources. Outstanding the archaeological locations of "Cabeza Larga" and "Pampa de Santo Domingo" where human remains of collectors and fishermen have been located with an antiquity of 6,500 BC. A shelter for sea lions, Humboldt penguins, flamingos and many other birds. Trips to the reserve include visits to the numerous natural and archaeological attractions over its 335,000 hectares (827,803 acres). One of these is the Candelabra, a geoglyph over 120 meters long (394 feet), which can be best observed from the sea, on the route to the Ballestas Islands. The Interpretation Center offers an interesting explanation of local biodiversity and the dangers it faces.
Ballestas Islands
Three small islands, North Ballestas, Central Ballestas and South Ballestas located west of Paracas. Provide habitat for a variety of seabirds that form immense colonies, also sea lions and dolphins, which can be easily observed from a motorboat. The tour to this place is one of the most common from Paracas and takes an average of two hours. It is not allowed to land on the islands. Ballestas Islands Photo Gallery
Pisco
Located 22 Km. from Paracas. Town founded in 1640, now divided into Pisco town and Pisco port. Pisco is a peaceful village life, basically it people engaged in agriculture, small-scale trade and marine activities. Pisco has regular bus services to other tourist destinations, good hotel services 3* and 2* provide comfortable accommodations that allow tourists and restaurants. In its beaches lies the picturesque San Andres fishing village, in which there are numerous seafood restaurants , which are characterized by the presentation humble but delicious food.
Pisco has an airport without regular flights, only rent planes and flights to Nazca Lines. The port of Pisco was disabled for commercial shipping to be displaced by the modern San Martín port located in the north of the Paracas Peninsula.
In colonial times, from its port embarked grape brandy produced in Ica to all Spanish colonies in America and hence this liquor took the name pisco with which it produces the iconic pisco sour. Pisco is a brandy and the national drink of Peru.
How to travel to Paracas
The traditional way of reaching Paracas, or Pisco, is by bus from Lima, Nazca or Ica.
The new airport of Pisco has not regular flights.
Another option is a combined tour Nazca, Ica and Paracas from Lima.
