Getting to Machu Picchu - Lima To Cusco - Peru Hop - August 2025

Most people traveling to Machu Picchu fly from Lima to Cusco Peru and then take the train to Aguas Calientes, which is perfectly fine when time is limited. There are many cities and attractions in between that we wanted to visit and we have the luxury of time. We were researching the logistics when we discovered a company called Peru Hop. It works like a city hop on, hop off bus, but for cities between Lima and Cusco. For each city, you can hop off and spend as many days as you'd like, then just schedule your next date to hop back on. Additionally, Peru Hop offers several optional and included tours along the way allowing us to explore areas we would have never known about. This worked out perfect for us.

On day 1, we were picked up from our hotel in Lima at 6 am and stopped along the way at a touristy place for breakfast. From there, we went to explore the Secret Slave Tunnels from the 17th century. The history is sobering and sad, and unthinkable what they went through. We arrived in Paracas early afternoon and spent the day walking this small coastal town before enjoying dinner of ceviche and drinking pisco sours - true Peruvian.

Day 2 was a busy day. We signed up for the Ballestas Island tour, which is touted as a smaller version of the Galapagos. We saw Humboldt penguins, sea lions and many birds including several types of cormorants and boobies. On our return to shore, we encountered a pod of dolphins swimming with the boat. Right behind them was a group of sea lions also swimming toward the boat. The Ballestas Islands are also known for their Guano mining (guano=bird poo). The famous Paracas Candelabra geoglyph was visible on our return to shore. After the boat tour, we stopped at the Paracas National Reserve, which is a stunning coastline along the desert oasis. On our way to Huacachina, we stopped for a Pisco Vineyard tour. Pisco is the national drink of Peru. We arrived in Huacachina around 3:30 pm, just in time for the Dune Buggy and Sand Boarding tour, which was full of adrenaline and natural beauty. The sand dunes here are the largest in South America. After this action-packed day, we slept well.

On day 3, we had the morning to relax and departed Huacachina at 2 pm for the Nazca Line viewing. They are a group of over 700 geoglyphs made in the soil of the Nazca Desert and were created between 500 BC and 500 AD. Hard to grasp they still exist and can still be clearly viewed. Back on the luxury bus for an overnight ride to Arequipa. The overnight wasn’t nearly as bad as we were thinking.

On day 4, we hopped off the bus at 5 am to enjoy an extended stay in one of Peru's most beautiful cities Arequipa, known to locals as Ciudad Blanca or White City. We arrived at our Airbnb at 5:30 am. Travel tip: book your accommodation for the prior day so you're not sitting around for hours waiting for your normal check-in time. We spent many days enjoying our time wandering around the beautiful central historic area of town, which is one of the nicest we've experienced.

On day x, we'll hop back on the bus to Cusco. Next up we'll do a full post of Colca Canyon 3-day trek.

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#AlwaysAnAdventure #LoveLovingYou #ZachMan #MissingYouSoMuch #ThisIsLife #BeKind #Repurposed #ExperiencesNotStuff #NoMistakesOnlyLessons #coddiwomple #hodophile #TravelerLife #nomads #RovingRetirement #SlowTravel #SlowLiving #ForeverOnVacation


Chapters
0:00 Introduction
0:24 Ballestas Island Tour
2:00 Paracas National Reserve
2:45 Huacachina Dune Buggy Adventure
4:23 Nazca Lines
4:53 Arequipa