Peru / Huacachina

Huacachina: The oasis in the desert (south coast)

1 to 2 days

Beyond Ica rise picturesque sand dunes, best explored by buggy in the late afternoon through sunset. Stay overnight at the Huacachina oasis (in a hotel with a swimming pool) and you can also climb one of the dunes for sunrise. If you plan two nights here, it's also worth visiting a pisco distillery in Ica.

From Ica it's just an hour and a half to Paracas, and about 5 hours to Lima. In the other direction, it's roughly 3 hours to Nazca, where you can fly over the famous lines, and around 13 hours by overnight bus to Arequipa.