Nazca: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

Now in Nazca--:--:--

--°

Between about 500 BC and AD 500 the Nazca people cleared the dark, iron-coated stones off the pampa and laid bare the pale ground beneath, drawing hundreds of straight lines, trapezoids and some seventy animals and plants. Almost no rain falls and the wind carries little sand, so the marks have lasted two thousand years. Why they were made is the mystery: calendars, paths for rituals walked on foot, or prayers for water in one of the driest places on earth. This route sees them from the air and from the ground, then drives north to the older hillside figures of Palpa, about a full day with the flight.

A short history of Nazca

Between the 1st century BC and the 8th century AD the Nazca culture lived in these valleys, leaving behind colourful pottery, underground water systems that still work, and the huge lines it etched into the desert. The lines, among them a monkey, a spider and a hummingbird, can be made out only from the air, and they became known to the world in the 1920s and 1930s. The German mathematician Maria Reiche studied and protected them from 1946 until her death. In 1994 they were declared a World Heritage Site. In 1996 a severe earthquake struck the town itself.

The ten best sights in Nazca

1
Plaza de Armas
The small main square; agencies and cafés for the Lines are in the streets around it
2
Plaza Bolognesi
The second square, at the end of the pedestrian street of restaurants
3
Nazca Lines
The geoglyphs cover the pampa north of town; see them from the air, then from the towers
4
Mirador Tower
A metal tower beside the Pan-American, about 25 km north; the Tree and the Hands from above
5
María Reiche House Museum
The room where the Lines' great keeper lived and worked, with her tools and her grave
6
Antonini Museum
Nazca pottery and textiles from the Cahuachi digs; go before the Lines to understand them
7
María Reiche Planetarium
An evening talk on the Lines and the sky, in the Hotel Nazca Lines
8
Cantalloc Aqueducts
Spiral wells into Nazca underground channels, 4 km from town and still carrying water
9
Ocongalla Aqueduct
Another set of puquios west of town, with far fewer visitors than Cantalloc
10
Chauchilla Cemetery
Open tombs with seated mummies in the desert, 30 km south; go in the cool morning

sleepntripWonders of the world12 wonders, and a hotel near each

For every wonder: a nearby city, a route and a hotel up to $80.

To the wonders

What is an audio walk?

Tours in Nazca →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Nazca:

Free walking tours in Nazca

Drawings for the sky

María Reiche Neuman Aerodrome · The flight takes about half an hour in a small Cessna and covers a dozen figures, among them the hummingbird, the monkey and the spider. In 1941 the American historian Paul Kosok watched the sun set at the end of one line on the winter solstice and called the pampa the largest astronomy book in the world.
Mirador Tower · The Pan-American Highway was built straight across the pampa in the 1930s, before anyone grasped what the lines were, and it cut the figure of the lizard in two. From the tower beside the road you look down on the Tree and the Hands.
María Reiche House Museum · Maria Reiche, a German mathematician born in Dresden in 1903, spent half a century measuring the lines, sweeping them clean with brooms and fighting to keep cars and farms off the pampa. She died in 1998 and is buried here, beside the house where she lived.
Nazca Lines · UNESCO listed the lines and geoglyphs of Nazca and Palpa as a World Heritage Site in 1994. The figures are so large that most can only be read from the air: the hummingbird alone is close to 100 metres long.
Palpa Lines Viewpoint · At Palpa many figures were drawn on the slopes of the hills rather than on the flat pampa, so they can be seen from below. Some are older than Nazca's, made by the Paracas culture that came before the Nazca.
Palpa Lines · Since 2019 Japanese researchers from Yamagata University, working with IBM, have used AI on aerial images to find hundreds of figures nobody had noticed. Many of the new ones are small, faint figures beside old footpaths, meant to be seen by people walking past rather than from the sky.

Water and the dead

The same people who drew on the pampa had to farm in a valley where the river runs dry for months. Their answer was the puquios, underground channels that tap the water table, and some still feed fields today. Their dead they buried in the dry desert, which kept them, and their gods they honoured at Cahuachi, a city of adobe mounds built for ceremonies, not for living in. This route covers about 120 km on desert roads around Nazca; a day, best started early.

Antonini Museum · The museum was set up by the Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Orefici, who has dug at Cahuachi since the 1980s. In its garden runs a stretch of the Bisambra aqueduct, so you can see a working Nazca channel before the ones in the desert.
Cantalloc Aqueducts · The spiral openings, called ojos or eyes, wind down to the channels so farmers could climb in to clean them. One theory holds that the wind blowing into the spirals pushed air through the tunnels and helped the water flow.
Ocongalla Aqueduct · The puquios of the Nazca valleys still carry water to farms around the town, about one and a half thousand years after they were dug. Families who use them still clean the channels together each year.
Chauchilla Cemetery · The dry air preserved the dead seated in their tombs, wrapped in cotton, many still with long hair. Grave robbers left bones and cloth scattered over the ground for decades, until the site was cleaned up and the tombs put back in order in the late 1990s.
Cahuachi · Some forty mounds of adobe make this the largest Nazca site, yet it held few people most of the year. Archaeologists see it as a pilgrimage centre, where crowds gathered for ceremonies and left offerings, and some of the lines on the pampa point towards it.
Estaquería · The posts are trunks of huarango, a desert tree whose roots reach down tens of metres for water, and whose wood barely rots. Why they were set up in rows is unknown; ideas range from a ceremonial hall to a place for drying the bodies of the dead.

Nazca town and its dune

Nazca itself is a small, low desert town that lives off the Lines: agencies, hostels and restaurants around two squares, and the bus offices on the main road. Start before dawn with the dune of Cerro Blanco, the morning's only cool hours, then come back to town for the Inca ruins and an evening in the squares. Sun and dust are strong; bring a hat and plenty of water.

Cerro Blanco · The summit of this dune stands at about 2,070 metres above sea level, among the highest dunes in the world. The climb on foot takes three to four hours, and the way down on a sandboard a few minutes.
Los Paredones · Long after the Nazca, the Inca built this centre of adobe walls on stone foundations to control the road that ran from the highlands down to the coast. It is one of the few Inca sites on Peru's southern coast.
Plaza de Armas · In November 1996 an earthquake of magnitude 7.7 struck off the coast near Nazca and badly damaged the town. That is why most of the buildings around the square are concrete and only a few decades old.
Plaza Bolognesi · The square is named after Colonel Francisco Bolognesi, who refused to surrender Arica to the Chilean army in 1880 and died defending it. Almost every town in Peru has a street or square named after him.
Rico Pollo · Pollo a la brasa, chicken roasted on a turning spit and served with chips, is Peru's everyday feast. It was invented in 1950 at La Granja Azul outside Lima by a Swiss immigrant, Roger Schuler.
María Reiche Planetarium · The evening show explains the theory that held Maria Reiche for decades: that many lines point to where the sun, moon and stars rise and set at key times of the year. Through the telescope afterwards you see a desert sky with almost no light from towns.

sleepntripMystery worldPlaces whose story is not over yet

The moai, the Nazca lines, Göbekli Tepe and more.

To the mystery world

Getting to Nazca and getting around

María Reiche Neuman Aerodrome · The overflights of the Lines take off here; skip a heavy breakfast, the small planes bank hard
Cruz del Sur Station · Coaches to Lima, Ica and Arequipa, and the long night road up to Cusco

Cheap eats in Nazca

Nazca eats like the rest of Peru's coast: ceviche at lunchtime, pollo a la brasa in the evening, and chifa, the Chinese-Peruvian cooking that every town has. A set lunch menu with soup and a main can cost less than ten soles in the streets off the Plaza. Fruit juices are pressed to order, which helps in the desert heat; the flights and the dune start early, so look for breakfast the night before.

Rico Pollo · Pollo a la brasa with chips, a quarter chicken about S/ 12-16
Cevichería Luchin · Ceviche at lunchtime, a plate about S/ 20-30
Chifa Oriental · Chinese-Peruvian fried rice and noodles, about S/ 12-18
El Gran Taypa · Quick chifa to go, a taypá platter about S/ 15-20
Frutteria · Fresh juices pressed to order, about S/ 5-8
Dulces Momentos Coffee House · Coffee and cakes, about S/ 6-12

Museums in Nazca

Antonini Museum · Nazca pottery, textiles and a working aqueduct in the garden
María Reiche House Museum · Her room, notes and instruments; on the way to the tower
María Reiche Planetarium · Evening shows in English and Spanish; check times at the hotel
Palpa Municipal Museum · A small stop on the square if you drive up to the Palpa Lines
Cahuachi · Adobe pyramids still being dug; best with a guide from town

Holy places in Nazca

Nazca Lines · Walking on the pampa is forbidden; see it from the towers and the air
Cahuachi · The ceremonial heart of the Nazca world
Chauchilla Cemetery · Seated mummies in open tombs; a quiet, respectful visit
Estaquería · Rows of wooden posts in the desert, a short drive past Cahuachi
Iglesia Matriz · The town church on the Plaza; modest dress inside

Things to do in Nazca with kids

Cerro Blanco · Sandboarding down a giant dune; ages ten and up, with a tour
Cantalloc Aqueducts · Walk down the spiral steps to see the water running below
Mirador Tower · Kids can spot the Hands and the Tree from the top
María Reiche Planetarium · Stars and planets through a telescope after the show
Chauchilla Cemetery · Real mummies, for older kids who won't be scared

Where to eat in Nazca

La Encantada · Peruvian classics on the pedestrian street; lomo saltado and grilled fish
Mamashana · Pizza and Peruvian dishes in a rustic room on Bolognesi
La Kasa Rustika · Grills and pisco sours just off the Plaza
La Catedral · Café-bar for a drink after dinner
Restaurante Los Angeles · A simple Peruvian dinner, set menus at fair prices

sleepntripFree with every roomThree audio walks in every city

A guide in your headphones, stop after stop.

To the walks

Frequently asked questions about Nazca

What is there to see in Nazca?

The top sights in Nazca are Plaza de Armas, Plaza Bolognesi and Nazca Lines. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Nazca?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Nazca without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Nazca?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Nazca, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Drawings for the sky.

How do you get to Nazca and get around?

The main ways are María Reiche Neuman Aerodrome and Cruz del Sur Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Nazca, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Nazca that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

Looking for a hotel in Nazca for your dates?

Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.

All hotels in Nazca

Plan a trip across PeruIn the footsteps of the Incas→