Peru Guide
Around Lima
The coast
Most of the better beaches within easy reach of Lima are to the south, beginning about 30km out at the hulking pre-Inca ruins of Pachacamac, a sacred citadel which still dominates this stretch of coastline. The site can easily be combined with a day at one or other of the beaches and it's little problem to get out there from the capital. A good stopover en route to Pisco is the former plantation town and oasis of Chincha, a fertile coastal zone in ancient times as exemplified by the substantial number of pre-Inca sites in the region. To the north of Lima, the desert stretches up between the Pacific Ocean and the foothills of the Andes. There's not a huge amount of interest to the visitor here and very little in the way of tourist facilities, but it has a scattering of archaeological sites, all of which are difficult to reach, plus – with easier access – some interesting eco-niches known as lomas, shrub-covered hills with their own unique climatic conditions and flora and fauna, of which the Reserva Nacional Lomas de Lachay is the best.
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