Your effortless guide to backpacking Peru
What is PeruHop?
PeruHop is a transportation company that can bring you throughout the majority of the country. They offer multiple different types of routes departing from different cities to tailor to the individual backpacker. It operates with a hop on and hop off system where you can stay in a city as long as you would like and hop back on when you are done. This allows you to travel at your own pace and also meet many different people who have similar paths. This is the easiest way to go backpacking Peru as a first time traveller.
They provide you with a wristband to ensure you belong on the bus and a guide that stays with the bus and accounts for everyone to be sure no one is left behind.
What’s included:
PeruHop also includes a lot of free meals and excursions that I would have never done otherwise. Examples include exploring slave tunnels or a pisco factory tour and tasting (both free). They also offer discounts for excursions and hostels.
PeruHop hires private transport that brings you to your hostel in a new city which is a blessing. I left my wallet with EVERYTHING in one of these vans and immediately contacted PeruHop. I received it back 2 days later with everything in it. It was AMAZING!!
What route is best for me?
There are options to start in Cusco and work your way to Lima however I found the journey much more rewarding starting in Lima. I saw each city as another step closer to Machu Picchu in Cusco. Starting in Lima eased my way into the country as well. Cusco is much more traditional- leading to more culture shock. It is also at a much higher altitude which of course leads to altitude sickness.
I chose the “To Cusco Without the Lake” for $199 USD, which I recommend. The Cusco without the Lake trip was preferred by me rather than the “Full South to Cusco” which included the Peruvian town of Puno on Lake Titicaca. I preferred to see Lake Titicaca from the Bolivian town of Copacabana and would recommend taking a bus there from Cusco after completing your journey. This includes a free stop in Puno.
On either route, you make stops in Paracas, Huacachina, Nazca, Arequipa, and Cusco.
There are other route options but in my opinion, these are the best- you do not want to miss any of these cities.
This is how you should utilize PeruHop (in my expert opinion)
Step 1: Depart from Lima
You will depart Lima fairly early in the morning at around 8am. While driving to Paracas, we made a stop at this small almost carnival like area. There was food that we ordered ahead of time on the bus (probably around $4 USD) and games they set up for us to take a break from the bus. This was very nice as I finally was able to meet people traveling the same direction as me. After we ate, we played a game with a guinea pig and prizes were involved. I won a short horse back ride while my friend won a go around on their zip line. They filed us back on the bus and we were off to Paracas.
Step 2: Arrive in Paracas
We arrived in Paracas at around 2pm and checked into our hostel. PeruHop provided us these accommodations for the night at Kokopelli which was quite a bit of fun. This is where I stayed 2 nights rather than 1. This meant my original bus was leaving and I would get on the new one. A lot of my friends from the original bus stayed an additional night as well which was fun. We had a group dinner at a restaurant and embarked on the Golden Shadows Trek in the Paracas National Reserve. I booked this on the PeruHop bus for $15 USD. It was incredibly beautiful and on of my favorite views to this day. The hostel was right on the water and had a pool and bar. It was fun, safe, and clean.
Step 3: Huacachina
After my 2 nights in Paracas, I got back on the bus and headed over to Huacachina. Huacachina is a desert oasis and quite a but of fun. I booked my hostel and activities through PeruHop. The hostel was Wild Rover for about $10USD a night and the sand buggying and sand boarding was around $22USD. As it being my first solo trip, it was extremely helpful to have these booked for me with my friends rather than wasting time looking for them on my own. I stayed the recommended 1 night which was more than enough as it certainly is a party hostel and boy was I tired the next day.
Step 4: Nazca to Arequipa
This is the first of the 2 long bus journeys. When you depart Huacachina, and hungover, PeruHop surprised us with a free Pisco Factory tour and tasting at 10am! A couple of us were still drunk and ready to go. It was one of the most fun days of my trip and really bonded my group. There was a shot contest involved that I accidentally volunteered for and after us all consuming well over 25 shots worth of pisco, we got lunch- where we ordered pisco sours. Before leaving we were sure to buy bottles for the upcoming bus ride to keep us busy.
A couple hours later we arrived in Nazca. There is an option to do the flight to see the Nazca Lines from the sky however that required staying over night (and to be sober). Instead we stuck with our original plan and just saw the lines from the climbable tower and continue on the bus to Arequipa. Be prepared, if you are doing this the same way as me, bring water. This is an 11 hour bus ride and all of us were hungover without water. You have been warned!
We arrived in Arequipa at 6 am (note that you sleep on the night bus and have a full day ahead of you). Everyone on the bus was staying at various hostels throughout Arequipa. Upon arrival, we were separated by hostel and PeruHop provided everyone with private transport there. This was extremely helpful as we were all absolutely exhausted.
Step 5: Backpacking from Arequipa
We stayed in Arequipa for 1 night to gain our bearings before heading into our 2 day and 1-night Colca Canyon trek that we booked on the bus. This excursion was $50 USD and provided us with breakfast, lunch, and dinner on both days, hostel pickup and drop off, our sleeping arrangements for the 1 night, and a guide for our trek. Quite honestly it was an amazing cost for everything included.
When we arrived back we spent that night in Arequipa and took the bus to Cusco in the morning.
Step 6: To Cusco, Peru!
Now, this part of the journey was a bit tough. The drive was about 13 hours including stops for food and breaks. Our lunch was a free buffet which was very rewarding however the altitude started rising which made me quite ill. This is another reason I prefer the bus over flying into Cusco, it gave me time to adjust rather than just being thrown into such a high altitude. When we arrived in Cusco they hired transportation yet again to bring us to our hostel. We arrived at night which meant we could finally sleep in a bed and get some rest before the various treks we were about to embark on!
Step 7: You’re done backpacking Peru!
Or are you? Sure you just backpacked the south of Peru, but there’s so much more to see! You can do as I did, and take BoliviaHop into Bolivia, or fly back to Lima. From here I recommend backpacking up to Huaraz, Peru, or even up to Ecuador. They offer EcuadorHop and soon ColombiaHop as well! Be sure to check out my experience with BoliviaHop!