Are you planning a trip to Peru and can’t decide if Huacachina is worth visiting? Should you include it in your Peru itinerary or will your time be better spent at other places like the jungle or the Andes mountains?

I’m a Peruvian who loves to travel in Peru and have been several times to Huacachina. I have actually traveled all over Peru so I have a clear idea of what I would recommend to friends and travelers in general that are planning a trip to Peru.

So let me tell you what I think should be an objective advice according to my experience: Is Huacachina, Peru, worth visiting? Is it a must-see location in Peru or can you skip it and visit more exciting places?

Let’s divide this in parts.

Visiting Huacachina on a Day Trip from Lima: Worth It?

More and more day trips from Lima to Huacachina are becoming more popular among travelers. This was not the case some years ago, but lately there are increasingly more tour agencies offering this trip.

But is it worth it visiting Huacachina on a day trip? If you are going to travel to Huacachina, you will get there by land. There is no nearby airport.

The way to get there is by bus, and the trip takes around 4 and a half hours by bus from Lima, so it’s not a short trip.

Going to Huacachina on a day trip from Lima means that you will spend at least 9 hours of the day on a bus. It’s not necessarily that buses are uncomfortable (you can travel in very comfortable buses depending on the bus line you take). But 9 hours is really a long time to spend on a bus!

Even though you will possibly get to experience a couple of the top activities to do in Huacachina (dune buggies and sandboarding), it will be a rushed trip that will leave you exhausted.

Plus you won’t get to experience the sunset there, which is great to see from the dunes. Also, since Huacachina is an oasis in the middle of the desert, it can be a great place for star gazing, which you will also miss out.

So if you want to visit Huacachina and have more time, I don’t recommend you going on a day trip. But if you only have one day, go for it!

Is Huacachina Worth Spending Several Days in?

Not really. Even though a day trip to Huacachina will be too short, several days will be too long. Generally speaking, one night in Huacachina will be enough, which will also depend on what time you get there.

If you get there relatively early (this can be the case if you spent the night at Paracas, a nearby town which travelers generally combine with Huacachina), one night is enough.

Your can relax in the morning and go on the dune buggies and sandboarding in the afternoon. In the evening, you can watch the sunset and maybe go glamping to gaze at the stars from the dunes.

The morning after you could do a pisco factory tour (I had a great time and learned a lot in the tour I did).

But basically that’s it, Huacachina is a very small town and there’s not much more to see.

So one or two nights can be ok, but more than that can be too much.

But, if you are backpacking, don’t have limited time and like to party, Huacachina can be a good place to spend a couple more nights. There are a couple of hostels which have a good party scene.

Are the Activities in Huacachina Worth It? Mainly Sandboarding and Dune Buggy Rides

The two main activities in Huacachina are going on the dune buggies and sandboarding, which are generally combined on the same tour.

Travelers generally enjoy their time in Huacachina, and everyone I know who has visited Huacachina (both foreigners and Peruvians) has had a very good time there. So yes, both activities are fun and make Huacachina worth visiting.

Personally I have enjoyed sandboarding in Huacachina both times that I have done it. If you are experienced in sandboarding or snowboarding, you can do it standing with the straps attached to your feet. Otherwise you go on your belly, like most people do (which is what I have done as well).

If you are afraid of heights you might feel a bit nervous, but you can decide how fast you want to go or if you want an extra push. I myself am afraid of heights so I haven’t slided so fast and it has still been fun.

Same for the dune buggies. They go pretty fast up and down the dunes, so it’s an exciting ride. Even though I really dislike rollercoasters (I get nauseaous immediately), which is the closest thing I could link them to, I had a great time at the buggies!

Basically, in most people’s experience visiting Huacachina, both sandboarding and the dune buggy rides are worth it.

Should You Choose Huacachina Over Other Destinations in Peru?

Of course, that really depends on what your interests are and how long will be your stay in Peru. But I can give you my personal opinion, after having traveled throughout a great part of Peru.

If you are doing a backpacking itinerary and have enough in Peru, then yes. If you will be backpacking you will be traveling to most places by bus. So if you are going from Lima to Arequipa or to Cusco, Huacachina is a great place to make a stop since it’s along the way. Bus rides are pretty long in Peru so you will be glad you stopped there.

On the other hand, if you have limited time in Peru, then I would think about it twice. For example, if you only have one week or 10 days in Peru, you should prioritize visiting Cusco, Arequipa and the jungle. There’s so much to see in those regions, especially in Cusco, that is much more interesting than Huacachina.

Even if you have three weeks in Peru you don’t necessarily need to include Huacachina in your itinerary, if you are not traveling by land. If you take a look at my post about how to spend 3 weeks in Peru, for example, you’ll see that I haven’t included Huacachina.

It’s not that Huacachina is not worth visiting. It is! It’s a beautiful oasis in the desert, surrounded by majestic sand dunes. But Peru has so much to offer that if you have limited time, in my opinion, there are more interesting places to explore.

Before you go…

If you have decided that you want to include a visit to Huacachina in your itinerary, take a look at this post about the best things to do in Huacachina to have an idea of how you can organize your time there.

Also, make sure to combine your visit to Huacachina with a visit to Paracas. Like Huacachina, Paracas is a good place to spend a night when traveling between Lima and Arequipa or Lima and Cusco.

Some of the best activities to do in Paracas include visit to the Ballestas islands and visiting a national reserve.

If you are interested in visiting the Nazca lines (those mysterious lines drawn with sand in the desert and that can only be seen from above), combine it with a trip to Huacachina as well. Nazca is 3 hours away from Huacachina by bus, on the way between Huacachina and Arequipa/Cusco.