South Coast
A village unlike any other in Peru, El Carmen is a place where African and Latin American cultures collide with hip-gyrating results. It's famed for its rhythm-heavy Afro-Peruvian music heard in the peñas (bars and clubs featuring live folkloric music). The best lie about 15km outside town and there are two simple affairs on the town square.
The best times to visit are during the cultural festivals.
27.83 MILES
Grandiosely nicknamed the ‘poor man’s Galápagos,’ the Islas Ballestas make for a memorable excursion. The only way to get here is on a boat tour, offered…
1.86 MILES
Provoking many visitors to make the trip all the way down from Lima, this former slave plantation with its stately hacienda offers a window into race and…
29.33 MILES
Right next to the park visitor center, in front of the Paracas Necropolis burial grounds on Cerro Colorado, this recently expanded museum features…
28.22 MILES
A giant three-pronged figure etched into the sandy hills, which is more than 150m high and 50m wide. No one knows exactly who made the glyph, or when, or…
Centro Cultural Amador Ballumbrosio
0.48 MILES
The home of El Carmen’s most famous dancing family is a museum to Afro-Peruvian culture. Music breaks out here spontaneously most weekends; pop in if you…
20.9 MILES
This early-Inca lowland outpost, about 45km northeast of Pisco, was named for the red paint that once completely covered its adobe walls. It’s one of the…
17.56 MILES
Post-earthquake, Pisco’s main Plaza de Armas is a mishmash of the vanquished and the saved. The equestrian statue of José de San Martín, hand raised…
29.3 MILES
Located 1.5km south of the entry point to Reserva Nacional de Paracas, this visitor center seems to be aimed for the most part at school groups rather…
1. Centro Cultural Amador Ballumbrosio
0.48 MILES
The home of El Carmen’s most famous dancing family is a museum to Afro-Peruvian culture. Music breaks out here spontaneously most weekends; pop in if you…
1.86 MILES
Provoking many visitors to make the trip all the way down from Lima, this former slave plantation with its stately hacienda offers a window into race and…
17.52 MILES
The Moorish, pastel-colored City Hall building was badly damaged in the earthquake and sits on the corner of the park awaiting repair.
17.54 MILES
Pisco’s biggest casualty of the 2007 earthquake was the colonial San Clemente Cathedral. A new, modern, red-bricked church has gone up in its place,…
17.56 MILES
Post-earthquake, Pisco’s main Plaza de Armas is a mishmash of the vanquished and the saved. The equestrian statue of José de San Martín, hand raised…
6. Statue of José de San Martín
17.56 MILES
This bronze statue of José de San Martín is the centerpiece of the the Plaza de Armas, with the independence hero on horseback with his hand raised urging…
20.9 MILES
This early-Inca lowland outpost, about 45km northeast of Pisco, was named for the red paint that once completely covered its adobe walls. It’s one of the…
27.83 MILES
Grandiosely nicknamed the ‘poor man’s Galápagos,’ the Islas Ballestas make for a memorable excursion. The only way to get here is on a boat tour, offered…