Road Trip Driving Route Peru May June 2017

We spent most of the month of May 2017 in Lima, Peru which meant we didn’t cover many miles on our road trip that month, so we decided to combine May and June (which was a fairly busy road trip month) into one post. We began the month of May in Ica. From there we headed up to Lima and on the last day of the month we left Lima and drove north on our way to the Cordillera Blanca. In the end, other than driving around the Ica area, we only spent two full days on the road covering a mere 455 miles (732 km) in all of May. It happens.

The famous Haucachina sand dunes and oasis in Peru.

May 2017 South American road trip driving route in Peru

We began the month of May in the city of Ica which is a grape growing area famous for its piscos and some wines as well. After visiting several pisco distilleries and wineries (and one giant sand dune, pictured above), we returned to Lima, stopping at Tambo Colorado, one of the few large Incan ruins that’s not high up in the Andes, along the way.

We spent more than three weeks eating, drinking, exploring and working our way through Lima. We did take a long weekend away from the city, but we did it on the seasonal passenger train operated by Ferrocaril Central which travels from Lima to Huancayo (see the orange line in the map below). This train route crosses the Andes and is the second highest train line in the world and reaches 15,694 feet (4,783 meters).

Our complete road trip driving route map in Peru during May 2017 is below. The orange line is the train trip.

See what we saw out there on the road in Peru in May 2017 in our drive-lapse video, below. It was, as always, shot by our Brinno camera.

June 2017 South American road trip driving route in Peru

We managed to cover more miles on our road trip in June than we did in May – 1,425 miles (2,293 km) to be exact. We began June by driving from the coastal town of Barranca to Huaraz, the main town in the Cordillera Blanca which is a compact range in the Andes that includes 17 peaks over 19,685 feet (6,000 meters), including the highest peak in Peru, Huascaran which tops out at 22,205 feet (6,768 meters). We spent much of the month exploring and hiking in and around spectacular mountains, lakes and glaciers including the popular Santa Cruz trek. See 10:05 in the time-lapse video at the end of this post for a time-lapse peek at beautiful Laguna Parón.

From there we returned to Lima, then traveled south to the central Andean town of Huancavelica where we are currently shivering at more than 12,000 feet (3,658 meters) in South American winter.

Our complete road trip driving route map in Peru during June 2017 is below.

See what we saw out there on the road in Peru in June of 2017 in our drive-lapse video, below. It was, as always, shot by our Brinno camera.