Things to Do in Ica, Peru

Quick facts: Surrounded by towering sand dunes that reach heights of over 300 meters, this emerald lagoon sits in the middle of the Sechura Desert. Local legend claims the oasis was formed when a beautiful mermaid emerged from the water, luring men into her magical realm.

Highlights: After sunset, the dunes surrounding the lagoon transform into a natural amphitheater where the wind creates haunting melodies as sand grains collide. Travelers can climb the tallest dune at dusk and watch the sky shift from fiery orange to deep purple while the oasis lights flicker to life below.

Quick facts: The museum safeguards over 10,000 ancient artifacts spanning Paracas, Nazca, and Inca civilizations. Elongated skulls from the Paracas culture sit alongside pottery, textiles, and a room dedicated to the mysterious Nazca Lines.

Highlights: A hall displays over 300 elongated skulls with cranial deformation, some still retaining remnants of hair and soft tissue after 2,000 years. The mummy bundles in the climate-controlled room show intricate textile wrapping techniques that have preserved organic material for centuries.

Quick facts: Peru's oldest winery has been producing wine and pisco since 1540, making it one of the oldest vineyards in the Americas. The winery uses a gravity-fed irrigation system that still relies on channels built by pre-Columbian cultures over 1,000 years ago.

Highlights: Visitors can taste Tacama's award-winning pisco right next to a 400-year-old olive tree that has witnessed every harvest since colonial times. The winery still ferments some of its wines in massive clay amphorae buried underground, a technique inherited from Indigenous winemakers that gives the wine a distinctly earthy, mineral finish.

Quick facts: Its twin bell towers rise above Ica's sandy streets, and the cathedral was rebuilt after a devastating 2007 earthquake that crumbled much of the original structure. The faithful gather here year-round to venerate the Señor de Luren, a dark-skinned Christ statue that has survived centuries of natural disasters.

Highlights: Every March, a massive purple-robed procession carries the Señor de Luren through the streets for 18 hours straight, drawing over 40,000 devotees who walk barefoot on hot pavement as a sign of devotion. The original 16th-century statue survived the 1746 earthquake that leveled the first church, yet its mysterious dark complexion has never been explained by any pigment analysis.

Quick facts: Peru's oldest producing winery has been pressing grapes since 1857. The estate's underground cellars hold over 300 French oak barrels, some aging pisco for more than a decade before bottling.

Highlights: A 150-year-old underground tunnel system, carved into the desert soil, keeps the barrels at a constant 18°C year-round without any modern cooling. Visitors can walk these candlelit tunnels and inhale the sweet scent of Quebranta grapes that hangs thick in the cool air.

Quick facts: A natural oasis surrounded by towering sand dunes reaching over 100 meters high, this lagoon sits in the middle of the Peruvian coastal desert. Legend says the waters formed from the tears of a heartbroken princess, blending myth with one of South America's last remaining natural oases.

Highlights: As sunset hits, the dunes shift from golden to deep orange while the lagoon reflects the changing sky, creating a surreal mirror effect you can only witness from atop the highest dune. Local sandboarders have carved their own paths down these slopes for decades, racing down at speeds over 50 km/h on nothing but waxed wooden boards.

Quick facts: A family-run operation since 1920, the winery crushes its grapes the old-fashioned way using a 120-year-old stone press. Visitors can taste 12 different varieties of pisco and wine during a tour that ends in a courtyard shaded by century-old fig trees.

Highlights: The third-generation owners still stomp grapes by foot during harvest season, a tradition visible through open windows in the production hall. Each year's vintage gets marked with handwritten labels, making every bottle a one-of-a-kind collector's item.

Quick facts: Peru's signature grape brandy comes to life inside a restored 19th century mansion where over 80 pisco varieties are available for tasting. The museum traces the spirit's evolution from pre-Columbian fermentation techniques to modern distillation methods used across 5 producing regions.

Highlights: A working copper pot still from 1890 sits in the center of the main hall, still used for weekend demonstrations that fill the room with sweet grape steam. Visitors can dip their own glass bottles in wax to seal a custom blend they create from three different single-variety piscos at the blending station.