Hi,

I'm planning a trip to Peru and was looking for some advice on tours. We want to take a day tour from Lima to see the Nazca Lines... any advice as to tour companies or how to do this?

Thanks!

There are several companies that offer tours from Lima. Someone I know did one (using AeroCondor if I recall correctly) and they fly from Lima to Ica, where you transfer to a smaller plane for the flight over the Nazca lines.

Alternatively, there are tours that go south by bus, but it's a long ride. You might also look at overnight tours that include time in Pisco or Ica or Paracas (for Islas Balleastas). Some of those go by bus, some by private car.

I'm actually planning on going to Nazca directly from Cuzco by bus, but that's a 14 or so hour overnight trip so I don't particularly recommend it.

Yeah unless you have enough in your group to book the whole plane, the flights to Ica then small plane over Nazca aren't an option from Lima. I tried this through several companies, including my hotel. Basically, I was put on a "list" that all hotels, travel agencies, etc were feeding into. And if the pilot could fill the plane to make the trip cost efficient, the trip would proceed. If not (as in my case), they would cancel and refund all monies (around $USD500 for the day trip).

You can - if you have spare time and don't mind giving it a shot with no guarantees - head to Ica on Aerocondor, and once there hope to round up enough strangers to convince a pilot to run you on the small plane over the Lines. Or there's always the overland route which can run anywhere from around $100-300 USD (depending on what all the tour operator includes).

i'm a loser and never made it there since I had to unexpectedly cut my Lima trip short by a day and couldn't spare the "waiting and hoping" time. So this means another trip to Peru is in order!

If you can get yourself to Nazca, however, it's easy to do the flight.

Bus ticket from Lima to Nazca is about USD20 on Cruz del Sur and presumably less on lower class (but less reliable) bus lines. It's about a 6-7 hour bus trip. If you could manage an overnight in Nazca, it would be worth it.

I paid USD 50 for the flight, including transportation to/from hostal (Walk On Inn) and the airport. Flight was on Air Paracas and they gave you a nice little certificate with a map showing the flight path.

It would be a good idea to take some precautions against motion sickness. Despite which, I really enjoyed the flight.

By the way, if you have a little spare time in Nazca, the trip out to the Chauchilla cemetery is reasonably interesting, too.

If you go by bus, the overland trip to Nazca costs very little (and Cruz del Sur busses are quite comfortable, with meals included and even free wi-fi internet on some).
Best to be at the Nazca airport early in the morning, if you have not purchased your ticket in advance you can check at the airport the flight schedule and choose a cheaper company (or the one that flies soonest, as they fly one by one and rotate, if you buy in advance you don't really know when you will fly).
There is very often fog in the morning, and then you'll have to wait until the weather clears. If you are into photography, choose the best season (without the coastal fog, so you can fly early in the morning)