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Pachacamac
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Pachacamac

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Pachacamac
4.5
#25 of 381 things to do in Lima
Ancient RuinsReligious Sites
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
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About
Located only 31 kilometers from Lima, these ancient ruins are all that remain of an important religious center that was constructed more than 1,000 years before the Inca Empire.
Suggested duration
More than 3 hours
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The area
Address
Neighborhood: San Isidro
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Best nearby
Restaurants
50 within 3 miles
Norky's
175
319 ft$$ - $$$ • Peruvian • Barbecue
Maras Restaurante
31
0.2 mi$$ - $$$ • Latin • International • Spanish
Biergarten
5
0.2 miGerman • Brew Pub • Peruvian • Pizza
D'casa Helados Gourmet
10
0.3 mi$$ - $$$
Marea 42 - Cevicheria
0.2 mi$ • Peruvian • Cajun & Creole • Seafood
Sarita
69
0.6 mi$$ - $$$ • Peruvian • Seafood • South American
Terraza 43
1
0.6 miPeruvian • Bar • Seafood • Fast Food
Cevicheria Silvia Seafood
2
1 miSeafood
Squina 41
2
1.1 miItalian • Peruvian • South American
Wayralla Restaurante
15
1.1 mi$$ - $$$ • Peruvian • South American
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Attractions
8 within 6 miles
Caballeros Beach
14
134 ftBeaches
InOutlet
8
0.6 miFactory Outlets
Playa Pulpos
32
0.7 miBeaches
El Silencio
112
2.3 miBeaches
Cementerio Presbítero Matías Maestro
25
Architectural Buildings • Cemeteries
Granja Interactiva Fundo San Vicente
6
Zoos
Balneario Embajadores
8
Beaches
Fundo Mamacona
4
Ranches
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
1,617 reviews
Excellent
788
Very good
590
Average
193
Poor
36
Terrible
10
Matty O
Fairfax, CA104 contributions
Pachacamac--go to learn about the oracle and the cultures...
Aug 2022 • Solo
Worthwhile visit to see Pachacamac, where for centuries the oracle presided over pre-Colombian ceremonies. Fun experience with excellent guide Milagros, who shared the knowlesge in both Spanish and English-- learned so much so quickly. Beautiful on site museum with rare ceramics , masks, etc...

4 & 1/2 stars
Written August 23, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
WanderingSpriti
Chicago, IL250 contributions
Great place to learn about Incas!
Aug 2022
This is a legit archeological site - right in Lima. Lima has many such sites - including huaca pucllana. Pachacamac is huge area and they are escavating buildings and have foung inca trails running through it. Take your kids here! They can see what archeology means in real life. There is a center there - do visit it. The center also has guides available who can speak English. I highly recommend getting their help. Also, there is a steep climb if you wish to visit Inti Temple that is on a larger hill. You can be huffing and puffing in no time due to steep gradient. But it is worth it!
Written October 21, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sonic.ch
8 contributions
Interesting archeological site
Dec 2019
One hr drive south of Lima is Pachacamac. This huge area of which only a small part can be visited does not have much to see as the monuments/pyramids are mostly destroyed but gives you an idea of how huge it must have been in the pre Inca eras. The modern museum is interesting to visit.
Written January 1, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Archie
Glenmoore, PA5,281 contributions
Important site to learn about the civilization who lived in this area
Jul 2022 • Family
We were so glad to visit this site. Its about 30 min from the city. Its well maintained with a museum, llamas, roads to drive on. You should definitely take a driver and a guide to take you along the route. The site itself has ruins on deserted road facing the ocean. The best ruins are the temple. It has beautiful views. The stones are different than the inca laid in terms of foundation. It has interesting history.
Written July 2, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
YS K
100 contributions
Take a bus to Pachacamac for 3 Soles
Jan 2017 • Solo
Very cool place to visit. I walked instead of taking a ride in the complex. It takes about 2 hours to walk entire complex. If you are staying near Lima Center, you can take southbound San Bartolo bus for 3 soles at Grau. Takes about 2 hours to get there and you get dropped off right at the gate. Also, you get to see more parts of Lima during bus ride.
Written August 5, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
LSO1973
London, UK1,332 contributions
One of the most important sites in the Americas - a Must-See
Apr 2015 • Friends
Pachacamac is hard work, I will admit. I have been coming here to work for a decade and a bit now and I still get daunted by it. First of all, getting there. You don't need to take a tour - you can get a cab from Lima, or, better, go to the Panamericana at the end of Benavides by Combi for about one sol (35 US cents) and there look for any Combi going to Lurin or Pachacamac (costs 2 soles - 75 cents). When the caller asks you where you are going say "Museo de Pachacamac", or else you will end up in Pachacamac town, which is a long way past the site. Entry is reasonable at about ten soles (three dollars and a bit). The guides are pretty good, and will take you through most of the important parts of the settlement. Now. About the site itself. Its MASSIVE. It covers over 600 hectares. Its also very old - that is to say, not just since it was abandoned shortly after the Spanish arrived here in 1532, but it was old even then. Most Latin American sites are connected to a specific period or culture, whereas Pachacamac was home to four or more cultures, all of whom left their mark on the place. The oldest was the Lima, in the Mid to Late First Millennium AD, who built some small residential and public buildings and a gigantic pyramid (the 'Old Pyramid' - Pyramide Viejo) thats to the back of the site, and which was probably the largest construction in the region for a long time. The Lima were followed by the Wari then the Ychsma (<1400+), and the Inca (15th century), all of whom built somewhat similar ramped buildings ('Pyramids with Ramps') and considered the site to be important because there was a god living there. Yes indeed. An actual God. How do you think Pachacamac got its name? The site became known for being a place of oracle, and people would come there to have their fortunes read, to be cured of illness, to ask favours. In time it started to flag a bit and fall into disrepair, at which point the Inca arrived and reworked the entire site to such an extent that it became famous all over the Andean region and beyond and people came to offer sacrifices, be healed and many other such things. Many died while waiting to see the priests. As a result the place holds an estimated 80,000 burials, interred all over the site, in abandoned buildings, cemeteries, and especially in the Sacred Precinct, a walled section of the site that contains all the most important and religiously-oriented buildings. The site was so enormously wealthy that it glittered with objects that the Spanish arriving in 1532 under Pizarro (through a hole in the external wall that is still visible from the Temple of the Sun if you look out into the desert, inland) found irresistible. There was so much gold there that they Spanish used it to shoe their horses, in the absence of harder alternatives. This was one of the Lost Cities of Gold. And for archaeologists it is a treasure trove of knowledge on ancient peoples as we are able to understand how people's lives changed as the site became increasingly urbanised, the population increased, the role of the site changed (i.e. became a religious pilgrimage centre akin to Mecca or Jerusalem) and successive empires thrived, decayed, and fell. It is an enthralling place once you can get your head around the sheer scale of it. Must sees - the Temple of the Sun (Inca), the Pilgrims Plaza (where people waited <3 years to see the oracle), the Painted Temple (decorated with monkeys and other animals), the Templo Viejo (see above), the Acallahuasi (Inca house of sacred women - where priestesses lived and were trained in ritual duties), and the Lima buildings (the little house on the left side as you enter the site - the adobe bricks are vertically oriented rather than horizontal). There are seventeen pyramids in all, ranging from the tiny to the ridiculously huge, most of them with central (usually) ramps designed to emphasise the authority of the chap sitting on the platform at the top, looking down on his minions. It takes some imagination to get them in place but its worth it. Add in the feathers, the jaguar skins, the gold and the silver, the massive mob of residents and visitors, the splendid ostentation of the buildings, the mass burials (currently being uncovered by a Belgian archaeology team) piled high under wood and plaster roofs, the chaos of llamas and guinea pigs being herded, fishermen arriving from the sea with their catches, the public executions (crushing of the victims' skulls with clubs, mostly) and feel dragged into what must have been one of the greatest spectacles of the New World. And see it now, because if it gets World Heritage Status (currently on the cards) it won't be anywhere near as easy to look around as it currently is. There is a small rest area and cafe, although they are currently creating a museum to house the numerous spectacular artefacts that the archaeological missions have turned up, notably the Pachacamac 'idol' that resembles a totem pole about 8 feet high; many Peruvians still consider this to be sacred, and when I arrived here in 2004 people would still come and prostrate themselves in front of it, to the disapproval of the resolutely Christian guard. There are many publications about this site - you really ought to have a look at some before you go. You will really, really appreciate it. Trust me on this one.
Written April 14, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Johnno70
Louisville, CO41 contributions
Uber both ways
Jul 2018 • Family
You can easily uber here and back again from Lima. I had no trouble calling an uber from the site back to Lima unlike some other reviews here. It’s all walkable for those with basic to moderate fitness. A tour guide might have been nice but wasn’t essential in my mind. Glad I didn’t pay some overpriced tour to get here. 35 soles each way and 15 per person to get in leaves plenty of soles for other adventures.
Written July 29, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alberto Wirz
Miraflores, Peru56 contributions
Not that great for solo travelers now- Go with a Tour Company
Sep 2013 • Friends
The importance of this place is massive: It was like the Delphos Oracle of Southamerica, you can tell by the impressive pyramids, palaces, and over all for the size of the site, BUT you cannot enter to the most well preserved areas like: the "inca acllahuasi" or the "inca temple" plus there is no (decent) public service that will take you there, and if you go early in the morning and arrive by combi there, the problem is when you want to leave the place, if is already afternoon few combis will pass again and the "bus stop" is quite scary since is in the middle of no where plus the place around look pretty unsafe. PACHACAMAC is a great site, but not for solo travelers now, if you decide to go there and the visit is worth it, go in a tour bought from Lima.
Written August 24, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Eudyptes
Townsville, Australia28 contributions
Good half-day archaeology trip close to Lima
Jun 2014 • Solo
I visited Pachacamac on a half-day tour operated by LimaVision. LimaVision runs two Pachacamac tours most days departing Lima at ~9:30 am and again at ~2:30 pm. The tour lasts about 3.5-4 hours, depending on traffic and the number of hotel transfers they have to accommodate. It is nice that they pick you up right at your hotel, you can pay in cash (S/. 125 or $44 USD) or by credit card on the bus (admission is included), and they will drop you off either at your hotel or at other points of interest, such as Larcomar or Kennedy Park. The LimaVision tour was a convenient way to visit Pachacamac, which is about 40 km south of Lima. It beats trying to navigate Lima in a car, unless you have local connections and/or comprehensive car/life insurance.

Pachacamac itself has an imposing presence, with one of the main temples perched high on a partly natural/partly human-made bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean and a couple of small islands. The ruins are only partly excavated, so in places it is possible to see bones and hair sticking out of the ground - archaeology students take note: interesting projects for decades! Unfortunately, most of the ruins are not accessible to the public, except for the walking path around (not into) the Temple of the Sun. The most intact frescos are also off-limits, which is unfortunate because they are so close to the footpath, yet hidden under a canopy. The fresco-making process is explained on a sign and you can see remnants of hematite paint on parts of the temple walls. Views from the top of the Temple of the Sun allow you to see from the Pacific coast to the Andean foothills.

This is a good way to escape the city for a few hours and see some culturally significant pre-Inca and Inca ruins. However, if you're staying in Lima and don't have time to visit Pachacamac, check out Huaca Pucllana in Miraflores. Huaca Pucllana is approximately the same age and architectural style as Pachacamac, was used by the same pre-Inca cultures (Lima, Huari, and Ychsma), and has a similar history of human sacrifice. The site is smaller, admission is cheaper, and the walking tour covers more ground than the one at Pachacamac (which is largely a bus tour with a bit of walking). The Incas knew about Huaca Pucllana but did not use it, so if it's the Inca history you are after, make sure you go to Pacahcamac.
Written June 18, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mnflygirl
Minneapolis, MN7 contributions
Come back in 20 years
Apr 2011
I really wanted to love Pachacamac, and I'm glad we went, but I just can't give a 5 star review.

First the pros - there is no denying the significance of these ruins. The site is huge - you will need a car or bus tour to take it in. This site differs from others in Peru as you are located in the desert. It was also a fascinating trip out of Lima as you pass by shantytowns on the way - quite the opposite of the upscale areas of Miraflores and Barranco.

The cons - it seems that there is so much excavation work to be done, everything just seems covered with sand! The museum is very small, and the signage along the tour route leave much to be desired. It would be interesting to come back in 20 years when more progress has been made.
Written April 23, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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