12-DAY PERU MOTORCYCLE TOUR

Peru is one of the most extreme countries in the world — extreme in many ways. It has incredible ancient cultures mixed with modern new cities, some of the highest mountains on the continent and driest deserts, the densest jungle, and one of the longest Pacific coastlines. Our 12-day best-of-Peru route is built to be an overkill of impressions: you ride a motorcycle through the most beautiful landscapes of this unique and distinctive South American country, and the riding itself — leaning through tight curve after tight curve — is as much the point as the places you stop.

Look at what one loop out of Cusco strings together. You start in a city of well-preserved colonial architecture, evidence of a rich and complex history, and within a day you are deep in high Andes mountain curves on the way to Abancay. Two days later the highlands give way to the coastal plains and the vast desert dunes around the oasis town of Huacachina. From there it is a short run to Nazca, home of the 2,000-year-old Nazca Lines created by the ancient Nazca culture — lines so large they must be viewed from the air. Then the Pan-American Highway carries you down the Pacific coast to a swim in the ocean at Camana, before the route climbs back into the mountains for Colca Canyon, its Andean condors, and finally Lake Titicaca — at 3,800 meters above sea level, the highest navigable body of water in the world — where we visit the floating islands of the Uro Indians that inspired the Kon-Tiki expedition across the Pacific in 1947.

Desert, ocean, canyon, altiplano and colonial city, all in 12 days and roughly 2,600 km of riding. The tour highlights read like a checklist of the country itself: the Nazca Lines, Lake Titicaca, the Uro floating islands, Cusco's historic center, a sand dune buggy ride, Colca Canyon, condors — and Machu Picchu as an optional extension at the end. Peru is a must-visit for adventure riders, and this route is our invitation to see why.

We publish a terrain profile for every tour so you can match the route to your skills before you book. Peru rates 10% off-road, 70% comfort and 100% fun. In plain words: this is a paved adventure tour at its core, with about a tenth of the distance on unpaved surfaces, run at a comfort level a notch more rugged than our pure road tours — you are crossing high passes and remote canyon country, not cruising a coastal resort strip. Road-focused rides like Greece, Thailand and Oman stay around 95% on pavement, while tours like Namibia are built specifically for experienced dirt and enduro riders; Peru sits between those poles, closer to the road end. If you are a confident street rider, you can enjoy it — our certified tour leaders brief the group every morning and the crew supports you the whole way.

What the riding actually looks like, day by day: Day 2 wastes no time — after the bike handover in Cusco we hit the road before lunch and get thrown straight into the high Andes mountain curves on the 195 km run to Abancay. Day 3 is the one riders talk about afterwards: 380 km of amazing Andes mountain roads with cliffhanger sections, steep canyons and high passes, on narrow roads with so little traffic that the whole day feels like a private route. Day 4 covers 410 km from Ayacucho, nestled high in the Andes, down through the rugged Peruvian sierra until the scenery transforms into vast desert dunes on the approach to Huacachina.

Day 5 is deliberately short — 150 km from Huacachina to Nazca through golden dunes and barren plains, a leisurely ride that leaves time to soak in the raw beauty of Peru's coastal desert. Days 6 and 7 open the throttle again: 420 km south on the infamous Pan-American Highway along the Pacific, via Puerto Inka to the beachside town of Camaná, with time for a swim in the ocean. Then the route turns uphill: 330 km from Camaná up to Chivay and the Colca Canyon on day 8, a short ride out to the condor viewpoint on day 9, another 300 km of pure curves from the canyon to Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca on day 10 — get ready to scrape your knees — and a final 390 km leg from Puno back to Cusco on day 11. Day 1 and day 12 are the fly-in and fly-out days in Cusco, with airport transfers handled by our designated driver.

You never ride it alone. A professional multilingual tour leader rides with the group, a support vehicle and driver follow the entire route, and fuel and road tolls are covered. The group is kept deliberately small — minimum 5 riders, maximum 10 — and 11 nights of accommodation in hand-picked hotels, with all breakfasts included, mean the adventure is in the riding, not in the logistics. The itinerary can change without further notice if weather, road or any other condition makes our guides feel the safety of the group or material is at risk — everything we do is based on safety first.

Peru rewards riders who get off the bike, and the itinerary builds that in. These are the cultural anchors of the tour, day by day:

• Cusco (days 1, 11 and 12). The tour opens and closes in the old Inca capital, a city of well-preserved colonial architecture and a rich, complex history. Once the entire group has arrived on day 1, we go out for dinner in the beautiful historic city center — the first taste of Peru before the first kilometer.
• Ayacucho (day 3). The overnight stop after the biggest mountain day, a city nestled high in the Andes at the heart of the Peruvian sierra.
• Huacachina (day 4). A genuine desert oasis: palm trees and an emerald lagoon surrounded by the towering sand dunes of the Ica region. This is where the sand dune buggy ride on the highlights list happens — dunes you experience from the seat, not just the roadside.
• The Nazca Lines (day 5). Arriving in Nazca puts you in the heart of one of Peru's most mysterious areas, home to the famous 2,000-year-old lines drawn by the ancient Nazca culture — figures so vast they must be viewed from the air.
• Camaná and the Pacific (days 6–7). After two days on the Pan-American Highway, the reward is simple: an afternoon in the water, swimming in the Pacific Ocean.
• Colca Canyon and the condors (days 8–9). We spend the night in Chivay, and if we are lucky we watch enormous Andean condors standing almost still on the updraft of warm air rising from the canyon.
• Lake Titicaca and the Uro floating islands (day 10). From Puno we visit the floating islands of the Uro Indians — the reed-built world at 3,800 meters that inspired the Kon-Tiki expedition across the Pacific in 1947, on the highest navigable body of water on Earth.
• Machu Picchu (optional extension). If you have never been to one of the world's true wonders, an optional 1-day visit is available after the tour for +$799. Visitor-number regulations mean availability must be confirmed early — please inquire well in advance, and note the cost can vary by season. On departure day we make sure you are picked up by the local tour operator that handles the day trip.

Group activities and entry fees for the scheduled stops are included in the tour price, so there is no ticket-counter arithmetic along the way — when the group boards the boat to the floating islands, everyone boards.

The motorcycles. The base bike is the CFMOTO 450MT, included in the tour price. If you prefer more displacement, two upgrades are available: the Yamaha Tenere 700 for +$650 or the Honda Africa Twin CRF1100 for +$999. All bikes are latest-model, professionally maintained machines, and both the motorcycle damage and theft liability reduction insurance and the mandatory third-party liability insurance are already included. A refundable security deposit on your credit card is required to take the bike out, sized according to the rental bike you choose.

The group. We keep Peru deliberately small: minimum 5 riders, maximum 10, led by a professional multilingual tour leader with a support vehicle and driver alongside for the entire route. Riding two-up? The Add Pillion/Passenger option (+$3,950) covers your co-rider. Accommodation is in shared rooms by default, with a single-room upgrade available for +$999.

What the price covers. The tour starts at $6,499 per rider on the CFMOTO 450MT in a shared room. That includes 11 nights of accommodation, all breakfasts, fuel and road tolls, group activities and entry fees, airport transfers from and to Cusco International Airport (CUZ) on official arrival and departure days, a pre-tour preparation guide and briefing, a MotoDreamer apparel gift, up to 25% discount on riding gear and accessories from our partners Klim, Giant Loop and Mosko Moto, and all taxes. Airfare, lunches, dinners and drinks, personal paperwork, permits and visas, tips to staff, and travel and evacuation insurance with cancellation coverage are not included — for that last one we point riders to Global Rescue.

Booking and payment. Hit Book Now, pick your date and pay the deposit; we accept bank transfer, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal and Bitcoin, and you can split the balance into monthly payments with no interest. Booking as a group is rewarded: when 5 riders pay, rider number 6 travels free — valid on the base tour price. Every booking is backed by our price match and departure guarantees, and departures for private groups of 6 or more riders can be arranged on request.

Who can join. You need to be 20 or older with at least one year of experience on a 500cc-or-bigger motorcycle, hold a valid driver's license with motorcycle endorsement, be physically and mentally fit to ride, and carry a passport with at least six months' validity at tour start. That is the whole bar — if you ride confidently at home, the high Andes curves are waiting.

Seventeen-plus years of operating tours and over 5,000 riders have shaped how we run Peru — certified multilingual tour leaders, expert local knowledge, and routes refined until the only thing left to think about is the next curve. And in Peru, there is always a next curve.