Huacachina

A small lagoon caught between dunes, edged with palms and guesthouses. When falling groundwater left it drying out, water began to be piped in to hold the level, and rowing boats and pedal boats can be hired on it.

Steel-framed buggies with big engines charge up and down the dunes, pausing on crests so riders can slide the slopes belly-down on boards. Late afternoon runs timed for sunset are the favourite, and the driving is rough, so buckle the harness tight.

The dune right behind the lagoon can be climbed on foot, though the sand keeps collapsing underfoot and the top takes longer than it looks. After sunset the lights of Ica come on beyond the sea of sand, and the way down is a quick run along the slope.

One of South America's oldest wine estates, which claims vines planted in the 16th century, its pink and white arched buildings set amid the vineyards. Tours include wine and pisco tastings, and it is busiest in March, during the harvest festival.

A museum of Paracas and Nazca culture holding mummies, elongated skulls, textiles and quipu knotted records. Out in the grounds a miniature of the Nazca Lines is laid out, worth seeing before a flight to make the figures easier to read.

Cachiche, south of Ica, is known as the village of witches; a witch statue stands in the plaza and herbal healers still practise. A palm whose trunk splits into several crowns is the local curiosity, and some buggy tours fit in a stop.

A desert south of Ica on what was once seabed, where fossil whales and giant sharks lie exposed. Jeep tours seek out the fossil sites, and taking any fossil away is prohibited.

The church of Ica's most beloved image of Christ, badly wrecked in the 2007 earthquake and rebuilt. On his feast in October a procession winds through the city all night, and pilgrims crowd in again during Holy Week.

Riders wax a board and take the dune slopes standing up or slide down lying flat. Guesthouses lend boards, but with no lift every run means trudging back up, so plenty of people do it as part of a buggy tour.

The grape harvest festival held each March, when a queen is crowned and wineries hold barefoot grape-treading. Parades and marinera dance contests follow, and room rates climb for the duration.

A river-cut canyon in the desert southeast of Ica; the Spanish name means canyon of the lost. No road leads in, just two-plus hours of 4x4 driving over open sand, so it is tour only. Many trips also stop where whale fossils lie exposed.

A village near Chincha, north of Ica, regarded as the cradle of Afro-Peruvian music and dance. Families perform the box drum cajon and zapateo footwork in their own yards. Nearby Hacienda San Jose keeps tunnels from the slavery era, and tours pair the two.

One of Ica's large bodegas, founded in 1857, making both wine and pisco. A tour of old clay jars and stills ends in a tasting. It is a short taxi ride from Huacachina, so a morning visit fits before an afternoon buggy run.