Travel guide
What are the Nazca Lines?
The Nazca Lines are giant drawings made on the desert floor of southern Peru between roughly 500 BC and AD 500 by the Nazca culture. There are more than 800 straight lines, 300 geometric shapes and about 70 figures of animals and plants, some longer than a football field. They are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and can only be fully appreciated from the air.
Updated: 2026-09-16
Where are the Nazca Lines?
The lines cover about 450 km² of the Pampa de Jumana, between the towns of Nazca and Palpa, 450 km south of Lima on the Panamericana highway. The nearest airports with scenic flights are Nazca (María Reiche airfield), Ica and Pisco.
The area is one of the driest places on Earth: it rains a few minutes a year, there is almost no wind at ground level and the dark surface stones hold heat that keeps the air still. That is why drawings made two millennia ago are still visible.
How were they made?
The Nazca removed the top layer of reddish, iron-oxide-coated stones to expose the lighter clay beneath, creating lines 10 to 15 cm deep and up to 30 cm wide. Wooden stakes found at the ends of some lines, and the cords tied to them, show they were laid out with simple surveying: ropes, stakes and a lot of people.
Radiocarbon dating of the stakes and the pottery found along the lines places most of the work between AD 100 and 600, although the older Palpa geoglyphs, on hillsides north of Nazca, go back to the Paracas culture around 500 BC.
How big are they?
The Hummingbird is 93 m long, the Condor 134 m, the Monkey 93 m and the Spider 47 m. The Heron (also called the Flamingo) stretches 285 m. Some straight lines run for more than 15 km without deviating, crossing hills and ravines.
From the ground you see nothing but scattered stones. The figures were only recognised in 1927, when the Peruvian archaeologist Toribio Mejía Xesspe saw them from a hillside, and became famous after commercial pilots reported them in the 1930s.
- Hummingbird: 93 m
- Monkey: 93 m, with a nine-fingered hand and spiral tail
- Condor: 134 m
- Spider: 47 m
- Heron: 285 m
- Astronaut (Owl Man): 32 m, on a hillside
Who studied them?
The American historian Paul Kosok began mapping the lines in 1941 and noticed one pointed to the winter solstice sunset. His German assistant, María Reiche, devoted the next fifty years to measuring, cleaning and protecting them, living in a small house on the pampa; she is buried nearby and the museum in Nazca carries her name.
Since 2019 Japanese teams from Yamagata University, using drones and artificial intelligence, have identified more than 300 new small figures, most of them near footpaths, which suggests they were meant to be seen while walking.
How do you see the Nazca Lines?
The only way to see the figures whole is a scenic flight: 35 minutes from Nazca, about an hour over Nazca and Palpa, or 1 h 40 min from Pisco. The observation tower on the Panamericana shows the Hands, the Tree and the Lizard from ground level, and the natural viewpoint on a nearby hill shows several straight lines.
From Lima it is a full-day private trip with the flight from Pisco; from Cusco or Arequipa a two-day tour. Prices start at US$ 100 for the flight and US$ 375 for the day trip from Lima.
Frequently asked questions
How old are the Nazca Lines?
Most were made between AD 100 and 600 by the Nazca culture. The older Palpa geoglyphs date from around 500 BC, made by the Paracas culture.
How many Nazca Lines are there?
More than 800 straight lines, about 300 geometric figures and around 70 drawings of animals and plants, plus hundreds of small figures found recently with drones.
Can you see the Nazca Lines from the ground?
Only a few: from the observation tower on the Panamericana you see the Hands, the Tree and the Lizard, and from the natural viewpoint several lines. The animal figures are only visible from the air.
Why are the Nazca Lines a mystery?
Because the Nazca left no writing, so nobody knows for certain why they made drawings they could not see whole. The main theories involve water rituals, astronomy and ceremonial paths.
