Peru Hop Review: Our Honest Thoughts and Experience

In this guide we’ll share our honest review of our experience using the Peru Hop bus company as a method of travelling across Peru in South America.

After backpacking through Peru, one thing’s for sure: planning the perfect itinerary isn’t easy, especially if you don’t have three months to spare like we did. Although Peru doesn’t initially seem like a huge country when compared to Brazil or even Argentina, trust us when we say that the distances are further than you think. Whilst flying to a few places is an option, you may miss out on visiting some unique places in the country, such as the desert oasis of Huacachina, which is best reached by bus.

If it’s your first time in South America, you don’t speak much Spanish, are travelling solo, or just don’t want to spend the time figuring out all the transportation logistics, the Peru Hop bus company will be a great one for you to use in Peru.

After finding our dedicated bus guide for Peru, where we mention our experience using Peru Hop, they reached out to us to see if we wanted to collaborate on a dedicated review. So, whilst this is a sponsored post, we’ll be sharing our honest personal experience and thoughts on Peru Hop.

What is Peru Hop?

Peru Hop is the first and only hop-on, hop-off bus system in Peru. They started operating in 2013, so it’s one of the newest bus services in the country. Their buses cover the south of Peru, along the Lima to Cusco route. Peru Hop buses travel to the most sought after locations such as Paracas, Huacachina, Nazca, Arequipa, Puno and Cusco. In addition, you can also cross the border to Bolivia with them (Bolivia Hop) if you want to travel to Copacabana or La Paz.

Why Peru Hop is Different to Public Buses and Group Tours?

Okay, so if you do a little research, (or read our dedicated bus guide to Peru), then you’ll see that public buses and group tours also travel to these destinations. So, why book your ticket with Peru Hop?

Public buses – obviously – cater for locals travelling from A to B and group tours, like this one with G Adventures, have a set itinerary that includes all your activities and accommodation, with very little wiggle room.

For us, Peru Hop was that sweet spot in the middle. It mainly caters for tourists travelling from city to city, but with additional perks that we didn’t get when using public buses. You get complete control over your itinerary, so you don’t lose the freedom of exploring on our own, like you would with a package trip.

Peru Hop also employs only Peruvian guides. Honestly, they’re the ones that made our bus journeys a lot more enjoyable. They weren’t just incredibly funny, but also told us a lot about every day life in Peru, including about its culture and history. Since it took us a good month to travel from Lima to Cusco, we actually met many of the guides who work for Peru Hop, and we’re still following each other on social media.

Planning Your South Peru Itinerary with Peru Hop

Peru Hop operates just like any typical hop-on / hop-off tour bus (although, they are obviously way more comfortable). This essentially means that you can get off at any destination for as long as you want. When we purchased our bus pass, we received a recommended itinerary which offered us the best way to travel from Lima to Cusco in the shortest possible time. It’s a good and logical itinerary, especially if you’re only in the country for a week or so.

Of course, since we were travelling much slower than the proposed itinerary, we then had the option to completely customise our route. We actually ended up with a multi-page itinerary, which the guides found amusing. (This was also the reason why we could meet with so many Peru Hop guides instead of just having one for the whole trip).

Below, we’ve quickly run through the stops that are included in your Peru Hop bus pass and some of the perks that they include at each location.

Lima, the Capital City of Peru

Most travellers fly into Lima, Peru’s capital city, and start their trip from there. Before you board your first Peru Hop bus, we suggest spending 2 to 3 days in Lima to see the best of the city.

You would depart from Lima early in the morning heading to Paracas. But it won’t just be a boring travel day. The bus will stop for a unique breakfast before you go on a guided tour of the underground secret slave tunnels in Chincha.

Paracas

We arrived to the small port town of Paracas around mid-afternoon. Paracas is a well-known beach resort town that is favoured by both Limeños and tourists. However, for us the top sights worth stopping for were Islas Ballestas and the Paracas National Reserve. A guided tour of Paracas National Reserve is actually included in your Peru Hop bus pass.

Top Tip. We suggest spending at least one night in Paracas, but if you’re only interested in visiting one attraction, then you can take the Lima to Paracas express in the morning and head to Huacachina in the afternoon.

Huacachina

The next stop along the “Full South to Cusco” route is the small desert oasis of Huacachina. Before reaching the oasis we went for a Pisco tasting tour, which was also included in our pass. It was a really fun and interactive tour where we learnt about how Peru’s national drink is made.

In the evening, we went for a sunset dune buggy ride and sandboarding experience, which is one of the most popular tours to do in Huacachina. Whilst the tour wasn’t included in the bus pass, the guides helped us with booking it.

You’ll have to spend at least one night in Huacachina before heading to Nazca the next day. Luckily, Peru Hop offers discounts on certain accommodations in Huacachina.

Nazca

Flying above the Nazca Lines is definitely a bucket list experience for many backpackers. Peru Hop offers an early morning shuttle to Nazca to catch your flight. If you don’t want to do a flight, then you’ll be on an afternoon bus which will stop at the Nazca Lines Viewing Tower before reaching the city. This was perfect for us because we could still see 3 of the famous geoglyphs: The Hands, The Tree and The Lizard.

Top Tip. Not many travellers spend a night in Nazca as Peru Hop offers a night bus to Arequipa. We decided to spend a night there though and it was a great decision. Surprisingly, there are many interesting and unusual sites surrounding Nazca apart from the Nazca lines. Therefore, if you have time, we highly recommend staying a bit longer.

Arequipa

The overnight bus arrives to Arequipa early the next morning, so you’ll be both getting the sleepy dust out of your eyes and trying to catch your breath because of the high altitude. Arequipa is one of the most architecturally beautiful cities in the world. However, that’s not the only reason to visit. It’s surrounded by three massive volcanoes: Misti, Chachani and Pichupichu, and is also located close to the Colca Canyon, one of the world’s deepest canyons.

Top Tip. There’s plenty to do in Arequipa itself, so we recommend spending at least one night. If you also enjoy hiking like us, then definitely do either a 2 or 3-day hike in the Colca Canyon.

Puno & Lake Titicaca

After an early start, we were back on a Peru Hop bus heading to Puno and Lake Titicaca. Puno is a popular stop on many people’s Peru itineraries because of Lake Titicaca. Straddling the border between Peru and Bolivia and covering 3,200 square miles, it is one of South America’s largest lakes. Sitting at 3,810 m above sea level, Lake Titicaca is also considered the highest navigable body of water in the world.

Top Tip. If you’re short on time, Peru Hop offers a quick tour of the Floating Islands of Uros for an additional cost before getting you back on a night bus to Cusco. However, if you have time, then we highly recommend booking a two-day tour on Lake Titicaca and spending a night with a local family. This was one of the most memorable non-hiking tours we did in Peru.

Cusco

After another night spent on the bus, we finally reached Cusco, the gateway to Machu Picchu, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Cusco is packed with places to visit and you could easily spend days exploring its attractions. We actually spent an entire month in Cusco and definitely could’ve stayed longer!

Depending on how much time you have and what you want to see, most visitors go to Machu Picchu on a day trip or embark on a multi-day trek (either the Inca Trail or the Salkantay Trek). Another popular day trip is to Rainbow Mountain, but visiting all the Inca ruins in the Sacred Valley is also an option.

Note. Unless you’ve booked a bus pass that crosses the border into Bolivia, your Peru Hop adventure will end in Cusco. From here, many people fly back to Lima to catch their onward flight back home.

Pros of Using Peru Hop

The buses aren’t only comfortable, but they put safety above everything else.

• They have very high safety standards which makes them the safest bus company to travel with in Peru.
• You only need to purchase your bus pass and fill out a form with the dates you want to travel to the various stops on. The rest will be organised by the company.
• There are plenty of different bus passes you can choose from, depending on how much time you have and your interests.
• Depending on where you’re staying, there’s a pick-up and drop-off option available from your accommodation. So, no need to lug your heavy bags around or wait too long at bus terminals.
• Peru Hop offers discounts on certain accommodations and restaurants.
• The bus pass also includes entry fees to certain places, such as the Paracas Nature Reserve and other activity options along the way.
• It’s a great company to travel with if you want to connect with other travellers, or are travelling solo.
• They have a bilingual tour guide on every bus, so it’s great if you don’t speak much Spanish. The guides are very fun and will keep you entertained.
• You can even travel to/from Bolivia with Peru Hop, so it’s great if you’re backpacking across South America.

Cons of Using Peru Hop

An honest review of Peru Hop wouldn’t be complete without mentioning some of the cons of using the bus company.

• Their services currently don’t cover the north of Peru. So, if you want to travel to Huaraz, the hiking capital of Peru, then you’ll have to either fly or take a public bus.
• Travelling with Peru Hop could feel a bit touristy for some. Obviously, this company caters to tourists, so you won’t see any locals on these buses. If you want to have that typical backpacker experience of waiting at bus stops, trying to figure out where you are and where to go next, then go with public buses instead.
• We actually never did the math, but buying public bus tickets might work out slightly cheaper than Peru Hop’s bus passes.

Peru Hop Review: Final Thoughts

We hope this Peru Hop review gave you a good idea of how and why you should use the company to get around Peru. We personally loved our experience using Peru Hop to see the south of the country. Since Peru was our very first South American country that we backpacked through, Peru Hop gave us the chance to feel safe and looked after, without feeling like we were sheep being herded from one attraction to the next.

We were initially a bit concerned about Peru Hop feeling overly touristy, as we generally prefer doing things our own way. Luckily, we got complete control of our itinerary and had plenty of days between the bus rides, so we could actually look forward to socialising a bit with fellow backpackers. Plus, we had to use public buses to travel around the north of Peru, so that gave us a taste of the more authentic (and often chaotic) public transport experience.