Piura sits on the Panamerican Highway about 17 hours north of Lima by bus. Luxury companies like ITTSA run sofa-cama services - seats that recline nearly flat - for around S/90 to S/120 one-way, with semi-cama seating cheaper. Trujillo is seven hours south, Chiclayo closer still. Other bus companies include Transportes Linea, Oltursa, and Transportes Flores, all running frequent services up and down the coast. Heading north, EPPO and El Dorado buses serve Tumbes and the Ecuadorian border. If you are continuing into Ecuador, direct buses run to Loja and Cuenca, usually leaving around 9pm and arriving before dawn. The Loja bus costs about 48 soles. The company's office is tucked behind another operator called Ronca Peru, just southeast of where Avenida Bolognesi meets Loreta - easy to miss if you are not looking for it. Luggage storage is typically free while you wait.

The Plaza de Armas anchors the historic center. Colonial architecture, gorgeous plazas, shaded parks, a large market, and a museum cluster within walking distance. But the main reason visitors come to Piura is to eat. El Caracol Azul, La Santitos, and Cafe Capuchino are three of the best-known restaurants in the city proper. For truly traditional Piurano food, head to Catacaos, a short trip out of town famous for its ceviche and its silverwork, or to Sullana, where Don Carlos's restaurant is legendary among Peruvians. (Sullana has a reputation for petty crime - be a bit careful with your valuables there.) Up in the mountains near Ayabaca, restaurants serve cuy - guinea pig - alongside dishes made with more ají, the Peruvian chili that defines the Andean kitchen. Food in Piura is rarely spicy in the Mexican sense. The heat comes from raw onion and citrus, not from peppers.

Be careful if you decide to exchange money with the street changers working the sidewalks around the Plaza de Armas. The common scams are well-documented and unfortunately still working. Some tamper with their calculators so the displayed amount is wrong. Others swap one of your bills for a fake or torn one and hand it back claiming it was already damaged - forcing you to accept a lower exchange rate on your remaining bills. Use an established casa de cambio or a bank instead. If you are heading south through Peru, Arequipa has plenty of exchanges with excellent rates and far less drama. Lima's Miraflores district also has reputable exchanges. Street changers in Piura are not all crooks, but the risk is real enough that most travelers skip them.

If you love beaches, leave Piura for Mancora, Colán, Yacila, Punta Sal, or Los Órganos. Hourly buses run from Piura to Los Órganos between 7am and 8pm. Colán deserves special mention. The church there is among the oldest in South America, but it has no resident priest and is only opened for Sunday mass. The beach is quieter than Mancora's, and a retired Belgian man maintains cheap bungalows - around S/20 per night - and runs a small restaurant for his guests. To get to Colán, get off at the highway intersection and catch a moto or colectivo into town. Further inland, Ayabaca is home to the statue of Sr. Cautivo, one of Peru's most venerated saints. Pilgrims walk here every October from as far as Lima and Ecuador to venerate an image of Jesus that, according to local tradition, was carved by artisans who vanished from a sealed room after completing the work - leaving no payment accepted, and no artisans to accept it. Ayabaca is also near Bosque de Cuyas, one of the most accessible cloud forests on the western slopes of the Andes. Over 140 bird species live in its 600 hectares. Local guides from the nearby village of Yacupampa charge around S/12 per day.