“The treasures of Northern Peru”

Around noon, departure by first-class bus to Huaraz. Arrival in Huaraz in the early evening and transfer to the “El Patio de Monterrey” hotel. Night at the hotel.

It is also possible to take a flight on this journey.

Departure for the first excursion of your trip. You will be driven up the White Range towards the Nevado Pastoruri. You will make some stops along the way to discover the “Puya Raimondi”, an enormous cactus over 30 feet tall, and sources of naturally fizzy water. The vehicle will take you up to an altitude of up to 4700 meters above sea level. You will hike up to a viewpoint located at 5000 meters, from which you will be able to have a splendid view across the Nevado Pastoruri and its glacier. You will hike back down the valley, and will be back in Huaraz by the late afternoon.

Night at the hotel.

Morning departure through the ”Huaylas callejón”, a valley which separates the Black Range from the White Range. You will make several stops in the main villages of the valley, such as Carhuaz. This route offers some superb viewpoints over the Nevado Huascarán, the highest summit in Peru (6778 meters) and the Nevado Huandoy. You will then hike up to the White Range and enter the Huascarán national park in order to reach Llanganuco, a lagoon of turquoise water in the middle of a sumptuous mountainous landscape.

After lunch in Caraz (not included), you will visit the village of Yungay, which was buried under a mudslide in 1970.

Return to Huaraz at the end of the day. Transfer to the bus station to catch a first-class night bus over to Trujillo.

Arrival in Trujillo in the early morning, and transfer to the « Conquistadores » hotel, where a room will be at your disposition. After breakfast, departure to the main archeological sites of the Mochica and Chimu civilizations, the most important ones of the northern Peruvian coast. The Huaca de La Luna and Huaca del Sol were pyramids formed by several platforms built with hundreds of millions of adobes (earth bricks dried in the sun), which were embellished with murals of multicolored low-relief soil.

Next, departure to the Huanchaco coastal resort for lunch (not included). In the afternoon you will visit the Chan-Chan ruins, an immense site also built with soil bricks. Return to Trujillo in the late afternoon.

Free day to enjoy a break in the tour, and enjoy the colonial charm of Trujillo at your own pace, as well as bask in its eternal spring weather.

At night, departure by first-class bus to Chachapoyas.

Arrival in Chachapoyas in the morning, and transfer to the “Casa Vieja” hotel to drop off your luggage, then departure to Kuelap. Perched on an overhanging rock, this 700-meter long pre-Inca fortress boasts 12-meter high walls. Its beauty and the extraordinary 360-degree views it offers over 30 miles make it one of the major archeological sites in Peru, comparable to Machu Picchu.  For many, this is definitely the highlight of this tour around northern Peru. Return to Chachapoyas at the end of the day.

Night at the hotel.

In the morning you will be driven to Coca Chimba, a village from which you will have views over the Gocta waterfalls, which are 771 meters high, and some of the highest in Peru and in the world. You will set off for a 2 and a half hour trek through a tropical undergrowth to the foot of the waterfall, where you will have lunch. After having rested, you will begin the hike back.

Arrival in Chachapoys in the evening. Night at the hotel.

In the morning, transfer to the bus station to take a first-class bus back to Chiclayo, a journey which will take you through two highly contrasting regions of Peru, between the Amazonian slopes of the Andes and the coastal desert. Between the two, the road passes through the Porculla pass, the lowest pass in the Andes.

Arrival in Chiclayo at the end of the day, hotel transfer and night at the Costa del Sol hotel.

In the morning you will visit the Túcume pyramid complex, as well as the Señor de Sipán royal tombs in Lambayeque. The discovery of the Señor de Sipán tomb and its goldsmithery treasures is considered the most significant of the last 50 years in Peru.

Night at the hotel.

After breakfast, transfer to the bus station to catch a bus over to the upmost northern beaches of Peru. After breakfast, arrival in Mancora in the afternoon and check-in at the hotel “Casa de Playa”.

Free afternoon and night at the hotel.

Free day to enjoy the most beautiful beaches of Peru: those of Mancora, with their tepid waters and tropical atmosphere.

Night at the hotel.

To finish off your trip, what could be better than a few days on the beach, relaxing and enjoying the warm climate of this little Northern paradise?

Night at the hotel.

Last swim in the morning, followed by a transfer to the little city of Tumbes, at the northern end of Peru, very near the border with Ecuador. From there you will take a flight up to Lima.

Arrival in Lima in the afternoon, hotel transfer and night at the Britania hotel.

Transfer to Lima airport. End of your “Treasures of Northern Peru” tour.