Northern Peru: Chachapoyas, Kuélap and the Moche and Chimú Coast

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Lima

   Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM) to your hotel in Miraflores

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Lima
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Lima's Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM) at any time. A driver meets you in arrivals for the drive to Miraflores, about 20 km and usually under an hour, longer at rush hour. We stay in Miraflores because it sits on the cliffs above the Pacific, is easy to walk after dark and puts cafés and cevicherías a few blocks from the hotel. If you land early, follow the Malecón, the clifftop path of parks, to the Parque del Amor and watch the paragliders ride the sea breeze. In the dry months from May to September Lima is usually grey and mild, under the coastal cloud locals call garúa. At about 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the trip: the four short flights, the cloud-forest days around Chachapoyas and what to pack. Then we walk to a welcome dinner for a first taste of Peruvian cooking. To join the briefing, plan to land by about 3 pm; later arrivals are briefed at breakfast.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Free until the 6 pm briefing

   

2. Jour 2 : Fly north to Trujillo: Chan Chan and Huanchaco

   Lima to Trujillo by air, then Chan Chan and Huanchaco

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Trujillo
   Détail du jour 2

   A morning flight takes us north along the desert coast to Trujillo, about 1 hour 10 minutes in the air, where our own vehicle and driver for the north coast meet the group. We drop bags at a central hotel near the Plaza de Armas and go straight out to Chan Chan, the capital of the Chimú kingdom and the largest adobe city in the Americas, listed by UNESCO in 1986. With a local site guide we walk the restored Nik An (Tschudi) palace complex: high mud-brick walls, ceremonial plazas and friezes of fish, seabirds and waves, then the small site museum. Lunch is ceviche by the sea in Huanchaco, the fishing village five minutes away. In the late afternoon fishermen bring in their caballitos de totora, the reed boats this coast has used since before the Incas; sea permitting, you can take a short ride with one of them. Sunset from the pier, then the evening is free in Trujillo.

   Compris

   • Flight from Lima to Trujillo
   • Chan Chan with a local site guide: the Nik An (Tschudi) palace and the site museum
   • Ceviche lunch in Huanchaco
   • A short reed-boat ride with a Huanchaco fisherman, sea permitting
   • Sunset on the Huanchaco pier

   Temps libre : Evening free in Trujillo

   Activité : About 2 hours on foot at Chan Chan on sand and packed earth, with little shade; bring a hat and water.

   

3. Jour 3 : The Moche temples and a free afternoon

   Trujillo to the Huacas del Sol y de la Luna and back

   • Environ 45 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Trujillo
   Détail du jour 3

   We reach the Huaca de la Luna close to opening, around 9 am, before the heat and the day groups. This Moche temple was rebuilt in layers over several centuries, each new platform sealing the one before, which is why its painted friezes survive: rows of warriors, captives and the staring face of the Moche mountain god in red, white, yellow and black. A local site guide walks us through the excavated terraces, then across the plain to the vast, eroded Huaca del Sol, seen from outside because it is not open to visitors. The Museo Huacas de Moche next door holds the pottery and finds from the dig. Lunch is in the farming countryside of Moche, known for its cabrito and local chicha. We are back in Trujillo by mid-afternoon, and the rest of the day is yours: rest at the hotel, or walk the Plaza de Armas and the painted colonial mansions around it, many with ironwork window grilles.

   Compris

   • Huaca de la Luna and the Huaca del Sol with a local site guide
   • Museo Huacas de Moche
   • Lunch in the Moche countryside

   Activités en option

   • El Brujo and the Museo de Cao, home of the Lady of Cao, about 60 km north of Trujillo (half day, priced at booking)

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free in Trujillo

   Activité : About 1.5 to 2 hours on foot at the Huaca de la Luna, with ramps and some steps.

   

4. Jour 4 : Up the coast to Chiclayo and the Lord of Sipán

   Trujillo to Lambayeque and Chiclayo on the Pan-American Highway

   • Environ 4 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Chiclayo
   Détail du jour 4

   We leave Trujillo at about 8:30 am and drive north on the Pan-American Highway, about 210 km and some three and a half hours to Chiclayo (about 3.75 hours with the Lambayeque leg) through desert, sugar-cane fields and rice paddies watered by rivers coming down from the Andes, with a coffee stop on the way. Lunch is in Chiclayo or Lambayeque, where the dish to try is arroz con pato, rice cooked green with coriander and served with duck. In the afternoon we visit the Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán in Lambayeque, built in the shape of a Moche pyramid. It holds the tomb of the Lord of Sipán, a Moche ruler found intact at Huaca Rajada in 1987 by the archaeologist Walter Alva and his team, with his gold and silver ornaments, his attendants and the reconstructed burial chamber. Your guide takes you through it floor by floor, in the order the tomb was excavated. The museum is closed on Mondays, so we set departure dates so this day never falls on one. The evening is free in Chiclayo; the Mercado Modelo is lively until early evening.

   Compris

   • Drive from Trujillo to Chiclayo with your guide
   • Lunch in Chiclayo or Lambayeque
   • Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán in Lambayeque

   Activités en option

   • The pyramids of Túcume, about 30 km north of Chiclayo, if time and energy allow (priced at booking)

   Temps libre : Evening free in Chiclayo

   Activité : The museum does not allow photography inside. It is closed on Mondays, so departure dates are set so that day 4 never falls on a Monday.

5. Jour 5 : Over the Andes to Chachapoyas

   Chiclayo to Jaén by air via Lima, then by road to Chachapoyas

   • Environ 4.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Chachapoyas
   Détail du jour 5

   This is the travel day that makes the cloud forest possible, and it starts early, one of the few days we leave before 8 am. There is no direct flight from Chiclayo to the Amazonas region, so we fly to Jaén, connecting in Lima. Your guide handles the check-ins and the connection, and your bags are checked through where the airlines allow it. From Jaén our second vehicle and driver take us about 4 hours by road, up the Utcubamba valley past rice fields and then into steeper, greener country, with a lunch stop on the way. The road from Pedro Ruiz climbs along the river into Chachapoyas, a colonial town founded in 1538 at about 2,335 metres, with whitewashed houses, wooden balconies and a quiet Plaza de Armas. We reach town in the late afternoon, or after dark if a flight runs late. If the connection does not run on your dates, we drive from Chiclayo instead, about 9 hours with breaks, and tell you before you travel. Dinner is your choice, and we stay four nights here, so you unpack once for the rest of the trip.

   Compris

   • Flights from Chiclayo to Jaén, connecting in Lima
   • Drive from Jaén to Chachapoyas with lunch on the way

   Temps libre : Evening free in Chachapoyas

   Activité : If the flight connection does not run on your dates, we drive from Chiclayo to Chachapoyas instead, about 9 hours with a lunch stop and breaks; we tell you which before you travel. The drive from Jaén is about 4 hours, the most on any day of this trip.

   

6. Jour 6 : Kuélap by cable car

   Chachapoyas to Nuevo Tingo, the cable car to Kuélap, and back

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Chachapoyas
   Détail du jour 6

   Kuélap is the reason most people come this far. We drive about an hour south along the Utcubamba river to Nuevo Tingo and the lower station of the Kuélap cable car, which lifts you over the valley in about 20 minutes and saves what used to be a long, winding road. From the upper station it is a walk of about 30 to 40 minutes, gently uphill, to the walls. Kuélap was built by the Chachapoya people, the cloud-forest culture the Incas conquered late in the 15th century, on a ridge at about 3,000 metres. Its limestone walls rise up to about 19 metres and enclose the stone bases of hundreds of round houses, some decorated with zigzag and diamond friezes. Part of the outer wall collapsed in April 2022, and visits now follow a set circuit with a local site guide. Lunch is in the village of María nearby, then we are back in Chachapoyas by late afternoon.

   Compris

   • Kuélap cable car from Nuevo Tingo, both ways
   • Kuélap with a local site guide
   • Lunch near Kuélap

   Option plus facile : Take the walk from the cable car at your own pace and stop at the entrance viewpoint below the walls; your guide comes back for you.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Chachapoyas

   Activité : About 3 hours on foot at around 3,000 metres, on stone paths and steps. Kuélap is high enough to feel the altitude, so walk slowly and drink water.

   

7. Jour 7 : The walk to Gocta waterfall

   Chachapoyas to Cocachimba and the Gocta trail, and back

   • Environ 2.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Chachapoyas
   Détail du jour 7

   Gocta drops about 771 metres in two tiers out of the cloud forest, and it was barely known outside the valley until 2005. We drive about an hour and a quarter to the village of Cocachimba and set off by about 9 am with a local guide from the community, which runs the trail. The path to the foot of the lower fall is about 5 to 6 km each way, through sugar-cane plots and then forest, with steady climbs and descents and good chances of spotting birds; allow about 2 to 2.5 hours each way. At the bottom the spray hits you long before you reach the pool, so bring a rain layer. Lunch is back in Cocachimba, where several lodges look straight across at the falls. Horses can be hired for much of the trail, and if you prefer a short walk, a viewpoint near the village shows both tiers. We return to Chachapoyas in the late afternoon.

   Compris

   • Gocta waterfall walk with a local community guide
   • Lunch in Cocachimba

   Activités en option

   • A horse for part of the trail, hired locally

   Option plus facile : Walk to the viewpoint near Cocachimba, about 30 minutes each way, and spend the rest of the morning at a lodge facing the falls.

   Option plus active : A longer guided route from San Pablo to the foot of the upper fall, then down to Cocachimba, if conditions and the local guides allow it (confirmed on the day).

   Temps libre : Evening free in Chachapoyas

   Activité : The main walk is about 10 to 12 km round trip with steady ups and downs, roughly 4 to 5 hours on foot including the stop at the falls. Trails can be muddy; wear shoes with grip.

   

8. Jour 8 : The sarcophagi of Karajía, then a free afternoon

   Chachapoyas to Cruzpata and Karajía, then Huancas and back

   • Environ 3.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Chachapoyas
   Détail du jour 8

   We leave at about 8 am for the hamlet of Cruzpata, about an hour and a half away, and walk down a steep path of about 30 minutes to a cliff face where the sarcophagi of Karajía stand on a ledge. These are tall clay figures, the tallest about 2.5 metres, with long faces and painted decoration, made by the Chachapoya to hold their important dead, several with a skull set on top. They have stood looking across the valley for about five centuries because the ledge is so hard to reach. After the climb back up we drive to Huancas, a village of potters just outside Chachapoyas, where women still shape pots by hand, and walk to the viewpoint over the Sonche canyon, a drop of several hundred metres. Lunch is in Huancas or back in town. The afternoon is free: rest, walk the Plaza de Armas and the market, or try the local fruit liqueurs.

   Compris

   • Karajía sarcophagi with your guide
   • Huancas pottery village and the Sonche canyon viewpoint
   • Lunch in Huancas or Chachapoyas

   Activités en option

   • The Quiocta cave near Lamud, with its stalactites and old human bones (priced at booking)

   Option plus facile : Watch from the top of the path at Cruzpata and join the group again at Huancas, or take the afternoon in town only.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free in Chachapoyas

   Activité : The path to Karajía is short but steep and can be slippery, about 30 minutes down and 40 up.

9. Jour 9 : Back to Lima

   Chachapoyas to Jaén by road, then the flight to Lima

   • Environ 4.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Lima
   Détail du jour 9

   We leave Chachapoyas at about 7 am for the road back down the Utcubamba valley to Jaén, about 4 hours with a coffee stop, and catch the flight to Lima, about an hour and a half. This is the longest day of driving on the trip, and it is the only practical way out: the alternative is a full day on the road to the coast. Your guide checks everyone in and sees the bags through. A driver meets us in Lima for the run to Miraflores, under an hour outside rush hour, and you have the late afternoon to rest or walk the Malecón again. In the evening we sit down together for a farewell dinner in Miraflores or Barranco, Lima's old seaside district of painted houses and the wooden Puente de los Suspiros, with a last chance to try the coast's seafood and talk through what you saw in the north.

   Compris

   • Drive from Chachapoyas to Jaén with your guide
   • Flight from Jaén to Lima
   • Transfer to your hotel in Miraflores
   • Farewell dinner

   Temps libre : Late afternoon free in Lima

   Activité : About 4 hours by road to Jaén plus the Lima airport run; the flight in between breaks it up.

10. Jour 10 : The Larco Museum, then home

    Miraflores to the Larco Museum, then Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM)

    • Environ 1 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner
    Détail du jour 10

    The last morning ties the trip together. After breakfast we drive to the Larco Museum in Pueblo Libre, about 30 to 40 minutes from Miraflores, which opens at 9 am. Its collection of pre-Columbian pottery is one of the largest in Peru and is strong on exactly the cultures you met in the north: Moche portrait vessels and fineline painting, Chimú blackware and metalwork, and Chachapoya pieces, set in an 18th-century mansion with a garden of bougainvillea. Your guide picks out the pieces that match what you saw at the Huaca de la Luna, in the Sipán tombs and at Kuélap. We leave the museum at about midday and drop you at the airport by about 12:45 pm, about 30 minutes away. Most flights to North America leave Lima in the evening or at night, so if yours is late we drop you at the hotel instead (late checkout is not included, but the hotel holds your bags). Book a flight leaving after about 3 pm.

    Compris

    • Larco Museum with your guide
    • Drop-off at Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM) or your hotel

    Activité : The airport drop-off is at about 12:45 pm, so book a flight leaving after about 3 pm. We can add extra nights in Lima if you want to stay longer, or line this trip up with our Machu Picchu trip.

Faune et météo : May to September is the dry season around Chachapoyas, with the firmest trails and clearer views at Kuélap; mornings can still be misty and nights cool. On the coast it is the cooler months: Lima is often grey, Trujillo usually milder and brighter. Gocta runs all year and is fullest early in the season. The cloud forest is good for birds, including hummingbirds.

• Lima1 nuit
• Trujillo2 nuits
• Chiclayo1 nuit
• Chachapoyas4 nuits
• Lima1 nuit