17 Best Sights in The North Coast and Northern Highlands, Peru

With its strange, honeycomb-like walls and labyrinth of wavelike parapets, this sprawling ancient capital is the largest adobe city in the world. Its surreal geometry once held boulevards, aqueducts, gardens, palaces, and some 10,000 dwellings. Within its precincts were nine royal compounds, one of which, the royal palace of Tschudi, has been partially restored and opened to the public. Although the city began with the Moche civilization, the Chimú people took control of the region 300 years later and expanded the city to its current size. Although less known than the Incas, who conquered them in 1470, the Chimú were the second-largest empire in South America. Their territory stretched along 1,000 km (620 miles) of the Pacific, from Lima to Tumbes.

Before entering this UNESCO World Heritage site, check out the extensive photographic display of the ruins at the time of discovery and postrestoration. Then, begin at the Tschudi complex, the Plaza Principal, a monstrous square where ceremonies and festivals were held. The throne of the king is thought to have been in front where the ramp is found. The reconstructed walls have depictions of sea otters at their base. From here, head deep into the ruins toward the royal palace and tomb of Señor Chimú. The main corridor is marked by fishnet representations, marking the importance of the sea to these ancient people. You will also find renderings of pelicans, which served as ancient road signs, their beaks pointing to important sections of the city. Just before you arrive at the Recinto Funerario, the funeral chamber of Señor Chimú, you pass a small natural reservoir called a huachaque. Forty-four secondary chambers surround the funeral chamber where the king, Señor Chimú, was buried. In his day it was understood that when you pass to the netherworld you can bring all your worldly necessities with you, and the king was buried with several live concubines and officials and a slew of personal effects, most of which have been looted. Although wind and rain have damaged the city, its size—20 square km (8 square miles)—still impresses.

Indiana Jones would feel right at home in these fascinating ruins, which feature an underground labyrinth of stone corridors and a terrifying idol at their center. The idol, known as the Lanzón, is a 4-meter (13-foot) daggerlike slab with a jaguar's face and serpentine hair, and it was the Holy of Holies for the Chavín people, who were the mother civilization for the Andes. Pilgrims from all over South America would come here to worship, eventually spreading the cult of the so-called Fanged Deity throughout the continent. To make things even crazier, during ceremonies here, Chavín priests and their acolytes would ingest the psychedelic San Pedro cactus, thus facilitating their transformation into the smiling, ferocious god.

Visiting the Chavín archaeological complex, which dates from 1500 BC, is a favorite day trip from Huaraz. The UNESCO World Heritage site sits on the southern edge of the tiny village of the same name, and comprises two separate wings of the main temple, a large U-shaped main plaza, a second plaza surrounded with mysterious carvings, and an on-site museum that houses the grinning stone heads that once looked out from the temple's outer wall. On the drive southeast from the city, you get good views of two Andean peaks, Pucaraju (5,322 meters/17,460 feet) and Yanamarey (5,237 meters/17,180 feet), as well as of the alpine Laguna de Querococha. The eight-hour tour costs about S/50 per person, not including the entrance fee to the ruins. If you'd prefer to get here on your own, regular buses run between Huaraz and Chavín, and you can hire a guide at the entrance to the ruins.

This intriguing complex is currently one of the hot properties on the Peruvian archaeological circuit. Plopped down in a barren dune about 6 km (4 miles) from Magdalena, it consists of three distinct huacas, or holy sites: Huaca Cao, Huaca Prieta, and Huaca Cortada. Huaca Cao is the star: in 2006, it was the site of the electrifying discovery of the Lady of Cao, a 1,600-year-old mummy whose tattoos marked her as a Moche priestess or ruler. The finding was immediately compared with that of King Tut's tomb in Egypt, as it completely turned notions of power in pre-Columbian Peru upside down. Equally impressive is the huaca's pyramid itself, where the multicolored friezes of warriors and human sacrifices give a powerful idea of the Moches' artistic skill. The excellent on-site museum is among the most informative of its kind. The other two huacas are still undergoing excavation, but the entrance fee covers all three. The site is well worth the trip from Trujillo.

Stark and strange beneath the ash-gray hill that towers over them, these astonishing Moche pyramids were the scenes of bloody human sacrifices. Their exteriors may have eroded, but inside archaeologists have uncovered sinister octopus-shaped reliefs of the great Moche god Ai-Apaec, as well as evidence of a cataclysmic El Niño sequence that effectively destroyed Moche civilization.

The Huacas of the Sun and Moon are located some 10 km (6 miles) outside Trujillo, near the Río Moche. The former is the bigger of the two, but it's not open to the public due to its decayed state. (Built up of 130 million adobe bricks in eight continually expanding stages, its treasures were literally cleaned out of it in 1610, when the Spanish diverted the Río Moche to wash the imperial gold and silver from its innards.) The Huaca of the Moon is awesome in its own right, with numerous exterior and interior walls blazoned with bizarre mythological reliefs. These include spider-like creatures, warriors, and the scowling face of Ai-Apaec, the ferocious god to whom captives were sacrificed at the pyramid's base. These sacrifices probably occurred to propitiate the gods of the weather, but alas, it didn't work. A series of violent El Niño events around the year 600 brought drought and sandstorms, eventually ending the Moche civilization.

When you visit the Huaca de la Luna, you'll start from the top, near the sacrificial altars, and work your way down through the inner galleries to the murals at the base. This was where archaeologists discovered bones of the Moches' victims in recent decades. Be sure to allot time for the excellent museum, which includes exhibits of Moche artwork and informative discussions of the culture's history and religion.

Consistently compared to Machu Picchu by visitors, this extraordinary site high in the cloud forests of Chachapoyas was a walled city sufficient unto itself, housing farmers, shamans, and administrators, as well as the "warriors of the cloud" that made up the Chachapoyans' military class. Wandering the circular ruins, with their 12-meter-high (39-foot-high) stone walls and enigmatic carvings of faces and snakes, you catch a haunting glimpse of a fierce people that resisted the Inca Empire to the bitter end.

Kuélap sits at a dizzying 3,100 meters (10,170 feet), high above the Río Utcubamba. Consisting of more than 400 small, rounded buildings, it contains lookout towers, huts with grass roofs (now reconstructed), turrets, and rhomboid friezes typical of the region. The most interesting of the rounded buildings has been dubbed El Tintero (The Inkpot), and features a large underground chamber with a huge pit. Archaeologists hypothesize that the Chachapoyans kept pumas in this pit, dropping human sacrifices into its depths during religious rituals. The ruins are in surprisingly good condition considering the antiquity (1,000 or so years) of the site: the Incas appear to have left it alone when they overran the Chachapoyas people in 1472.

This pre-Inca site, 23 km (14 miles) southwest of Cajamarca, is surrounded by a large rock outcropping, where you'll find various petroglyphs left by the ancient Cajamarcans. There are also petroglyph-adorned caves so a guided tour is highly recommended. This site, discovered in 1937 by the famous Peruvian archaeologist J.C. Tello, also includes some of the most notable aqueducts in the Andes. Constructed around 1000 BC, the aqueduct was designed to direct the ample water from the Andes into the drier area of Cajamarca, where there was a large reservoir. Amazingly, more than 8 km (5 miles) of the ancient aqueduct are intact today. Guided tours cost around S/35 and take about four hours.

Filled with intriguing symbolic carvings, the restored Huaca Arco Iris, or Rainbow Pyramid, stands out against its urban backdrop. Named for its unusual rainbow ornamentation (the area rarely sees rain), it's also known as the Huaca El Dragón, or Pyramid of the Dragon, because of the central role dragons play in the friezes. This structure, built by the early Chimú, also has a repeating figure of a mythical creature that looks like a giant serpent. On the walls, mostly reconstructions, you will see what many archaeologists believe are priests wielding the knives used in human sacrifices. Half-moon shapes at the bottom of most of the friezes indicate that the Chimú probably worshipped the moon at this temple. You can climb the ramps up to the top of the platform and see the storage bins within.

As with the other Chimú pyramids, the most interesting aspects of these ruins are the carved friezes, unrestored and in their original state. The images include fish, seabirds, waves, and fishing nets, all central to the life of the Chimú. Like other Chimú pyramids on the northern coast, the ancient temple mound of Huaca Esmeralda, or the Emerald Pyramid, is believed to have served as a religious ceremonial center. The pyramid is in an area that's dangerous for unaccompanied tourists, so go with a guide.

Several ruins can be found near the town of Casma, but the heavily weathered Mochica city of Pañamarca is the one to see after Sechín. Located 10 km (6 miles) from the Pan-American Highway on the road leading to Nepeña, Pañamarca has some interesting murals. If they're not visible right away, ask a guard to show you, as they are often closed off. The site was later occupied by the Incas. A taxi will take you to the ruins for about S/20 an hour; negotiate the price before you leave.

With its seven defensive walls, the gigantic pyramid at Paramonga is worth a look. Nicknamed "the fortress" for its citadel-like ramparts, it may have only been a ritual center for the Chimú people back in the 13th century. In any case, it was already in ruins when the Spanish arrived in Peru in 1532. A small museum has interesting displays on Chimú culture. The archaeological site sits just off the Pan-American Highway, about 3 km (2 miles) north of the turnoff for Huaraz. For a few soles you can take a taxi to the ruins from the nearby town of Barranca.

About 35 km (22 miles) southeast of Chachapoyas are the ruins of Purunllacta, a good place for hiking. With pre-Inca agricultural terraces, dwellings, ceremonial platforms, and roads extending for more than 420 hectares (1,038 acres), but few tourists, this can be a peaceful spot, but somewhat boring as you have no explanation of what you're seeing. To get here, drive to the town of Cheto. From the town it's a one-hour walk uphill to the site. Few people know about this or go, so ask in Cheto for directions to the trailhead, and don't be alarmed if you have to ask more than one person.

The origins of Sechín, one of the country's oldest archaeological sites, remain a mystery. It's not clear what culture built this coastal temple around 1600 BC, but the bas-relief carvings ringing the main sanctuary, some up to 4 meters (13 feet) high, graphically depict triumphant warriors and their conquered, often beheaded enemies. Some researchers have even speculated that this was a center for anatomical study, due to the sheer number of detached body parts engraved on the rocks. The site was first excavated in 1937 by the archaeologist J.C. Tello. It has since suffered from looters and natural disasters. Archaeologists are still excavating here, so access to the central plaza is not permitted. A trail leading up a neighboring hill provides good views of the temple complex and the surrounding valley. A small museum has a good collection of Chavín ceramics and a mummy that was found near Trujillo. To get to the ruins, head southeast from Casma along the Pan-American Highway for about 3 km (2 miles), turning east onto a paved road leading to Huaraz. The ruins sit about 2 km (1¼ miles) past the turnoff.

Archaeology aficionados looking to see some ancient sites in their crude state will enjoy this pyramid complex, located 35 km (22 miles) north of Chiclayo. Grand but largely unexcavated, it's the site of Huaca Larga, one of the largest adobe pyramids in South America, as well as dozens of smaller structures spread across a dry desert. Most are badly deteriorated. A small museum, Museo de Sitio, offers tours with English-speaking guides to learn about the history of the complex.

The rugged desert landscape, sprinkled with hardy little algarrobo (mesquite) trees, is probably very similar to what it looked like when—so the legend goes—a lord called Naymlap arrived in the Lambayeque Valley and with his dozen sons founded the Lambayeque dynasty. It was this line of Sicán rulers who built the pyramids seen today. Keep an eye out for burrowing owls as you make your way from the entrance toward the pyramids.

Adjacent to the archaeological site is a lovely hotel designed from adobe and algarrobo wood, Los Horcones de Tucume (951/831–705, www.loshorconesdetucume.com), whose architect-owner seamlessly incorporated pre-Columbian designs into the walled complex. There are 12 airy guest rooms with private terraces and a small pool at the hotel. The staff can arrange various horseback-riding trips through algarrobo forests and meetings with local curanderos, or shamans.

The road to this archaeological site, which was excavated by renowned archaeologist Walter Alva in 1987 and which is not far from the town of Sipán, winds past sugar plantations and through a fertile valley. You'll soon reach a fissured hill—all that remains of a temple called the Huaca Rajada. The three major tombs found here date from about AD 290 and earlier and form one of the most complete archaeological finds in the Western Hemisphere. The tombs have been attributed to the Moche culture, known for its ornamental pottery and fine metalwork. The most extravagant funerary objects were found in the tomb, which is now filled with replicas placed exactly where the originals—currently on permanent display in the Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán in Lambayeque—were discovered. The Lord of Sipán did not make the journey to the next world alone—he was buried with at least seven people: a warrior (whose feet were amputated to ensure that he didn't run away), three young women, two assistants, and a child. The tomb also contained a dog and two llamas. Hundreds of ceramic pots contained snacks for the long trip. Archaeological work here is ongoing, but you can see some of the excavated objects in the on-site museum.

One of the oldest cemeteries in Peru, the Ventanillas de Otuzco date back more than 3,500 years. The ancient necropolis, 8 km (5 miles) northeast of Cajamarca, comprises several large burial niches carved into a cliff. From afar, the niches look like windows: hence the area's name. On closer inspection, you see that many of the burial niches have carved decorations. Sadly, the site is gradually being eroded by wind and rain, though measures are being taken to slow the degradation. If you're inspired by this cemetery, you can go about 30 km (18 miles) from Combayo, in the same direction, and visit the better-preserved Ventanillas de Combayo. A three-hour guided tour to Ventanillas de Otuzco costs around S/35. If you prefer to go by yourself, combis (small buses) take 30 minutes to arrive from the Plaza de Armas.

Some 8 km (5 miles) north of Huaraz, this small archaeological site contains a Wari temple, dating from AD 1100, that resembles the larger temple at Chavín de Huántar. Each story of the crumbling three-tiered temple has seven rooms. There's are also a small museum, basic bathroom facilities, and a limited restaurant. Trained and knowledgeable local students will be your guide for a small tip (suggested minimum: S/10).