Sign on road to Huaca de la Luna (temple of the moon) archaeological site.

Matt Munro

North Coast

This staggering shore has some of the world's best surfing and plenty of tanned travelers to keep you company. It's also home to a jaw-dropping array of archaeological sites, colonial cities and evocative desertscapes straight out of Mad Max. In this land of rock and desert sand, you'll also find a few verdant valleys, while Peru's only mangrove forests cling for their lives up north.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • The Sacred City of Caral-Supe reflects the rise of civilisation in the Americas. As a fully developed socio-political state, it is remarkable for its complexity and its impact on developing settlements throughout the Supe Valley and beyond. Its early use of the quipu as a recording device is considered of great significance. The design of both the architectural and spatial components of the city is masterful, and the monumental platform mounds and recessed circular courts are powerful and influential expressions of a consolidated state.

    Caral

    North Coast

    Before metal or ceramic was invented and well before the Maya and Inca cultures ruled, there was Caral, the oldest civilization in the Americas. Having…

  • Intricate carved interior of Huaca de la Luna (Temple of the Moon) archaeological site.

    Huacas del Sol y de la Luna

    North Coast

    If there's one must-see archaeological site in the region, this is it. The Temples of the Sun and the Moon, attributed to the Moche period, are more than…

  • Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán

    Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán

    North Coast

    Opened in November 2002, the Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipán is the pride of northern Peru – as well it should be. With its burgundy pyramid…

  • Tschudi ruins. Chan Chan, north of Trujillo, Peru.

    Chan Chan

    North Coast

    Built around AD 1300 and covering 20 sq km, Chan Chan is the largest pre-Columbian city in the Americas and the largest adobe city in the world. Although…

  • El Brujo Archaeological Complex, just north of Trujillo, La Libertad Province, Peru, is an ancient archaeological site of the Moche Civilisation in the Chicama Valley. Building archaeology unveils seven phases of construction spanning the early and middle phases of Moche era. Huaca Cao Viejo is famous for its polychrome reliefs and mural paintings, and the discovery of the Señora de Cao. The 25 year old woman buried here was believed to be a 3rd century AD female ruler of the Moche state, and her tomb was full of gold and other previous artifacts. The murals at the complex also depict the ritual human sacrifice that took place here regularly: teams of men would engage in ritual battles and the losing team would willingly be sacrificed to the gods to ensure fertility and peace in the community. Murals show the naked warriors (with fully erect penis) being marched to the sacrificial platform to be decapitated and blood to be collected for the gods.

    Complejo Arqueológico la Huaca el Brujo

    North Coast

    This archaeological complex right on the coast, about 60km from Trujillo, consists of the Huaca Prieta site, the Huaca El Brujo, which has only been…

  • Sipán

    Sipán

    North Coast

    The story of Sipán reads like an Indiana Jones movie script: buried treasure, huaqueros (grave robbers), police, archaeologists and at least one killing…

  • Reserva Ecológica Chaparrí Wildlife

    Reserva Ecológica Chaparrí Wildlife

    North Coast

    This 34,000-hectare private reserve, located 75km east of Chiclayo, was established in 2000 by the community of Santa Catalina and the famous Peruvian…

  • Túcume

    Túcume

    North Coast

    This archaeological site, around 30km north of Lambayeque on the Panamericana, is not particularly well known, but it's the most impressive collection of…

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