Our home town
Huaraz — destination for mountains and culture
This is the city we come home to between expeditions: a mecca for outdoor adventure and the recognised base for trekking, hiking and climbing in Peru. It is also the place to slow down, acclimatise and let the mountains do the talking.
3,090m above sea level
Base for the Cordillera Blanca
Where we acclimatise
City altitude
North of Lima
People who live here
Huascarán, Peru's highest
A city held between two cordilleras
Huaraz sits in the Callejón de Huaylas valley, flanked on one side by the dry Cordillera Negra — the wheat basket of Áncash — and on the other by the snow-capped peaks of the Cordillera Blanca. The skyline belongs to Huascarán, Peru's highest mountain at 6,768m, and you feel it in every plaza.
It is the capital of the Áncash region, about 400km north of Lima at 3,090m. A lively, friendly city of around 150,000 people, with colourful markets, cafés, hotels, restaurants, museums, archaeological sites, local crafts and natural hot springs.
The city and its people have endured terrible natural disasters: a massive 1941 avalanche off Palcaraju that flooded the city with ice and rock, and the 1970 earthquake and avalanche off Huascarán that levelled Huaraz and buried neighbouring Yungay, costing more than 20,000 lives. They rebuilt, and they carry a spirit you see in every smile.
Take it slow — your body will thank you
Huaraz is far calmer than the busier tourist circuits elsewhere in Peru, and that is exactly what your first days at altitude need. It is the perfect place to escape the rush, settle into the local culture and let your body adjust before you head higher.
It is also easier on the wallet and relatively safer than some of Peru's more publicised areas. You can wander the shops and street craft stalls without being pushed to buy — local people are warm and helpful, never pushy.
Big Andean smiles
Life in the market
Working the land
Views from the valley
Huaraz has it all
Fill your first days with gentle day tours, short hikes and pre-Inca sites, then wind down over an afternoon in the sun in one of the plazas.
Cafés, restaurants and sunny plazas
Local markets and craft fairs
Festivals, music and nightlife
Plan it with us
Make Huaraz your basecamp
Tell our team in Huaraz how much time you have and what you would love to do, and we will build days around your acclimatisation — from cultural day trips to the first steps of a longer trek or climb.