Things to do in North Coast
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La Bajadita
This is the place to sink your sweet tooth into some great cakes, including tiramisú, pecan pie, brownies and the ever-popular apple pie. They also do small meals and all-day breakfasts here.
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A
Mercado Modelo
Make sure not to miss a visit to Mercado Modelo, one of Peru's most interesting markets. This place sprawls for several blocks and is a thick maze of fresh fruits and vegetables, woven goods, handicrafts, live animals, fish, meats and, most interestingly, the mercado de brujos (witch doctors' market) in the southwest corner.
This area is a one-stop shop for medicine men and has everything you might need for a potent brew: whale bones, amulets, snake skins, vials of indeterminate tonics, hallucinogenic cacti and piles of aromatic herbs. If you'd like to make contact with a brujo for a healing session, this is a good place to start, but be wary of sham shamans. It's best to…
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Chan Chan
Run by Italian chef Udo, this Italian eatery has a cozy atmosphere and lots of bright, white, curving adobe walls smartly decorated with tasteful art. The food here is great, the pizzas look like the real, thin-crust deal and the service is very attentive – it’s well worth the splurge. Get here early for a breezy patio seat. To find it, look out for the palm-frond-concealed frontage.
reviewed
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Chan Chan
Built around AD 1300 and covering 28 sq km (17 sq mi), Chan Chan is the largest pre-Columbian city in the Americas, and the largest adobe city in the world. At the height of the Chimu Empire, it housed an estimated 60,000 inhabitants and contained a vast wealth of gold, silver and ceramics. The wealth remained undisturbed after the city was conquered by the Incas, but once the Spaniards hit the stage the looting began.
Within a few decades, little but gold dust remained. Although Chan Chan must have once been a dazzling sight, El Niño floods and heavy rainfall have severely eroded the mud walls. Today, the most impressive aspect of the site is its sheer size.
The Chimu c…
reviewed
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Rancho Santana
One of the best ways to visit this area is on horseback from Rancho Santana in Pacora, about 45km northeast of Chiclayo. Readers rave about their experiences riding typical Peruvian pacing horses at this Swiss-owned ranch, which also has a comfortable whitewashed villa with a big swimming pool; a real treat is fresh milk and sweet mangos and other tropical fruits always on hand. The owners are highly knowledgeable of Lambayeque cultures and will pick you up in Chiclayo for half-day to five-day cabalgatas (horse rides) through the Pomac Forest, Batán Grande and the pyramids at Túcume. The owners care for their horses exceptionally well and can make even the most inexperien…
reviewed
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Chan Chan
Built around AD 1300 and covering 36 sq km, Chan Chan is the largest pre-Columbian city in the Americas, and the largest adobe city in the world. At the height of the Chimú empire, it housed an estimated 60,000 inhabitants and contained a vast wealth of gold, silver and ceramics. The wealth remained more or less undisturbed after the city was conquered by the Incas, but once the Spaniards hit the stage the looting began. Within a few decades little but gold dust remained. Remnants of what was found can be seen in museums nearby. Although Chan Chan must have been a dazzling sight at one time, devastating El Niño floods and heavy rainfall have severely eroded the mud walls …
reviewed
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Huaca Esmeralda
Halfway between Trujillo and Chan Chan, this Chimú temple is to the south of the main road, four blocks behind the Mansiche Church. Thieves reportedly prey on unwary tourists wandering around, so go with a large group or a guide and keep your eyes open. It was buried by sand and was accidentally discovered by a local landowner in 1923. He attempted to uncover the ruins, but El Niño of 1925 began the process of erosion, which was exacerbated by the floods and rains of 1983. Although little restoration work has been done on the adobe friezes, it is still possible to make out the characteristic Chimú designs of fish, seabirds, waves and fishing nets.
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B
Plaza de Armas
Trujillo's spacious and fetching main square hosts an impressive statue dedicated to work, the arts and liberty. The plaza is fronted by the cathedral, begun in 1647, destroyed in 1759, and rebuilt soon afterward. The cathedral has a famous basilica and a museum of religious and colonial art.
At 08:00 on Sunday there is a flag-raising ceremony on the Plaza de Armas, complete with a parade. On some Sundays there are also caballos de paso (pacing horses) and performances of the marinera (a typical coastal Peruvian dance involving much romantic waving of handkerchiefs).
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C
Museo Cassinelli
The Museo Cassinelli is a private archaeological collection housed in the basement of a gas station. The museum is fascinating, with hundreds of pieces that certainly don’t belong under a gritty petrol dispensary. Have a look at the bird-shaped whistling pots, which produce clear notes when air is blown into them (ask the curator to show you). Superficially the pots are very similar, but when they are blown each produces a completely different note that corresponds to the calls of the male and female birds.
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Restaurant Típico La Fiesta
A quality top-end choice, La Fiesta is in the Residencial 3 de Octubre suburb, about 2km west of central Chiclayo. If you want to experience the best of this region’s world-famous cuisine, Fiesta is the place to splurge. The pisco sours constructed tableside and elegant meat dishes, such as rack of lamb with risotto and sirloin with poached quail egg, are worth every nuevo sol. Or try the farm-raised duck, which must be a black-feathered quacker not a day over three months old. There is a sister restaurant in Lima.
reviewed
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Huaca Rayada
This archaeological site was discovered by huaqueros from the nearby hamlet of Sipán. When local archaeologist Dr Walter Alva saw a huge influx of intricate objects on the black market in early 1987, he realized that an incredible burial site was being ransacked in the Chiclayo area. Careful questioning led Dr Alva to the Sipán mounds. To the untrained eye the mounds look like earthen hills, but in AD 300 these were huge truncated pyramids constructed from millions of adobe bricks.
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Iguana’s
Ursula Behr from Iguana’s organizes full-day trips to the Los Pilares dry forest, which include wading through sparkling waterfalls, swimming, horseback riding and a soak in the mud baths, for S90 per person. She’s also a professional rafting guide (she earned her stripes in Cuzco) and has set up a two-day class III river-running trip through the tropical forest at Rica Playa (per person about S300). Sea kayaking trips, ideal for bird-spotting, cost S110 per person for the day.
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Complejo Arqueológico la Huaca el Brujo
This archaeological complex consists of the Huaca Prieta site, the recently excavated Moche site of Huaca Cao Viejo with its brilliant mural reliefs and Huaca el Brujo, which is only starting to be excavated. The complex is 60km from Trujillo on the coast and is hard to find without a guide. It’s technically not open to the public as there is little to see of the excavations so far, but tour agencies in Trujillo can arrange a visit to the area on request.
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Huaca Arco Iris
Also known locally as Huaca del Dragón, Huaca Arco Iris is in the suburb of La Esperanza, about 4km northwest of Trujillo. Dating from the 12th century, it is one of the best preserved of the Chimú temples – simply because it was buried under sand until the 1960s. Its location was known to a handful of archaeologists and huaqueros (grave robbers), but excavation did not begin until 1963. Unfortunately, the 1983 El Niño caused damage to the friezes.
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D
Restaurant Demarco
Although this small bistro specializes in Italian food and crispy crust pizzas – if you read Italian, so much the better for deciphering the extensive menu – they have mouth-watering chupe de camarones, a seafood stew of jumbo shrimp simmering in a buttery broth with hints of garlic, cumin and oregano. The desserts are excellent, from classic tiramisu to mile-high tres leches (a spongy cake made with evaporated milk).
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Las Terrazas
A little bit out of the town center, this popular place is well worth the S1 mototaxi ride. Packed with hungry diners daily, it serves up heaped plates of seafood, and will ceviche or cook anything from fish to lobster to octopus. It’s all prepared in the northern coastal style and they have live folk music on the weekends. It’s on a classy 3rd-floor terrace and has flowing tablecloths, lots of decorations and a festive mood.
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El Uruguayo
Vegetarians might want to make a wide berth around this place. Located a S3 taxi ride south of town, little El Uruguayo serves up delicious barbecued meat to a nightly crowd of salivating in-the-know patrons. A massive sizzling plate of mixed meats (Argentinean steak, chicken, chorizo, beef heart, plus a few surprises), salad and fries – enough for two to three people – will set you back S30. Dig in.
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Un Lugar
For surfing lessons, visit Un Lugar, two blocks back from the main beach road. This place is run by the super-friendly and highly skilled Juan Carlos and provides private two-hour lessons for S45. It also rents boards and suits, organizes surfing safaris to Puerto Chicama and, best of all, runs a volunteer program helping local street children. Travelers are welcome to volunteer.
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Reserva Nacional Lomas de Lachay
Reserva Nacional Lomas de Lachay is a 5070-hectare natural reserve where moisture from coastal mists has created a unique microenvironment of dwarf forest, which conceals a plethora of small animals and birds. The park has campsites and picnicking areas, pit toilets and trails, but there are no buses – you will have to hire a vehicle or hike from the Pan-American Hwy to get here.
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E
Capuccino
Recently relocated into a beautiful dining room with modern decor, Capuccino serves upscale salads, fresh seafood, sandwiches and desserts that work great for both light lunches or full dinners with a bottle of wine. Try the elegant and simple appetizer of grilled squid with olive oil. For caffeine freaks, Capuccino is the only place in town serving real-deal espressos and coffee drinks.
reviewed
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Restaurant Romana
This locally popular place serves a bunch of different dishes, all of them local favorites. If you’re feeling brave, try the chirimpico for breakfast: it’s stewed goat tripe and organs and is guaranteed to either cure a hangover or give you one. Otherwise, you can have pastas, steaks, seafood, chicken or pork chicharrones (breaded and fried pieces of meat) with yucca.
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Museum
Further north, the village of Huaura, opposite Huacho, is where José de San Martín proclaimed Peru’s independence. Ask for someone to show you the building where it occurred. There is an inconsequential museum and a Spanish-speaking guide who’ll show you the balcony from where the desire for self-rule was decreed.
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Hebron
This flashy, contemporary and bright two-story restaurant is a luxury pollería (restaurant specializing in roast chicken) on steroids. Lots of windows, impeccable service and a giant children’s playground that would put McDonalds to shame keep this restaurant marked on the calendars of most Chiclayans. Hebron may have the only kids menu in town.
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H
Palacio Iturregui
The canary yellow 19th-century mansion Palacio Iturregui is unmistakable and impossible to ignore unless you’re color-blind. Built in neoclassical style, it has beautiful window gratings, slender interior columns and gold moldings on the ceilings. General Juan Manuel Iturregui lived here after he famously proclaimed independence.
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Casa Grau
Casa Grau is the house where Admiral Miguel Grau was born on July 27, 1834. The house was restored by the Peruvian navy and is now a naval museum. Admiral Grau was a hero of the War of the Pacific against Chile (1879–83), and the captain of the British-built warship Huáscar, a model of which can be seen in the museum.
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