Mirador Luya Urco

Northern Highlands


A 10-minute stroll northwest along Salamanca brings you to this modest lookout with a city panorama.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Northern Highlands attractions

1. Instituto Nacional de Cultura Museo

0.44 MILES

This small museum on the Plaza de Armas houses mummies found throughout the region, plus ceramics from several pre-Columbian periods and one of the…

2. Church

0.46 MILES

This whitewashed church, officially known as the Catedral San Juan Bautista, sits on the Plaza de Armas. Its heavy black wooden doors rarely seem to open…

3. Huancas

3.71 MILES

The tiny and agreeably unkempt village of Huancas (pronounced like the English ‘wankers’!) has a small artisan community making clay pots the old…

4. Mirador Cañón del Sonche

3.91 MILES

The joy of this steep-sided canyon that cuts like a deep gash through the Northern Highlands is that you’re barely aware it’s there until you are…

5. Yalape

4.97 MILES

This largely unexcavated archaeological site dates from around AD 1100 and is located 17km south of Chachapoyas near the village of Levanto. A visit here…

6. Caverna de Quiocta

9.64 MILES

This large cave is 545m long and guards a spooky selection of stalagmites, stalactites and other trippy rock formations. Also visible around the entrance…

7. Karajía

11.09 MILES

This extraordinary funerary site hosts six sarcophagi perched high up a sheer cliff face. Each long-faced tomb is constructed from wood, clay and straw…

8. Gran Vilaya

12.43 MILES

The name Gran Vilaya refers to the bountiful valleys that spread out west of Chachapoyas, reaching toward the rushing Río Marañón. Abutting the humid…