Huaraz & the Cordilleras

The Santa Cruz is one of South America’s classic multiday treks: lightly trodden, spectacular from start to finish, and achievable by anyone of decent fitness who’s had adequate time to acclimatize. Running for 45km through the Cordillera Blanca between the villages of Vaqueria and Cashapampa, the trek takes hikers along the verdant Quebrada Huarípampa, over the (literally) dizzying Punta Union Pass (4760m) and down through the deeply gouged Quebrada Santa Cruz Valley.

The hamlet of Pitec (3850m), just above Huaraz, is the official start for this six-hour 7km round-trip hike to drop-dead gorgeous Laguna Churup (4450m) at the base of Nevado Churup.

The quintessential site of Peru's Mid–Late Formative Period (c 1200–500 BC), Chavín de Huántar is the most intriguing of the many relatively independent, competitive ceremonial centers constructed throughout the central Andes. It is a phenomenal achievement of ancient construction, with large temple-like structures above ground and labyrinthine (now electronically lit) underground passageways. Although not as initially impressive as sites like Machu Picchu and Kuélap, Chavín tells an engrossing story when combined with its excellent affiliated museum.

If you continue north from Caraz along the Callejón de Huaylas, you will wind your way through the outstanding Cañón del Pato. It’s here that the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra come to within kissing distance for a battle of bedrock wills, separated by only 15m in parts and plummeting to vertigo-inducing depths of up to 1000m. The harrowing road snakes along a path hewn out of sheer rock, over a precipitous gorge and passing through 54 tunnels.

The finest trek in the Andes? South America? The World? The rugged, remote, unnervingly mysterious Huayhuash would make many people's top tens.

Circling a tight cluster of high peaks, including Yerupajá (6634m), the world’s second-highest tropical mountain, this lengthy trek crosses multiple high-altitude passes with spine-tingling views.

Huaraz is the best place in this part of the Andes to take a load off and get pleasantly inebriated. Craft beer has made a recent appearance and there are a couple of local microbreweries.

The best area for nightlife is Parque del Periodista and the adjacent Parque Ginebra.

Hatun is a veritable rock forest located 70km south of Huaraz, on the road to Lima and in the vicinity of the village of Pampas Chico. Well hidden from the main road, it was fairly obscure spot until the early 2000s, when foreign sport-climbers discovered it. Today, there are about 300 marked routes, plus a rudimentary campground.