For a long time, the charming northern Peruvian city of Chachapoyas remained relatively isolated from the rest of the country. That has changed in recent years, with the development of regularly scheduled flights to Jaén to the northwest, and to Chachapoyas itself. And that’s great news for tourists because Chachapoyas and the surrounding region are absolutely brimming with manmade and natural attractions.
Kuelap is an ancient fortress perched high in the clouds at an altitude of 3000 meters. As you explore this archaeological marvel, you'll discover the remarkable stone walls and circular houses that make up the fortress.
The Gocta waterfall is one of the highest waterfalls in the world, ranking third only to Angel Falls in Venezuela and Tugela Falls in South Africa.
From the moment you set foot in Jaen, your journey will be filled with captivating discoveries and unforgettable experiences that will be the highlight of your holiday adventures in Peru.
Fire away with your questions and snag some tailor-made wisdom from our experts to make your adventure epic!
We’ll meet you as you arrive at the airport in Jaén*, where we’ll stop for lunch before heading to Chachapoyas by private transport, which takes about four hours. During this beautiful journey, we will descend into the Marañon River Valley (the Marañon is a major tributary of the Amazon River) before climbing upwards towards Chachapoyas through the stunning Utcubamba Canyon. As we drive through the canyon and on to Chachapoyas, you’ll see numerous waterfalls as they plunge down over the vertical walls, passing craggy rocks dotted with orchids and other flora native to this region. When we arrive in Chachapoyas, we’ll take you to your hotel (not included), where you can settle in before heading to one of the city’s many excellent restaurants for dinner (not included).
*Depending on flight schedules, it may be possible to fly directly from Lima to Chachapoyas.
After a scenic drive, you'll arrive at Cocachimba, a charming village where your trek to the awe-inspiring Gocta Waterfall begins. With a staggering drop of 771 meters, Gocta is one of the highest waterfalls in the world, ranking third only to Angel Falls in Venezuela and Tugela Falls in South Africa. The trek to the base of the waterfall takes you through the lush, verdant rainforest, offering glimpses of exotic wildlife and stunning flora. After approximately 2.5 hours, you'll reach the base of the waterfall, where you can marvel at its beauty and power. Return to your hotel (not included) in Chachapoyas, feeling exhilarated by the natural wonders you've witnessed.
In the morning, we’ll drive to the village of Tingo where we’ll board the cable car for a fun ride across a canyon up to Kuelap Fortress. After a short walk, we’ll arrive at this hugely impressive archaeological site.
While not nearly as famous as Machu Picchu, Kuelap is arguably just as impressive – that’s why it’s often called “The Machu Picchu of Northern Peru.” The comparison is perhaps a little unfair, as the two sites are very different in both their histories and their structure.
Kuelap was built by the Chachapoyas culture in the 6th century AD, some 500 years before Machu Picchu. It sits at 3,000 meters (9,900 feet) above sea level on a ridge overlooking the Utcubamba Valley, a commanding presence watching over the surrounding area. As you approach the fortress, you’ll undoubtedly be impressed by the towering outer walls, which reach 20 meters tall in places. The entire oval-shaped complex is about 584 meters long and 110 meters wide at its widest part. It is believed that it took about 40 million cubic feet of stone to build the gargantuan fortress, making it possibly the largest known ancient stone structure in South America, and three times larger than the Great Pyramid of Egypt.
As we walk around the near-impenetrable outer walls, we’ll eventually reach one of the three extremely narrow entrances into Kuelap. These provided excellent defense against potential invaders. As you walk up the narrow stairway, you can imagine how tough, and how brutal, it would have been for any attackers trying to force entry through these tight stone passages.
At the top of the entranceway, you’ll step up onto a tranquil plateau inside the fortress walls. As you do so, you’ll understand why the term “fortress” doesn’t quite do Kuelap justice. It was more like a walled city or citadel, capable of supporting thousands of people. Inside the fortress are the remnants of more than 400 circular dwellings, some of which have been restored to how archaeologists believe they would have looked hundreds of years ago. These dwellings are decorated with strange zigzag motifs and rhomboid friezes, the symbols possibly representative of the families who lived within. Passing through lightly wooded area inside the complex, where orchids grow and hummingbirds flitter about, we’ll explore the rest of the complex, including religious buildings, defensive towers, and a strange construction that might have been used as a solar observatory.
There’s plenty to see at Kuelap, so we’ll make sure you have plenty of time to explore with your guide and then on your own. When you’re ready, we’ll return to our private transport and head back to Chachapoyas.
After an early breakfast, we will leave Chachapoyas and return to Jaén, from where you can fly back to Lima. Reflect on the incredible experiences you've had during your time in northern Peru, knowing that the beauty and magic of this region will stay with you forever.
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Valencia Travel was amazing to work with, and I would highly recommend them for any new travelers. Special thanks again to Andes (guide) , Maria (agent/coordinator) , and Washington (driver) . Thank you for making this a trip to remember for a lifetime.
Valencia Travel was amazing to work with, and I would highly recommend them for any new travelers. Special thanks again to Andes (guide) , Maria (agent/coordinator) , and Washington (driver) . Thank you for making this a trip to remember for a lifetime.
We truly had an incredle experience from booking with Maria, to meeting Miguel upon arrival at the airport, and of course trekking with our incredible guide Aldo and the amazing porters who helped make trekking much more comfortable and luxurious than we're used to. We couldn't believe the 3 course meals they cooked up. Truly blew us away.
The trek itself is incredible as you're able to see so many Inca sites along the way before arriving to Macchupicchu. The mountain range was beautiful.
Aldo our guide was the best! He was very information and taught us so much about the incas and knew so much about all the trees, wildlife, and fauna we saw along the trek. He's been guiding for many years and thanks to his experience and forethought we managed to catch amazing views away from the other groups of trekkers and were the first to arrive to Macchupicchu making for an even more private experience. I highly recommend Aldo!
Valencia travel is a local company that supports all the locals they employ. I highly recommend them for any bookings!
**tip: definitely give yourself 3 days in Cusco before hiking in order to acclimate to the altitude. We saw a couple turn around due to issues with altitude.
We truly had an incredle experience from booking with Maria, to meeting Miguel upon arrival at the airport, and of course trekking with our incredible guide Aldo and the amazing porters who helped make trekking much more comfortable and luxurious than we're used to. We couldn't believe the 3 course meals they cooked up. Truly blew us away.
The trek itself is incredible as you're able to see so many Inca sites along the way before arriving to Macchupicchu. The mountain range was beautiful.
Aldo our guide was the best! He was very information and taught us so much about the incas and knew so much about all the trees, wildlife, and fauna we saw along the trek. He's been guiding for many years and thanks to his experience and forethought we managed to catch amazing views away from the other groups of trekkers and were the first to arrive to Macchupicchu making for an even more private experience. I highly recommend Aldo!
Valencia travel is a local company that supports all the locals they employ. I highly recommend them for any bookings!
**tip: definitely give yourself 3 days in Cusco before hiking in order to acclimate to the altitude. We saw a couple turn around due to issues with altitude.
The Porters and Chef Filex were exceptional and went above and beyond with all our needs.
I was surprised with a Birthday Cake on our hike, and I had no idea someone could make and decorate a cake in a tent.
It was incredibly mind-blowing.
I highly recommend them to anyone looking to do the Inca Trail.
We are extremely pleased with the service we received.
I give them A++++++
Un’altro aspetto importante è stata la guida per Macchu Picchu, Washington! Super appassionato del posto e della storia, vi coninvolgerà con i suoi racconti e le sue spiegazioni. E’ davvero una guida molto esperta e professionale!
Thank you for such a brilliant trek!
Our chef, Gregorio, "Goyo", had the best food of all of our Peru!! the culinary expertise of this guy whom planned a menu according to our hike plan, carbs and proteins, and we had plenty.. .I mean plenty to eat. The porters (all 10), with leads from Climico, and special mention to Fortunato who would met us at the end of the trail to help carry our personal packs to our porters applauding our days hard accomplishment. Along the entire trail, Wilbur encouraging the porter of other competitors as his "little brother" to continue to be strong as they quickly passed us on the trail. My respect to the team of Valencia Travel, the porters, head chef and his assistant and mostly to Wilbur for delivering an experience that I encourage anyone to participate in. Thank you Wilbur. we the 7 women from California, USA will forever be your "Flowers".
There were some challenges communicating with the office staff with some questions we had before the trek and booking it, though once we had our meeting with Guillermo it was all sorted out.
After a lot of research, Valencia Travel appeared as the most qualitative and professional agency organizing the excursions we wanted to take part in. We signed in for day trip to the rainbow mountain and had an amazing experience. The guide spoke English and shared a lot of interesting facts with us, the food was delicious and the general activity was perfectly organisez.
Thanks to this very positive experience, we decided to do the 4 days Lares Trail to Machu Picchu with Valencia Travel. Waouw. We spent the 4 days talking about how impressed we were about the professionalism of the agency. The trek was wonderful, the nature breathtaking but the most impressive part was the service, the kindness of the staff, their organisation,… Everything is in the details, the camp are very confortable, they even bring you tea in your tent to wake you up in the morning!
The food was beyond expectations. At every meal, we had a salad, a soup, a main dish and once we even had a cake that they baked in the tents! Being vegan, we are always a bit scared that it could be a problem for trekkings, but with Valencia it is not at all! We had some of the best foods of our trip during our trekking!
I am so happy that we did the Lares trekking with Valencia as there is no better way to reach the sacred site of Machu Picchu than by doing a trekking in the nature. It is a very special place and trekking to reach it definitely add some magic to the experience!
To conclude, I would highly recommend Valencia for any activities in Peru, it will make your experience unforgettable!!
At 55 and with a helpful dose of camaraderie from my younger trek-mates, including my 16 year-old niece who managed the ascents and descents with aplomb, I felt a sense of accomplishment in completing the trek, which is more vertical than horizontal and ranges from about 9,000 to 12,000 feet over three days. Hiking the trail does require above-average fitness for the middle-aged. No unmanageable parts but a walking stick, reliable shoes, dependable leg muscles and accommodating joints, a relatively light backpack of essentials, and stops along the way to gulp down the thin air, take in the jaw-dropping vistas, pause for passing porters, and make way for grazing llamas—all are required to push through. So is a large reserve of self-deprecation. Alex and other minders were more than indulgent while keeping us all on the move.
Reaching Machu Picchu at the end was paradoxically awe-inspiring and anti-climatic given the splendor of the journey to get there. At the end of it, getting on the train that deposits and returns the vast majority of visitors in the space of a day, I simply couldn’t imagine seeing Machu Picchu without doing the trek.
If you are hiking the Inca Trail I highly recommend to go through Valencia Travel. Ask to have Elistan as your guide. The porters are treated very well. They have good hiking shoes, and attire to wear. (though if they could get backpacks that include waist straps I think that would be great!). Ask for Luis to be your cook. I have never eaten so well on a vacation. Luis is amazing at what he can cook up on the trail, we are talking three course meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and the food is presented as if it was at a 5 star hotel. Incredible!!!
My only other desire is if Valencia offered a Recipe Book of the meals eaten on the trail. I would totally purchase such a piece of "gold".
Have questions about your tour? You’re not alone. Here we cover the most common topics — from packing tips and safety to transportation and accommodations. Whether you’re heading to Machu Picchu, the Amazon, or beyond, this section will help you feel prepared and confident.
We’ll help you find inspiration from history, flavors, and travel tips so you can plan the best trip to Peru tailored to your needs. That’s why we’ve compiled this collection of knowledge so you can take home the best of our land.
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