Peru: Cajamarca department

Location: North of the Country
Area: 33 317 km2
Capital: Cajamarca (2720 masl)
Altitude:
Mínimum: 420 masl (Tembladera)
Máximum: 3502 masl (Hualgayoc)

Cajamarca

Cajamarca conjures up images of fertile fields stretching along the roadside and climbing up the hillsides and across the highland plains and ravines.

Las ventanillas de Otuzco

Cajamarca sums up in its architecture the encounter between two cultures: Inca and Spain.

Agroturismo en Granja Porcón

Rural cooperative offering an agro-tourism program in Cajamarca´s northern highlands, including farming and animal husbandry.

Baños del Inca

Amongst the most famous thermal baths with a strong mineral and medicinal content are the Inca Baths, as the name says, they where the Incas favourite.

Cajamarca Region Tourism

From Lima, visitors can get to Trujillo overland 561 km up the North Pan-American Highway, an eight-hour trip, or take a 45-minute flight. Trujillo, capital of the department of La Libertad, is home to dozens of superb examples of colonial and republican mansions, as well as pre-Inca constructions such as the Temples of the Sun and Moon and Chan Chan, the world's largest mud-brick citadel. For those fond of water sports, the beaches near the city are superb.

From Trujillo the road heads north to Chiclayo, capital of the department of Lambayeque, a two-hour trip by road. In addition to the area's sun-drenched beaches, the city of Lambayeque also features the Brüning Museum, which houses a spectacular collection of gold pieces crafted by the Moche and Chimu, two of the ancient civilizations that dominated the area.

From Chiclayo the road climbs up into the northern highlands, a six-hour journey to the bucolic city of Cajamarca. Upon arrival, visitors are advised to rest and take precautions against high-altitude sickness. Cajamarca is filled with reminders of its ancient past: the Ransom Chamber (of Atahualpa, the Inca emperor captured by the Spaniards), the Inca Baths and the Ventanillas de Otuzco tombs, in addition to colonial churches and convents. Cajamarca nestles amidst fertile countryside where visitors can take part in farming chores alongside the local community.