Huaraz

High in the Peruvian Andes, Huaraz is a city in the clouds. Here the thin air and truly awesome panoramas indicate that this is a place truly on the roof of South America, where visitors are treated to some of the continent’s best trekking trails. Of these, Huaraz is the proud home of the Santa Cruz Valley trail, a 4-day montage of the region’s dramatic peaks and troughs that’s become something of a hiker’s ‘rite of passage’. If you’re looking to walk, July is generally the best time to visit, when the rains are at a low and the sky and endless patch of blue above the summits. In the winter, sports opportunities abound, and many people flock to Huaraz for the snowboarding or snowshoe trails in the hills. With roots in pre-Incan times, Huaraz is also home to a number of cultural sites that are worth a mention; from the Archaeological Museum of Ancash detailing human cultivation of these high plateaus, to the more modern Cultural Center of Huaraz. Huaraz tour guides assure that intrepid food types won’t be disappointed either, the town is home to Peru’s divisive national dish, the Picante de Cuy; spicy roasted guinea Pig, served with boiled potatoes.