Hiking in Huaraz: Ultimate hiking guide with routes, costs, and tips (2025)

Huaraz, Peru's mountain mecca, is the perfect base for anyone who dreams of deep blue lakes, snow-capped peaks, and rugged glaciers. We stayed here for twelve days. Not only to acclimatize properly, but mainly because the region has so much to offer that you never tire of exploring it. In this blog, we share our four favorite day trips, plus practical tips for accommodation, transportation, and food in Huaraz.

About Huaraz

After our stay in the coastal town of Huanchaco (see blog: Huanchaco: Peru's premier surfing spot with a centuries-old tradition), we took the night bus to Huaraz. This was a surprisingly smooth eight-hour ride with Movilbus. You can also fly: Anta Airport is about a 40-minute drive from the city center.

To be honest, we had to get used to Huaraz when we arrived. We had imagined a quiet mountain village, but Huaraz is large, lively, busy, and chaotic. Nevertheless, we quickly grew fond of the city. We stayed there for a total of twelve days and during that time we got to know Huaraz as a safe city with warm and hospitable inhabitants. We came for the mountains, but in the end it felt wonderful to come “home” to the city in the evening.

Where to stay in Huaraz?

We had a wonderful stay at Akilpo Home. This accommodation is run by two brothers and a small team. Special thanks to Luis and Leonardo. They really made Akilpo feel like a “home.” They helped us plan our day trips, recommended good restaurants, and were always ready for a chat.

In addition to being a hotel, Akilpo Home also organizes tours such as the Santa Cruz trek and day trips to Laguna 69 and Laguna Parón, for example. The prices are a bit higher than average in Huaraz, but we know from experience that the quality and service make all the difference.

Where to eat in Huaraz?

Peru is known for its amazing cuisine, and Huaraz is no exception. Our favorite places:

• Inka Frut – traditionele Peruaanse gerechten in een modern jasje. Mooie borden, goede combinaties van smaken.

• Charlie’s Pizza & Pasta’s – hier kwamen we twee keer terug: een keer voor een pizza uit de houtoven en een keer, na de Santa Cruz-trek, voor een lasagne. Beide keren spot on.

• Café de la Campesina – gezellig ingericht koffietentje met goede koffie én taartjes. Oscar bestelde de orange coffee en was fan.

• Café Andino – fijne plek voor een cappuccino en, rond lunchtijd, fantastische broodjes. De smaken waren verrassend goed.

• El Rinconcito Minero - leuk restaurant voor okale gerechten. Probeer hier zeker de forel, je kiest zelf de bereidingswijze en het resultaat is altijd heerlijk.

• El Fogon - dit restaurant staat bekend om de llunca soep, een rijke kippensoep die goed vult vanwege de toevoeging van tarwe.

• Inka Frut – traditional Peruvian dishes with a modern twist. Beautiful plates, great flavor combinations.

• Charlie’s Pizza & Pasta’s – we came back here twice: once for a wood-fired pizza and once, after the Santa Cruz trek, for lasagna. Both times spot on.

• Café de la Campesina – cozy coffee shop with good coffee and cakes. Oscar ordered the orange coffee and loved it.

• Café Andino – great place for a cappuccino and, around lunchtime, fantastic sandwiches. The flavors were surprisingly good.

• El Rinconcito Minero – nice restaurant for local dishes. Be sure to try the trout here; you choose how it is prepared and the result is always delicious.

• El Fogon – this restaurant is known for its llunca soup, a rich chicken soup that is very filling due to the addition of wheat.

And now: the mountains! Below you will find our four day trips around Huaraz.

Day trip 1: Laguna Wilcacocha

Maximum altitude: 3,725 m

Distance: 6.6 km

Elevation gain: +711 m

The perfect hike for your first few days in Huaraz. It is one of the few hikes that does not exceed 4,000 meters, making it ideal for acclimatization. The starting point is just outside the city center, so you won't have to travel far.

Collectivo E or 10 will normally take you to the starting point. These colectivos start at the Mercado Central de Huaraz. When boarding, you can indicate that you are going to Laguna Wilcacocha. The cost for this 20-minute ride is 2 soles (€0.50). We boarded from the main road at Akilpo Home, as the collectivos pass by here.

When we were there, the road was closed halfway. After waiting for a while, we decided to just walk, because no one knew how long it would take before the road would reopen.

After walking two kilometers, we reached the official starting point (normally you are dropped off here by the colectivo) and began the climb. It wasn't technical, but it was tough, especially because your body has to get used to the altitude. Walking slowly really helps: step by step.

The route is rewarded with almost non-stop panoramic views of the snow-capped peaks of the Cordillera Blanca. You walk through small mountain villages and past farms. What we did find unfortunate during this hike is that there is a lot of litter along the way, which detracts from the beautiful nature.

Above you can see Laguna Wilcacocha: a tranquil mountain lake surrounded by green hills, grazing animals, and absolute silence. Walking around the lake will take you to a viewpoint offering a beautiful view of the valley. The lake is an idyllic spot, and the surrounding area made the walk well worth our while.

Day trip 2: Laguna Churup

Maximum altitude: 4,522 m

Distance: 6.5 km

Elevation gain: +738 m

Our second acclimatization trip was to Laguna Churup. This lake is located at an altitude of 4,450 meters. The highest point is the viewpoint at 4,522 meters. So it was a tough day.

We took a collectivo again this time. For this destination (‘Pitec’ in Huascaran National Park), you pay a fixed price in advance (20 soles per person for a return trip). The colectivos leave from here every day around 8:00 a.m. The colectivo takes you to and picks you up at the starting point of the hiking trail. Before you start walking, you agree with the driver on what time you want to be picked up again. The ride itself takes about 50 minutes on a well-maintained road.

Because you start at a considerable altitude (around 3,700 meters), the views from the start of the route are already impressive. On one side, you look out over the city of Huaraz, and on the other, over a valley with high snow-capped peaks. The mountains in this area rise above 6,000 meters. After walking for a while, you will pass the park entrance, where you have to pay an entrance fee of 30 soles per person.

Halfway up, the route splits: you can take an “easy” path, or a route where you have to climb over rocks using cables. We chose the latter, because the weather was good that day and we could take the other route down. The climbing itself went well, but the rapid ascent caused us to suffer from altitude sickness: headaches and nausea. We decided to rest for a while: take some paracetamol and drink plenty of water. After a while, we felt better and were able to continue.

After some more challenging climbs, we finally saw our destination: the clear, turquoise blue lake ‘Churup’. It was incredibly beautiful, and also bizarre to see such a lake at this altitude. Here we found a nice spot to have lunch and recover from the climb.

After this, there is a final 100-meter climb to the viewpoint. Those meters were tough for us. But after stopping a few times to catch our breath, we were able to enjoy the view before starting the descent. This was a lot easier for us, and with every 100 meters we descended, we felt the pressure on our heads ease and our energy levels rise again.

Downstairs, the colectivo was waiting to take us back to Huaraz.

Day trip 3: Rurec Glacier

Maximum altitude: 4,777 m

Distance: 18.3 km

Elevation gain: +763 m

Our favorite trip around Huaraz is the one to the Rurec Glacier. This is one of the lesser-known but impressively beautiful glaciers in the Cordillera Blanca. It's a place where you really feel like you're alone in nature. A guide is required for the trek to the glacier. There is no clear path to it, so you need someone who knows the way. We booked our guide through the hotel where we are staying: Akilpo Huaraz. We were very pleased with this! Akilpo is also one of the few organizations that offers this hike. They arrange the taxi, the guide, and optionally also breakfast and lunch. We chose to bring our own breakfast and lunch and only paid for the guide and taxi, a total of 400 soles.

After a taxi ride of about 1.5 hours on a bumpy dirt road, you arrive at the entrance to Huascarán National Park. Depending on the season, you pay an entrance fee here. Since we were there in the low season, there was no one at the entrance, so we didn't have to pay an entrance fee. We started the hike while the sun was still behind the mountain peaks. Our taxi driver stayed behind in the car and waited for us all day.

The first section consists of a 7-kilometer walk through the Rajucolta Valley. This is a relatively easy section, where you gradually climb 250 meters. Towards the end of this first section

The second section is a steep climb up the mountain, where there is no visible path. Along the way, you will have beautiful views of Lake Rajucolta and the waterfalls.

The last section consists entirely of rocks. This is a fun part, because you climb up on your hands and knees. What makes it difficult is the height. By now, you are almost at an altitude of 4,800 meters. But what a reward when you reach the top: a beautiful glacier forest with bright blue colors and rugged peaks. You can even touch them, they are so close. Unfortunately, you can also see the effects of climate change: the glacier melted under the warm sun, and we heard and saw about four avalanches.

On top, we had lunch with a beautiful view. In front of us stood Mount Huantsán: a peak 6,395 meters high. Then the descent began. This was a different route back than on the way there, because it is too steep going down. You follow a zigzag “path” down. I put it in quotation marks because there is no path to be seen here either.

At the end of the afternoon, we returned to the taxi. After a bumpy ride (the roads here are not paved), we headed back to Huaraz.

Day trip 4: Laguna Llaca

Maximum altitude: 4,474 meters

This is said to be an incredibly beautiful lake. Unfortunately, there was a snowstorm at the time, so we saw (almost) nothing of the lake and its surroundings.

What we can tell you is how to get there. From Huaraz, it's about a 1.5-hour drive on a bumpy, unpaved road. We were advised to take a taxi (220 soles). The taxi driver waits for you and takes you back to Huaraz. We didn't take the taxi until around 11:00 a.m., and because the park closes at 3:00 p.m., we decided to drive all the way to a refuge near the lake. You pay 30 soles per person to visit the park. From here, it is only a 10-minute walk to the lake. We were glad we didn't have to walk far, because we didn't see anything. But on a nice day, you can ask the taxi driver to drop you off lower down, so you can take a nice walk through the valley towards the lake.

Day trips we didn't take

There is so much beauty around Huaraz that you have to make choices. These remained on our list for next time:

• Laguna 69 (Panorama Route) – challenging hike to a bright blue lake at an altitude of ~4,600 m. Total journey time of 6-7 hours by bus, there and back.

• Laguna Parón – largest lake in the Cordillera Blanca, known for its turquoise water; relaxed excursion. Total journey time of 6-7 hours by bus, there and back. Short walk.

• Laguna 513 – lesser-known route with two lakes and views of the Hualcán glacier.

In conclusion

After twelve days in Huaraz, we can only say one thing: this region is a paradise for hiking enthusiasts. Whether you come for a day trip or stay longer like we did, Huaraz deserves to be included in every trip to Peru.

Are you going to Huaraz soon or do you have questions about one of these hikes? Feel free to leave a comment. We are happy to help.

And have you seen our other blogs about Peru? From Huaraz, we travel on to Cusco, Machu Picchu, and the Colca Canyon (blogs coming soon).