page_title: Huaraz
section_title: Tourism
hierarchical_section_title: Huaraz / Tourism
caption_attribution_description: English: Huaraz in Winter
context_page_description: Huaraz, founded as San Sebastián de Huaraz, is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the Ancash Region and the seat of government of Huaraz Province. The urban area's population is distributed over the districts of Huaraz and Independencia. The city is located in the middle of the Callejon de Huaylas Valley and on the right side of the river Santa. The city has an elevation of approximately 3050 metres above sea level. The built-up area covers 8 km2 and has a population of 120,000 inhabitants, making it the second largest city in the central Peruvian Andes after the city of Huancayo. It is the 22nd largest city in Peru. Huaraz is the seat of the province's Roman Catholic Bishop and the site of the cathedral.
  Huaraz is the main financial and trade center of the Callejón de Huaylas and the main tourist destination of Ancash region. Moreover, is one of the biggest towns in the Peruvian Andes. Huaraz is the main destinations for winter sports and adventure.
context_section_description: In the city, prairies, forests and snow peaks can be seen from the urban center. But inside Huaraz, there are some tourist sites to visit. At La Soledad, there is the Lord of Soledad Chapel, which contains crucified Christ, that was founded during colony times. Also there are pre-Hispanic ruins, 3 miles from the city in Wilcahuain, where there are stone palaces of Wari culture. Other ruins are located 1 mile from Huaraz in Waullac, surrounded by big prairies with views of snow peaks and mountains.
  At downtown across from the Plaza de Armas (main Square) is located the Museum of Ancash, which contains a lot of value pieces of the Recuay culture, and in this museum there is the Monolithic Park, which is considered one of the largest in America.
  8 miles north from Huaraz, the Monterrey Baths are located, which contain hot springs with medicinal properties, and also is an ecological place surrounded by forests, where there are lodges and some upscales hotels.
  Huaraz is the touristic operation center of the region, drawing thousands of visitors that practice adventure and winter sports. Also, Huascarán National Park, which is considered a biosphere reserve, is a destination for tourists.
  The peaks of the region have for many decades been the testing grounds for mountain climbers anticipating future expeditions into the Himalayas. Huaraz is a base for expeditions into the Cordillera Blanca and the Huayhuash mountain range south of the Callejón del Huaylas.
  In the streets surrounding the farmers' market, the paraditas (street markets) of local sellers offer handicraft products such as ponchos, alpaca textiles (carpets, sweaters, etc.); jewelry made of locally mined tin, copper, and silver; cuarteados (a typical dessert from the nearby town of Caraz made by mixing manjarblanco and fruit cake); boxes of manjarblanco, butter, cheese, honey, smoked and salty hams, jerky (Quechua charqui), etc.
  Huaraz is known as the 'Switzerland of the South' because of the mountain peaks that are visible from the city centre.
  Pre-Inca trail trekking is most popular in the region, featured by its stone paved trail that leads to Chavin, and also uses llamas for packing while on trekking.
caption: Snow peaks in Cordillera Blanca
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-W180", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2012:02:23 06:43:08", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "270", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Make": "SONY", "Thumbnail Model": "DSC-W180", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail DateTime": "2012:02:23 06:43:08", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "12932", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7232", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:02:23 06:43:08", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:02:23 06:43:08", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "55/16", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, return light detected", "EXIF FocalLength": "93/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3648", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2736", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "12712", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}