Chan Chan

Tickets and tours: all the options

Visitors buy a single ticket at the Tschudi complex or at the site museum. It covers the restored Tschudi palace, the site museum on the main road, and two smaller Chimu temples, Huaca Esmeralda and Huaca Arco Iris, which lie closer to Trujillo. The ticket is valid for the same day or two, so you can split the visits. Licensed local guides wait at the entrance of the palace and are inexpensive; they are worth hiring because signs are limited.

Most tours sold online start in Trujillo or Huanchaco. The half-day version covers Chan Chan and the beach at Huanchaco, sometimes with the museum or Huaca Arco Iris. Full-day tours add the Moche temples of Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna south of the city, which are a different and older culture. Some tours end with lunch, a ceviche tasting or a display of Peruvian paso horses, and others include a horse ride. Cruise ships dock at Salaverry, and shore excursions run from there. Transport and guide are normally included; entry tickets and lunch vary.

If you are based in Huanchaco, a taxi and a guide at the gate are enough. If you have one day in Trujillo, the full-day tour with both cultures is the best use of time.

A short history

The Chimu built Chan Chan at the mouth of the Moche Valley from around AD 850 to 900, and it became the capital of a coastal state that eventually stretched along about 1,000 km of the Peruvian shore. Each ruler seems to have built a new walled compound, used as palace, storehouse and tomb, while craftsmen lived in crowded quarters outside. Around 1470 the Inca conquered the kingdom and took its artisans to Cusco. Spanish treasure hunters later stripped the burial platforms. The Tschudi compound is named after a 19th-century Swiss naturalist. UNESCO listed the city in 1986 and placed it on its list of sites in danger, because rain and wind erode the adobe.

Getting there

Chan Chan lies between Trujillo and the beach town of Huanchaco. Combis and buses on the Trujillo to Huanchaco road pass the turn-off to the Tschudi compound; ask the driver to stop and walk about 15 to 20 minutes along a dirt track, which is exposed and best done in a group. A taxi from the centre of Trujillo or from Huanchaco takes 10 to 15 minutes and can wait while you visit, which is safer and quicker. Trujillo airport is close to Huanchaco, about 10 minutes from the site, with daily flights from Lima. Long-distance buses from Lima take around nine hours. Cruise ships dock at Salaverry, about 30 minutes south.

Rules and what to bring

Stay on the walkways and do not touch or lean on the adobe walls, which crumble easily. Drones need permission from the Ministry of Culture. Bring a hat, sun cream and water: there is no shade, and the sun and dry wind are strong even when the sky is grey. The access tracks from the main road have a reputation for petty theft, so walk them in daylight, ideally not alone. Toilets are at the entrance.

When to go

The site opens at 9 am, and the first hours are the best: the air is cooler, the wind is lighter and the friezes show their relief well in the low sun. Tour groups from Trujillo arrive mid-morning, but even then the Tschudi compound rarely feels crowded. By early afternoon the heat reflected off the sandy courtyards is tiring, so keep the museum and Huaca Arco Iris for later.

The climate is dry all year. From May to November the sky is often overcast and mild, while December to April is sunny and hot. Every few years El Nino brings heavy rain, which damages the walls and can close parts of the site. Weekends and Peruvian holidays bring more local visitors. Allow about two hours for the museum and the Tschudi compound, and half a day if you add Huaca Arco Iris and Huaca Esmeralda.