Wari Archaeological Complex

Tickets and tours: all the options

Entry is simple: a small fee is paid at the ticket office beside the site museum, run by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture, and it covers the marked paths and the museum. Local guides are sometimes available at the entrance, but many visitors come without one because the information panels are basic and in Spanish.

Nearly every product sold online is a half-day tour from Ayacucho that joins Wari with the Pampa de Quinua, the plain where the battle of Ayacucho ended Spanish rule in South America in 1824, and the village of Quinua with its ceramic workshops. These tours include a minibus and a Spanish-speaking guide, sometimes bilingual; entry fees are usually extra. Longer days add the Inca temple and platform at Vilcashuaman and the natural pools of Millpu, either as a very long single day or spread over two. Private tours with a car and driver can be arranged through agencies around the main square in Ayacucho.

The sensible choice is the standard half-day tour with Quinua, which is cheap and handles the transport. Independent travellers can take a colectivo towards Quinua and ask to be dropped at the entrance. Either way, a guide makes the scattered remains much easier to understand.

A short history

Wari was founded around AD 400 and grew into the capital of an expanding state from about 550, during the period archaeologists call the Middle Horizon. At its height the city may have held some 70,000 people of different origins, living in stone and mudbrick compounds painted red and white. From here the Wari built roads and provincial centres across much of the Peruvian highlands and coast, including Pikillacta near Cusco, and influenced Nazca. The city was abandoned around AD 1000, long before the Inca rose to power. Modern excavations began in the 20th century, and Peruvian archaeologists continue to work in several sectors. It is a protected monument of Peru.

Getting there

Ayacucho is the base. It has an airport with daily flights from Lima of about an hour, and night buses from Lima take around nine to ten hours over the mountains. Wari lies 22 km north-east of the city on the paved road to Quinua. Colectivos and small buses for Quinua leave from the north side of Ayacucho and can drop you at the site entrance in about half an hour; tell the driver you want Wari. Taxis can be hired for a round trip with waiting time, and tours pick up from hotels in the centre. Returning, flag down a colectivo on the road outside the gate.

Rules and what to bring

Stay on the marked paths and do not climb walls or enter excavation trenches, which are fragile and sometimes deep. Do not pick up pottery fragments from the ground. Bring sun cream, a hat and water: the sun is strong at this altitude and shade is rare. A light jacket is useful, as mornings and evenings are cool. Toilets are near the museum; food is available in Quinua.

When to go

Mornings are the best time to visit, with softer light and cooler air before the strong midday sun. Afternoons in the rainy season often bring clouds and storms. Most half-day tours leave Ayacucho at around 9 am or 2 pm and spend about an hour at Wari, but the site is never crowded.

The dry season from April to October brings clear skies and firm paths, and is the main travel season in the Andes. From December to March heavy rain can make the dirt paths muddy and the road to Millpu difficult. Holy Week in Ayacucho, in March or April, is one of the largest Easter celebrations in Peru; it fills hotels and tours, so book well ahead if you come then. The anniversary of the battle on 9 December brings events at the Pampa de Quinua. Allow about two hours at Wari, and half a day including Quinua.