Quebrada Humahuaca Cultural Trek

Jujuy · Argentina

Easy7 daysSouth America~£1,200 est.

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Overview

The Quebrada de Humahuaca runs 155 km north from Jujuy towards the Bolivian altiplano, a UNESCO-listed canyon that has carried people and trade between the Andes and the lowlands for 10,000 years. Base yourself in the villages strung along Route 9: Purmamarca beneath the Cerro de los Siete Colores (Hill of Seven Colours), Tilcara with its restored pre-Inca hilltop fortress, and Humahuaca itself, from where a dirt road climbs to 4,350 m for the Serranía de Hornocal — the "fourteen-colour mountain" whose zigzag strata at sunset are the region's single best sight. Day walks link cactus-studded ridgelines, adobe chapels and the blinding white Salinas Grandes salt flat over the Cuesta de Lipán pass; the rough detour to cliff-hung Iruya deserves an overnight. Altitude is the catch — the valley floor sits at 2,000-3,000 m and the viewpoints top 4,000 m, so acclimatise in Tilcara before pushing higher. Buses and shared remises make this an easy independent trip; £1,200 covers a comfortable week of guesthouses and empanadas. Come April to September for dry, cloudless days; summer brings afternoon storms and landslides on the side roads. Time it for Humahuaca's February carnival and colour takes over completely.