Trujillo To Tarapoto 9-Day Itinerary

• Best-value way to visit northern Peru highlights ... in 9 days ... in comfort. 

• Chan Chan, Huaca de la Luna, Tucume, Gocta, Kuelap & Amazon jungle included.

• Small group departures using private transport and best hotels in region (just 2 passengers minimum). 

Trujillo - Chiclayo - Chachapoyas - Tarapoto: 9-Day Itinerary Outline:

Day 1: Fly to Trujillo; City Tour. Overnight at Moche Sanctuary Lodge
Day 2: Chan Chan & Huaca de la Luna. Overnight at Moche Sanctuary Lodge
Day 3: Drive to Chiclayo via El Brujo; Tumbes Reales Museum. Overnight at Los Horcones de Tucume
Day 4: Tucume; Drive to Gocta. Overnight at Gocta Lodge
Day 5: Gocta Falls. Overnight at Gocta Lodge
Day 6: Kuelap. Overnight at Gocta Lodge
Day 7: Drive to Tarapoto, via Huembo & Moyobamba. Overnight at Pumarinri
Day 8: Pucayaquillo Waterfall & Coca Circuit. Overnight at Pumarinri.
Day 9: Huallaga River; Transfer to Tarapoto Airport.

Trujillo - Chiclayo - Chachapoyas - Tarapoto: 9-Day Itinerary Outline (using deluxe night bus):

Day 1: Fly to Trujillo; City Tour. Overnight at Moche Sanctuary Lodge
Day 2: Chan Chan & Huaca de la Luna. Overnight at Moche Sanctuary Lodge
Day 3: Drive to Chiclayo Bus Station, via El Brujo. Overnight bus to Chachapoyas.
Day 4: Transfer to Gocta. Hike to Gocta Falls. Overnight at Gocta Lodge
Day 5: Kuelap. Overnight at Gocta Lodge
Day 6: Karajia or Revash & Leymebamba Museum. Overnight at Gocta Lodge
Day 7: Drive to Tarapoto, via Huembo & Moyobamba. Overnight at Pumarinri
Day 8: Pucayaquillo Waterfall & Coca Circuit. Overnight at Pumarinri.
Day 9: Huallaga River; Transfer to Tarapoto Airport.

Please note that there are departures that go from Tarapoto to Trujillo. Click here for more details. 

2024 Set Departures: 

There are no group departures of this tour planned for 2024, as Peruvian tourism continues to recover from the effects of the pandemic. But if you would like to do this in a private service, with dates and itinerary to suit, just ask us how. 

Trujillo - Chiclayo - Chachapoyas - Tarapoto Itinerary: 

Day 1: Colonial Trujillo

Pick up from Trujillo airport, bus terminal or hotel, at the appropriate time.

In the afternoon, we take a walking city tour around Trujillo Colonial centre.

Dinner & Overnight at Moche Sanctuary Lodge, or similar.

Day 2: Trujillo: Huaca de la Luna & Chan Chan

Breakfast and visit to Huaca de la Luna archaeological site and museum, as stone's throw from our accommodation

After lunch back at the hotel, we visit Chan Chan citadel, the largest mud brick (adobe) city in America.

Dinner & Overnight at Moche Sanctuary Lodge, or similar.

Day 3: Trujillo - Tucume: El Brujo & Tumbes Reales

Breakfast, followed by departure to visit El Brujo & Señora de Cao museum and archaeological site.

Lunch in Pacasmayo, overlooking the Pacific ocean, where surfers, windsurfers and kitesurfers can be seen exploiting the elements at various times of the year. 

After that we'll be heading north to visit Tumbas Reales Museum, in the town of Lambayeque, where the Lord of Sipan is exhibited.

Dinner & Overnight at Los Horcones de Tucume, or similar.

Day 4: Tucume - Gocta: Pacific Desert to Green Northern Andes

Breakfast and visit to Tucume Pyramids (the largest pyramid complex in the Americas) and museum.

Departure towards the Andes of Chachapoyas.

Stop at Abra Porculla, the lowest Andean mountain pass between the Caribbean to Patagonia, for a boxed lunch.

We continue our spectacular drive in the afternoon, hoping to arrive at our lodging in time to see the sunset in front of Gocta Waterfall, one of the highest in the world, in the heart of the Peruvian northern Andes.

Dinner & Overnight at Gocta Andes Lodge, or similar.

Day 5: Gocta Falls

Breakfast.

From Gocta Lodge there is an amazing view of the Falls, but the trail leading to them is even more breathtaking.

It is roughly a two or three hour hike (each way), passing through Andean orchards and lush forest full of bromeliads and orchids.
NB. There is the option to do this trail on horseback (at a small extra cost).

Lunch at the lodge, followed by a free afternoon to rest or explore the local village of Cocachimba. 

Dinner & Overnight at Gocta Lodge, or similar.

Day 6: Kuelap

After breakfast we start driving along the Utcubamba valley, between bromeliads and cacti, towards Nuevo Tingo.

Here we take the newly-built cable car to Kuelap Fortress, located at an altitude of 3,000m (9,842ft).

Guided visit of Kuelap archaeological site, followed by lunch back in the village of Nuevo Tingo (or a picnic lunch).

In the afternoon, we make the scenic, two-hour return drive to our accommodation.

Dinner & Overnight at Gocta Lodge.

NB. The cable car does not operate on Mondays.

Day 7: Gocta - Tarapoto: Andes to Amazon

Breakfast and early departure towards the lowlands.

First stop at the Marvelous Spatuletail Visitors Centre, to watch this amazing hummingbird amongst many other colourful species.

Second stop at Moyobamba to visit an orchid botanical garden, and enjoy our boxed lunch.

We finally reach Pumarinri Lodge, following the Mayo and Huallaga valleys and canyons, in the late afternoon.

Dinner & Overnight at Pumarinri Lodge, or similar.

Day 8: Tarapoto: Rainforest & Waterfalls

Breakfast followed by a morning hike through the Amazon rainforest, observing a variety of forest features from palm trees, vines, epiphytes and hardwood trees to bullet ants, morpho butterflies and poison dart frogs.

At the end of this walk, we have a refreshing swim at Pucayaquillo Waterfall.

Lunch.

In the afternoon, we take a guided walk on the Coca Circuit and other trails in the grounds of the lodge, looking for poison dart frogs, along with other flora and fauna.

Dinner & Overnight at Pumarinri Lodge, or similar.

Day 9: Tarapoto: Mighty Rivers; Airport Transfer

Breakfast and boat trip along the Huallaga River, between the Estero and Chumia rapids, and a forest walk in the Cordillera Azul National Park.

Transfer to Tarapoto airport for onward travel. 

End of tour.