4-day Chachapoyas tour: Kuelap, Gocta Falls, pottery experience

Stone walls 20 meters high and a waterfall that reaches the clouds

A 4-day tour from Chachapoyas through the northern Peruvian highlands, visiting Kuelap Fortress with its 500 circular stone homes, the 771-meter Gocta Falls, and the pottery town of Huancas where you shape clay with local craftspeople. The tour includes a live guide in English or Spanish, air-conditioned transport, park entries and a cable car ride to the fortress. Pickup from your hotel and airport transfer are included. Children from age 3 are welcome.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1: Airport reception and viewpoint circuit

• Reception at Chachapoyas airport
• Transfer to hotel and rest
• Transfer to Huancas town
• Visit Sonche Canyon viewpoint
• Visit La Goya viewpoint
• Visit Huanca Urco archaeological site
• Participate in Huancas pottery experience
• City tour of Chachapoyas including Independence Square and El Comercio street
• Transfer to hotel

Day 2: Visit Kuelap fortress by cable car

• Transfer from hotel to Kuelap area
• Stop at Macro archaeological site
• Pause at Nuevo Tingo village for lunch
• Board bus to cable car station
• Ride cable car to Malca tourist stop
• Walk to Kuelap fortress
• Tour Kuelap fortress
• Return to Chachapoyas city

Day 3: Gocta Falls excursion

• Transfer from hotel to Cocachimba village
• Reserve lunch at Cocachimba restaurant
• Hike 5 km to Gocta Falls
• Visit base of Gocta Falls
• Return hike to Cocachimba
• Lunch at Cocachimba
• Return to Chachapoyas city

Day 4: Transfer to airport and end

• Transfer to Chachapoyas airport

The experience

The tour opens with arrival at Chachapoyas airport and a morning to rest. In the afternoon, you transfer to Huancas, a former Inca settlement where the landscape drops into the Sonche Canyon (nearly 1,000 meters down), and the Utcubamba River cuts through stone. From the viewpoint at Huanca Urco, you can see the Gocta Falls in the distance and the archaeological site of Pueblo de los Muertos across the canyon. That evening you visit a potter's house and work clay yourself, learning the ancestral techniques still used to make vessels the way the local population has for generations.

Day two takes you to Kuelap Fortress, the largest pre-Inca citadel in northeastern Peru. You travel by cable car for 22 minutes, then walk about 30 minutes through the site itself, moving through narrow passageways flanked by circular stone homes decorated with rhomboid and zigzag friezes. The perimeter walls rise up to 20 meters and enclose more than 500 homes, ceremonial sites and hidden tombs. After exploring the fortress, you return to Chachapoyas for lunch and the afternoon.

Day three is the walk to Gocta Falls. You leave early for the village of Cocachimba, 45 kilometers away, then hike about 5 kilometers (roughly two hours each direction) to the base of the waterfall. At 771 meters high, it ranks as the third highest in the world, split into two jumps, with varied bird species, some found nowhere else, moving through the forest around it. You return to Cocachimba for lunch, then drive back to Chachapoyas by late afternoon. On day four, you transfer to the airport.

What’s included

• Cable car ticket to Kuelap Fortress.
• park and archaeological site entries.
• live guide in English or Spanish.
• air-conditioned vehicle throughout.
• hotel pickup and airport transfer on arrival and departure.
• pottery workshop participation in Huancas.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDeparts at 14:00Last departure this season: 28 Dec

Book up to4h before

AgesAdult (18 to 85 years) · Child (3 to 17 years) · Under 3: can't be booked

GroupUp to 14

Live guideEnglish and Spanish

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.You can choose from 12 pickup points.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 13 days ago

Good to know

Moderate physical effortPublic transport nearbyNot recommended during pregnancyNot recommended with heart problemsNot recommended with back problemsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Kuelap Adventure

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to combine hiking to Gocta Falls and exploring Kuelap Fortress with hands-on pottery work in Huancas: the early starts (9:00 and 9:50 am) keep you moving through sites in daylight and back to town by afternoon.

Top questions

What languages is the tour guided in?

Live guide in English and Spanish.

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Child (3 to 17 years). Children under 3 can't be included in the booking.

What is the walk to Gocta Falls like, and how long does it take?

The hike to Gocta Falls covers about 5 kilometers and takes roughly two hours each way. The trail leads through forest with varied bird species, some endemic to the region, and ends at the base of the 771-meter waterfall where it splits into two jumps.

How do you get up to Kuelap Fortress?

A cable car carries you 22 minutes from the boarding station near Nuevo Tingo to the Malca tourist stop, then you walk about 30 minutes through the fortress itself, moving through narrow passageways between the circular stone homes and walls.

Can I participate in the pottery workshop, or do I just watch?

You work clay yourself at the potter's house in Huancas, learning and participating in the ancestral techniques the local population still uses to prepare vessels, with time to spend alongside the craftspeople and their customs.

What viewpoints are included on the first day?

The first day includes viewpoints at Sonche Canyon, where the river cuts through nearly 1,000 meters of stone; La Goya, which combines natural geological formations with current architecture; and Huanca Urco on the northern end of the Huancas hill, where you can see the Utcubamba River valley, the Gocta Falls in the distance, and the archaeological site of Pueblo de los Muertos with binoculars.

Is the tour private or shared with other travelers?

The tour operates as a shared group with a live guide in English or Spanish, air-conditioned transport and scheduled departures. Your guide will accompany you through each site and share the history and details of the places visited.

What is included in the price, and what costs extra?

The tour includes cable car ticket to Kuelap, park entries, the live guide, and air-conditioned transport with hotel pickup and airport transfer. Meals, personal expenses and horses for the Gocta Falls walk (if you prefer not to hike) are not included.