Chan Chan Complex from Trujillo: Adobe ruins and Huachaco beach

Four hours through the Chimú Empire: palace rooms, sunken gardens, and caballitos de totora at the Pacific

An afternoon tour from Trujillo visits the Chan Chan complex (a sprawling adobe city that was one of the largest in the Americas) with a professional guide, museum entry, and a stop at Huanchaco beach for dinner. The tour includes hotel pickup and drop-off at Trujillo's main square, and the guide speaks either Spanish or English depending on your choice at booking.

Step-by-step itinerary

Visit Chan Chan and Huanchaco Beach

• Pick up from accommodation in Trujillo
• Visit Huaca Arco Iris and Huaca Esmeralda
• Explore Chan Chan museum and Nickán Palace
• Tour inner patios, temples, and reservoir
• Travel to Huanchaco beach resort
• Enjoy seafood at restaurant overlooking ocean
• Observe fishermen on caballitos de totora
• Return to Trujillo main square

The experience

Pickup happens around 2pm from your hotel in Trujillo. The tour starts with two pre-Columbian sites: Huaca Arco Iris (also called Huaca Dragón) and Huaca Esmeralda, both adobe structures built by the Chimú civilization. Then you move to the Chan Chan museum for context before entering the Nickán Palace, where the ruins show inner patios, residences, administrative buildings, temples, platforms and storehouses. A massive reservoir on the site once fed "sunken gardens" where the Chimú nobility grew specialized crops.

The afternoon ends at Huanchaco, a beach resort town where you eat seafood at a restaurant overlooking the Pacific. While you're there, you'll see fishermen still using caballitos de totora: small one-man reed rafts that have been paddled the same way for thousands of years to catch fish from these waters. Drop-off is back at Trujillo's main square around 6pm.

What’s included

• Hotel pickup in Trujillo around 2pm.
• professional guide in your choice of Spanish or English.
• transportation to Huaca Arco Iris, Huaca Esmeralda, the Chan Chan museum and Nickán Palace.
• drop-off at Trujillo's main square around 6pm.

Options for this experience

2 options

Spanish Guide14:00Guide only in Spanish, pickup is included

English guideGuide in Spanish · 14:00Guide only in English, includes pickup

You'll see the exact price of each option when you check availability.See dates and prices

Before you book

Days and timesTuesday to SundayDeparts at 14:00

GroupUp to 20

Live guideSpanish

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.You can choose from 18 pickup points.

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

Paid on siteUS$ 5.72

Prices and times updated 4 days ago

Good to know

Low physical effort

Operated by PVTravels

Is this one for you?Choose this if you want a guided afternoon hitting multiple Chimú sites in one loop, with pickup and drop-off from your hotel. Book the Spanish or English guide version based on which language you prefer.

Traveler reviews

4.00★★★★★★★★★★

2 verified traveler reviews

Read all the reviews ›

Top questions

What exactly is Chan Chan and why does it matter?

Chan Chan was the capital of the Chimú Empire and one of the largest cities in the pre-Columbian Americas. Built from adobe and sand, it sprawled across miles and served as the empire's seat for nearly 600 years, with residents who mastered engineering techniques unknown elsewhere in the world at the time.

Do I need to book the guide in a particular language?

You choose your guide language at checkout: English or Spanish. The same tour runs in both, so pick whichever works for you.

What happens at Huanchaco and is dinner included?

Huanchaco is a beach town where the tour stops for dinner at a seafood restaurant with views of the Pacific. You'll eat there and watch traditional fishermen paddle out on reed rafts, though the meal itself is not included in the tour price.

How much walking is involved?

The tour is suitable for all physical fitness levels. You'll walk through palace ruins and around the Chan Chan site, but the pace is manageable for most visitors.