Sacred City of Caral-Supe: Best day trip from Lima


Why you must visit Peru’s best secret


In this post about our trip to Peru, we will talk about what was, for us, the big surprise (for the positive) in this fabulous trip. We are referring to the Sacred City of Caral - Supe and we want to share our experience with our opinion on why you should meet Caral if you travel to Peru.

Of course, when we talk about traveling to Peru, the first image that comes to mind is getting to know Machu Picchu. The same thing happened to us and, by the way, that was the main reason why we decided to travel to Peru (we invite you here to see our post on 2 things you should know when planning your trip to Machu Picchu). However, we had more goals for our trip. One of them, of course, was exploring the Sacred Valley of the Incas (find out more about the Sacred Valley of the Incas here, something that cannot fail on your trip to Peru) and of course we wanted to meet Lima as it was our gateway in Peru.

Lima is indeed a fantastic city which we consider a must for anyone visiting Peru. Several people just land in Lima from their home countries and immediately head towards Cusco, the gateway to the Sacred Valley area (click here if you want to know more about the Sacred Valley of the Incas) and Machu Picchu. However, we can guarantee that Lima really has a lot to know. It is a vibrant city, full of energy and with fantastic flavors, so it was with great happiness that we scheduled a few days of our trip to know it (click here to read our post about 10 reasons why you should visit Lima).

Unfortunately, we went to Peru on an academic vacation of our son and we were only able to spend 10 days in this fantastic country. Although we made the most of our days, unfortunately, there was much more to see, and probably three of the things we most wanted to know are the famous Nazca Lines, Titicaca Lake and of course visiting the Amazon which, a part of is located in Peru.

Unfortunately, as much as we tried to work on our itinerary, we decided that we would really have to give up these 3 destinations and leave it for a second trip to Peru.

However, we really wanted to make the most of our trip and, as usual, we spent a lot of time preparing our itinerary, as we love the organization and imagining reaching our destinations.


Well, it was quite by chance that we discovered what to us is one of Peru's least famous treasures. And when we refer to treasures, it's not kidding, it's really a treasure.

I imagine many of you do not know the Sacred City of Caral - Supe, or just recently had some knowledge and decided to explore a little more and now came to our blog. So let's talk a little about it.

What is the Sacred City of Caral - Supe


About 5000 years ago, humans began to leave the forests and, to gather in small communities that grew and grew, until they started to create "mother cities", some with impressive buildings and cultures that changed the course of Humanity.

For the truth is that, as much as we studied Peru, it was only by chance that we learned that the oldest civilization in The Americas was about a 3-hour drive from Lima. And we are not talking about a small village, we are talking about a population that was spread over a vast landscape, with several buildings and, imagine, even with pyramids!


We are not just talking about an ancient civilization, we are talking about one of the civilizations that can be considered as the cradle of world civilization, along with others like Egypt, China, India, and Mesopotamia. Of course, throughout our learning, we have always gotten used to hearing about Egypt, China, India and Mesopotamia as ancient civilizations. However, when we speak of the American continent, we do not have an image of such ancient civilizations. In a way, and perhaps naively, we tend to think more about the Incan, Mayan, Aztec civilizations, but little more.

Of course when we go to Lima and, studying the city, we easily learn that there were civilizations long before the Incas. However, far from us to expect to find something like Caral and hence our wonder, why don´t people talk more about the city and the civilization of Caral?

Some of us even felt a little bad about booking the trip to Peru with the main purpose of going to Machu Picchu and not consider to visit Caral but, sense we discover it, and sense we had the possibility to visit one of the oldest civilizations, we had to add it to our plans, and it was a great decision.


The point is, I imagine that visiting the Sacred City of Caral it is not in the plans of many people visiting Peru, and probably the reason was the same as it was with us because we do not really know its existence. And unfortunately, it is not very difficult to do so because, for reasons we do not understand, this is not really one of Peru's “tourist panels”, it is not properly advertised and there are not so many ways to get around there.

Why you should visit Caral on your trip to Peru


Well, the truth is that the more we explored about Caral, the more amazed we were at the lack of knowledge we had about this wonder of humanity. It's really something we used to dream about in Indiana Jones movies only, and it was now within our grasp to discover.

It's hard to describe the magnitude of Caral with words, but imagine that some 70 years ago it was discovered by an American archaeologist, Richard Schaedel, a 5,000-year-old civilization who was hiding under the sands of a desert. With the investigations, several pyramids were discovered, a complex system of interaction between its inhabitants, and that this civilization was one of the first that existed on our planet. And the question is, why isn't Caral most talked about and known?!?! If we can't describe the best way with words, we invite you to watch this video, to get to discover better Caral. 


Of course, as soon as we knew about Caral, it was mandatory to visit this destination and we quickly found a way to add it to our itinerary. As is little spoken, it is also not very touristy explored, so it is not as easy to visit from Lima as we might think from the start but in a future post we will talk more about the different alternatives of doing so.

Now the real issue is that, unlike many of the tourist attractions we visited along our travels, you don't have to worry about overcrowding here. By the way, we went to visit Caral and even though it was a Saturday and arrived in Caral around 11am, when we signed the visitor's book we found that on that day only 8 people had been there before us and at most during our visit, only about 10 other visitors were in this absolutely fantastic space.

So, if you are preparing for your trip to Peru, don't forget to reserve a day for the best possible day trip from Lima, to visit the Sacred City of Caral - Supe.

What to see in Caral?


Well, there is a lot to see in Caral and when you get there you will find it very useful to take the guided tour that is included in the price.


First of all, you will be surprised to find that what you see just a few decades ago was under the sand, looking nothing like normal hills in the middle of the desert. You will also come across many areas that are still partially covered with sand and it will not be difficult to imagine that much remains to be discovered.

The guided tour takes about an hour but then you have the time you want to visit the enclosure on your own. During the visit, which may be in Spanish or English, you will be taken along the grounds by its main pyramids, which is something that easily catches sight of those who visit Caral, they are:

- The Greater Pyramid
- The Lesser Pyramid
- The Gallery Pyramid
- The Pyramid of Huanca
- The Cantera Pyramid

Of course, the idea of ​​seeing pyramids is something that fascinates us, but you will also be very surprised to see the Temple of the Amphitheater and, our favorite, the Temple of the Circular Altar.


But there is much more to see in this World Cultural Heritage which, at its height, is thought to have about 3000 inhabitants and whose pyramids were built in the same period as the Egyptians built their own. In addition to the pyramids, there are several meeting spaces, squares and, it is thought that it was a space of great religious importance and that would also be people very connected to music.


Location: 175 km from Lima


When to go: Open all year from Monday to Sunday from 9am to 4pm.

Cautions: The hike is easy but it is important to carry and drink plenty of water, wear a hat and sunglasses, as well as sunscreen and insect repellent.

Average temperature: between 15º and 26º.

Ticket prices: (for correct prices, see here the official website of the government of Peru)

With this post, we don't want to underestimate the importance of Machu Picchu and how wonderful your experience will be when you enter this wonder of the world. However, we very much want to warn of the fantastic possibility of being able to know what is probably the beginning of the shaping that will result in the Mayan culture and its empire. More than Mayan culture, we are talking about one of the cradles of human civilization. We are talking about a city about 5000 years old that, 70 years ago was practically unknown and was buried in the middle of a sand desert.


And now you are ready to visit for those who arrive in Peru and, in our advice is, be sure to know this wonder of Peru. It was, in our opinion, one of the most extraordinary experiences we had in Peru, and we really recommend it.

We really hope that our ideas help you to prepare for your visit and if you are planning your trip to Peru and, that you have the chance to visit the Sacred City of Caral - Peru. If you still don't have a place to stay, we always do our reservations with booking, they are our partners and its with them that we get the best deals. You can look for the best deals by clicking here, it won't cost you any money and it helps us to support our blog.


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We would also like to invite you to leave your opinion and questions and, in case you have already visited Caral, let us know about your experience using our comments box. Thanks for your visit to our Non Stop Family Travel Blog, come back often and, if you liked our article, don't forget to share it with your friends.

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10 comentários

  1. This is very interesting to know. Machu Picchu is one of the most iconic sites on Peru. But I never heard about this city. I love to go visit places that are not that popular and better when they are not full of tourists because we can appreciate it better.

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  2. I had never heard of Caral Supe but I'll absolutely be adding this fascinating landscape to my list. Love that you shared the history of the city and its communal beginnings. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Caral! I will be honest, I've never heard of it but I would loooooove to go there one day. Peru has always been on my radar.

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  4. What a wonderful day trip. I'd love to go to Machu Picchu some day, but I too would want to visit some other places while I'm there.

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  5. This is a great post! Since Peru is on my bucket list, I am going to save this article for when we visit the country.

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  6. My daughter has been and I really want to go, this has lots of info - thanks

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  7. Thanks for sharing your traveling experience with us. Peru is in our bucket list from very long. Hopefully we are planning to visit next year.

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  8. Peru has been on my mind but I have never heard of this place in Peru. Looks like it really was worth a visit.

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  9. Wow, I didn't know that Peru had so much history! Even ancient history too! I want to go because I am such a history buff.

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  10. I had never heard of this place, I do not know much about Peru but really enjoyed your blog.

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