7 Best Sights in Huancayo, The Central Highlands

Not long ago, the Central Highlands' Ferrocarril Central Andino laid claim to being the world's highest rail route. Then, in 2006, China's Qinghai-Tibet Railway opened, and the onetime Peruvian champ was knocked down to second place. Despite this loss of title, the trip still merits plenty of superlatives. As the train twists along the 335-km (207-mile) route through the Andes at an average elevation of 3,150 meters (10,335 feet), it regales travelers with some of the most heart-pounding vistas in the sierra. You feel the excitement as the engine chugs its way up the slim steel threads, traversing 58 bridges, endless hairpin curves, and 69 tunnels, including the 1,175-meter (3,854-foot) Galera Tunnel, which, at an altitude of 4,758 meters (15,606 feet), is the climax of the journey. As much as the sublime landscapes, however, it's the feats of engineering wizardry entailed in the railway's construction that leave you in awe.

Getting tickets to the Ferrocarril is a bit tricky: you have to plan around the train's infrequent departures if you want it to be a centerpiece of your Peruvian odyssey. The railway's website lists travel dates, with Lima-Huancayo service running just a handful of days between April and November. Trains leave Lima's Desamparados station for the 14-hour journey at 7 am, arriving in Huancayo around 9 in the evening. Snacks, lunch, and soft drinks are included in the price. You can request oxygen if you get short of breath over the high passes, and mate de coca flows freely at all hours. When making reservations, note that the decades-old clásico cars are okay in a pinch, but the newer turístico ones are much more comfortable, with reclining seats and access to the observation area and bar.  In 2023, the railway suffered severe damage from El Niño–caused landslides, prompting the authorities to suspend service for six months. Operators are looking to resume the Lima-Huancayo run in 2024.

Situated in front of the Río Shulcas, the Capilla de la Merced is a national monument that marks where Peru's constituent assembly met in 1839 to draw up the country's fifth constitution. This document helped to centralize power in the fledgling nation and so promote the growth of its political institutions. The church's neocolonial design is a 20th-century addition, and the product of a 1940 earthquake that damaged many buildings in Huancayo.

Begun in 1799, Huancayo's cathedral presents the odd juxtaposition of a stark, neoclassical facade and a Renaissance-style dome modeled on Brunelleschi's for the Santa Maria del Fiore basilica in Florence. The church is similar to other Andean temples in that it's been rebuilt numerous times; thus, while the sandstone masonry of the frontage is mostly original, the bell towers date from the 1920s.

This ruined temple was built by the pre-Inca Huari culture and later occupied by the Huancas between AD 800 and 1200. It comprises stone cells where captives were held prior to being sacrificed to the huamani (local deity), as well as underground conduits to bring water to the precinct. You can still see the sacred spring that flows through the channels; according to legend, it was this rivulet that spawned the foreparents of the Huanca people. Several mummies have also been discovered at the site. The ruins are near the district of Huari, which has a little museum on its main square with ceramic figures, pottery, and a few bones and skulls.

Look for some well-preserved rainforest creatures and butterflies from the northern jungle among this museum's more than 10,000 objects. Local fossils and archaeological relics are also on display.

The focus of the beautiful Parque de la Identidad Huanca (Huanca Identity Park) is the pre-Inca Huanca culture, which once occupied the area but left few clues to its way of life. A 5-km (3-mile) drive from downtown Huancayo, the park has pebbled paths and small bridges that meander through blossoming gardens, as well as a rock castle that's just the right size for children to explore. An enormous sculpture at the park's center honors the artisans who produce the city's mates burilados.

An all-in-one amusement complex 1 km (½ mile) northeast of the city, the Parque del Cerro de la Libertad lets you picnic in the grass, watch the kids at the playground, swim in the public pool, dine at a restaurant, and stroll through the on-site zoo. Folkloric dancers and musicians perform at the park's amphitheater on weekends. A 15-minute walk from the park brings you to the site of Torre Torre, a cluster of 10- to 30-meter (30- to 98-foot) rock towers formed by wind and rain erosion.