This 5,000-year-old City in Peru Is a Less-crowded Alternative to Machu Picchu

Time travel hasn’t been invented, but standing in the dusty desert plains off of Peru’s north-central coast, awed by the sight of a half-dozen crumbling pyramids, I’m not sure that’s entirely true. Here, at this off-the-beaten-path archaeological site about 120 miles north of Peru’s modern-day capital of Lima, my own family — alongside just a trickle of determined tourists — has made it to Caral, a 5,000-year-old lost-to-time metropolis that’s redefining the way we understand human history.

“While Caral is not the first city in the world, it is the first of the Americas … almost contemporary with Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China,” explains architect Yoshio Cano Inugay, a director for the Caral Archaeological Zone. Indeed, Caral is today counted among just a handful of spots where civilization first emerged, at a site that Cano Inugay says can “provide a deeper understanding of human behavior.”

It’s a big claim for a destination that remains virtually unknown to international travelers.

A few days ago, we were elbow to elbow with tourists at Machu Picchu, the famed tucked-into-the-Andes Incan “lost city,” which for many travelers, is synonymous with Peru. Machu Picchu was rub-your-eyes glorious, yes. But with more than 1.5 million visitors pouring in each year, it was also crowded.

Caral, in comparison, receives a mere fraction of that. According to data from the Peruvian government, of the roughly 44,000 visitors to Caral last year, only 1,700 of them were foreigners. On the day we arrive in August, I count less than 30 visitors total on site.

Cano Inugay partly attributes that limited traction to the fact that, archaeologically speaking, the site is relatively new; excavations, led by Peruvian archaeologist Ruth Shady Solís, only began in the mid 1990s. In comparison, he says, “It took over half a century for Machu Picchu to gain recognition and start receiving tourists.”

And from a historical standpoint, Machu Picchu, dating from the 15th century, is the new kid on the block, with Caral, now viewed as the cradle of Andean civilization, far outdating the Incan Empire. In fact, founded as early as 3000 B.C., the Caral site predates even Egypt’s storied Great Pyramid of Giza by a good few hundred years.

What to Discover at Caral

The 150-acre complex — designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009 — spans diverse and elaborate excavations that include six pyramids, sunken circular plazas, ceremonial buildings, residential units, and irrigation ditches. Granted, you’ll need to squint and channel some imagination to get a feel for what stood at this once-imposing city: Much of the earthen and stone structures have deteriorated with time, but their scale is not lost. Among the weather-worn stepped pyramids, the largest (Pirámide Mayor) stands some 60 feet tall, dominating the landscape and mirroring the surrounding Andean peaks. Cano Inugay says, overall, the site is exceptionally preserved and was “found incredibly intact, despite being 5,000 years old, with no intrusions, looting, or damage from natural events like river flooding or earthquakes.”

Most international visitors are blown away by Caral’s atmosphere of antiquity, the engineering of the pyramids, and the views, says Otto Abad, who founded Peruna Tours in 2019, which specializes in Caral day trips from Lima. Tourgoers are also impressed by their ancient lifestyles, he says: “They were pacifist and artistic.”

Indeed, the pyramids, oriented to the stars, bore witness to the daily rhythms of the city’s inhabitants, a people very much influenced by their setting. Here, in the midst of the high desert of Peru’s Supe River valley, about 14 miles inland from the Pacific, city dwellers had access to both the coast and fertile valley below, where crops were readily cultivated. Indications are that widespread trade and commerce between Andean, jungle, and coastal cultures helped anchor the economy. Spirituality, ritual, and revelry were important, too, as evidenced by the structures devoted to religion and ceremony, as well as cache of found musical instruments (including flutes and cornets made from animal bones). Notably, no weapons or other evidence of warfare or defense turned up, suggesting Caral was a pretty peaceful place.

“Caral demonstrates how this civilization achieved sustainable development in harmony with its natural environment and other societies” says Cano Inugay. “This legacy offers a powerful message and inspiring example for modern societies.”

With the site predating the Americas’ development of ceramics and metals, artifacts are limited; Cano Inugay says those that have been unearthed are now part of a traveling exhibition, which has been presented in cities across Peru and South America. (Tip: Some can be viewed via the Caral Virtual Museum, too.)

But the story of Caral continues to unfold, Cano Inugay says, as excavations and studies carry on at the site. He notes, “Research is ongoing.”

Tackling Overtourism by Venturing Off the Beaten Path

In recent years, Peru’s government has made a push to combat overtourism at Machu Picchu by promoting some of the country’s impressive yet lesser-visited network of pre-Columbian archaeological sites.

Martha Honey, overtourism expert and co-author of “Overtourism: Lessons for a Better Future,” says choosing to visit under-the-radar destinations like Caral can help spread tourism dollars to places in Peru that need it most. “It can stimulate local development in the form of guides and tour operators, artisans and gift shops, restaurants, hotels and guest houses, and car rental agencies — as has happened in the Sacred Valley and Cusco near Machu Picchu.”

Cano Inugay says Caral has begun to spark that effect, serving as a “development hub for improving the living conditions of populations near these archaeological sites, who previously only survived through small-scale agricultural activities.” However, he notes that a lack of both awareness of the site and government investment in tourism infrastructure has inhibited its growth as a full-fledged international travel destination.

Those limitations have kept major group travel providers like Intrepid Travel, a leader in responsible travel to Peru, away. “There isn’t much infrastructure to support tourism,” explains Fernando Rodriguez, Intrepid’s general manager for Peru. He adds that the site is remote compared to other popular destinations the company visits. But Intrepid hasn’t ruled out Caral for potential future trips. “We’re always looking for ways to provide travelers with alternative options while spreading the benefits of tourism to places that are dealing with the opposite problem — undertourism, missing out on the benefits tourism can bring simply because not enough people have heard of them.”

For now, in-the-know travelers can jump on the chance to experience the site in relative solitude.

Making It Happen

Despite Caral’s relative obscurity on the international tourism stage, it’s actually one of Peru’s more accessible archaeological sites. Located about a 3.5-hour-drive north of Lima, it’s doable as an ambitious day trip. Keep in mind, though, that tourism infrastructure in the Caral area is limited, and driving conditions in Peru can be chaotic, with the bumpy and partially unpaved access roads to Caral beyond the Pan-American Highway best done via four-wheel drive. Leave the driving to the pros, with full-day tours available from a reputable Lima-based provider like Peruna Tours, which bundles transport, guiding service, and site admission.

You’ll want to bring your own English-speaking guide-slash-translator along. Though interpretive panels at Caral are posted in Spanish and English, the mandatory docent-led tours at the site are currently conducted in Spanish only. Caral is open daily; allow around two to three hours for your visit. (Tip: In contrast to often-overcast Lima, Caral is subject to the desert sun, so pack a sunhat, sunscreen, and water.)