Experience the best of Chiclayo

Chiclayo is a sunny desert city in the Lambayeque region, with a cathedral on the Plaza de Armas and a lively centre. Its Mercado Modelo, a sprawling market, has a section of stalls where traditional healers sell herbs, charms and potions.

The Lord of Sipán, a Moche ruler buried about 1,700 years ago in a tomb found at Huaca Rajada in 1987 with gold and silver ornaments, is the region's best-known discovery, and the Royal Tombs of Sipán Museum in nearby Lambayeque displays the finds. The adobe pyramids at Túcume, more than twenty in a valley below a hill, and the Brüning Museum add to the ancient sites, while beaches at Pimentel and Santa Rosa lie on the coast.

Arroz con pato, rice with duck cooked in beer and coriander, is the dish of Chiclayo, along with ceviche, goat stew and king kong, a layered biscuit with sweet milk caramel from Lambayeque. The air is dry and warm all year, and the summer months from December to April are the hottest.