Huaraz

This high-altitude city in the Peruvian Andes serving as the main gateway to the Cordillera Blanca, Huaraz sits in the Callejón de Huaylas valley beside the Santa River and supports a dense café and restaurant scene built around adventure tourism. Climbers, hikers, mountain bikers, and snowboarders base themselves here for access to Huascarán National Park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985 — and to Mount Huascarán, considered the tallest mountain in the tropics. The archaeological site of Chavín de Huántar is also reachable from the city. Simón Bolívar granted Huaraz the title "Noble and Generous City" for its support of the independence cause, and after a 1970 earthquake destroyed most of the city, international aid earned it a second title: Capital of International Friendship.

• Population118,836
• Nearest water0.3 km
• Nearest mountain7.9 km
• UNESCO within 50 km3