Quebrada de Humahuaca

The Quebrada de Humahuaca is a long, narrow valley in the Andean northwest of Argentina, a natural corridor that has carried people and trade between the highlands and the plains for some ten thousand years, which is why it is listed as a cultural landscape by UNESCO. Its walls are its wonder: layer upon layer of rock in ochre, red, green and violet, most famously the Cerro de los Siete Colores, the Hill of Seven Colours, that rises behind the village of Purmamarca, and the even more spectacular fourteen-coloured Serranía de Hornocal above Humahuaca. Strung along the valley are adobe villages with old churches, indigenous markets and pre-Hispanic ruins, and the whole region keeps a strong Andean culture of music, weaving and the carnival. The altitude is high, the light is sharp, and the colours are unlike anywhere else.

What you actually see

• Cerro de los Siete Colores - the Hill of Seven Colours behind Purmamarca.
• Serranía de Hornocal - the jagged, many-coloured ridge above Humahuaca.
• The adobe villages - Purmamarca, Tilcara and Humahuaca with their churches and markets.
• Pucará de Tilcara - the reconstructed pre-Hispanic hilltop fortress.

When to go

April to November is drier and clearer; the summer months bring afternoon storms that can wash out roads. The colours are most vivid in the low light of early morning and late afternoon. Carnival in February is a spectacle but crowded. Nights are cold at this altitude year-round.

Honest expectations

The valley sits at high altitude and the Hornocal viewpoint is well over 4,000 metres, so altitude can affect visitors coming up quickly from sea level; take it slowly. Roads to the best viewpoints are rough and sometimes closed in summer rains. Distances between villages are real, so a car or tour helps. It is remote from Argentina's main circuits, deep in the northwest.

Nearby

The Salinas Grandes salt flats are over the pass to the west; the wine town of Cafayate lies to the south.