World Heritage Sites in South America

The most iconic ruin in the Americas, an Inca citadel perched on a saddle between soaring green peaks and often wreathed in cloud. Terraces, temples, and the enigmatic Intihuatana stone reward those who arrive at dawn before the day-trippers. Timed tickets are strictly enforced, so book your route months ahead.

The former Inca capital, where massive polished stone walls form the foundations of Spanish colonial mansions and churches. The Qorikancha temple and the Plaza de Armas anchor a city that is the launchpad for the whole Sacred Valley. Take a day or two here to acclimatize to the 3,400-meter altitude.

The open-air treasure of Easter Island, scattered with nearly 900 moai statues carved by a remote Polynesian society. The quarry of Rano Raraku still holds unfinished giants half-buried in the hillside. Its extreme isolation, thousands of kilometers from anywhere, only deepens the sense of mystery.

A two-kilometer wall of cataracts straddling the Argentina-Brazil border, more powerful and panoramic than any single drop can convey. The Devil’s Throat swallows a torrent so vast the roar carries for miles through the rainforest. Visit both national parks to see it head-on and from above.

A whole cityscape recognized for the drama of mountains plunging into the sea, framed by Sugarloaf, Corcovado, and world-famous beaches. Samba, favela culture, and Carnival give the setting its unmistakable pulse. Ride the cog railway or cable car for the views that made the city a legend.

Home to the vast desert geoglyphs etched into the Peruvian pampa over 1,500 years ago, best appreciated from a small plane. Hummingbirds, monkeys, and spirals stretch for hundreds of meters across the arid plateau. How and why they were made still fuels debate among archaeologists.

One of the best-preserved historic centers in the Americas, a jewel box of Baroque churches and colonial plazas hemmed by Andean volcanoes. The gilded interior of La Compania church glitters with tons of gold leaf. Sitting at 2,850 meters, it is also the highest official capital city in the world.

The first colonial capital of Brazil, its Pelourinho quarter a riot of pastel-colored mansions and Baroque churches on cobbled hills. Afro-Brazilian culture pulses through capoeira, candomble, and the food of the Bahian streets. It remains the beating heart of the country’s African heritage.

The highest uninterrupted waterfall on Earth, plunging almost a kilometer from the rim of a mist-shrouded tepui in Venezuela. Water often disperses into spray long before it reaches the jungle floor below. Reaching it involves a flight into Canaima and a river trip through pristine wilderness.

A perfectly preserved Baroque gem born of Brazil’s 18th-century gold rush, all steep cobbled lanes and gilded churches. The sculptures of Aleijadinho crown its hillside sanctuaries with astonishing artistry. Wealth and hardship are written into every square of this former mining boomtown.

Bolivia’s dazzling white constitutional capital, a colonial showcase of whitewashed mansions, convents, and universities. Independence was declared in its elegant Casa de la Libertad in 1825. A mild climate and unhurried pace make it one of the most pleasant cities in the Andes.

A romantic riverside town founded by the Portuguese, its old quarter a tangle of cobbled streets, sycamore shade, and pastel colonial houses. The lighthouse and the Street of Sighs frame views across the Rio de la Plata. An easy ferry hop from Buenos Aires makes it a favorite day trip.

A walled Caribbean jewel where balconied colonial mansions drip with bougainvillea inside massive fortress ramparts. Horse carriages clip past plazas by night while salsa spills from the bars. The old town and its fortifications are a highlight of any Colombian journey.

Once among the richest cities on Earth, built on the silver of the towering Cerro Rico that looms above it. Grand churches and the colonial mint recall a fortune extracted at terrible human cost in the mines. Working miners still burrow into the mountain that made and broke the city.

One of the oldest colonial towns in the Americas, its earthen and mud-walled buildings a rare survivor of early Spanish settlement. Dutch-influenced facades hint at trade with nearby Curacao across the water. Shifting sand dunes press right up to the edge of this quietly atmospheric city.

The largest adobe city in the pre-Columbian Americas, capital of the Chimu kingdom near modern Trujillo. Vast mud-brick citadels are carved with friezes of fish, seabirds, and waves reflecting a coastal, ocean-facing culture. Erosion from rare desert rains makes its survival all the more precarious.

The colonial core that earned Quito its early World Heritage listing, a dense warren of monasteries, plazas, and Andean-Baroque facades. La Ronda street comes alive at night with canelazo and live music. Climb the basilica towers for a sweeping view over the red-tiled rooftops.

The ceremonial heart of a powerful pre-Inca civilization on the high Bolivian Altiplano near Lake Titicaca. The Gateway of the Sun and monumental stone heads hint at sophisticated astronomy and engineering. Its influence radiated across the Andes centuries before the Inca ever rose.