Best Day Trips from Cusco

Cusco itself has so much to offer, but there are many interesting places to go as day trips from Cusco. You can arrange tours from various companies in Cusco, we did several with the help of Ecopackers (former travel agency within a hostel in Cusco) and were happy with the service and organization. However, note that the trip itself was by a different company, so you could go with other travel agencies. They’re just third parties putting people in touch. We met people on these tours who had gone through another service but we all ended up in the same bus!

There are tours leaving the city every day to go to incredible sites full of history and charm. Some leave very early, as you go pretty far or try to see several locations in one day, but believe me, it’ll be worth the 3am alarm!

Here were my favorite places to visit as a day trip from Cusco:

• Vinicunca (Rainbow Mountain)

• Valle Sagrado (Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Chinchero)

• Moray y Maras

Going down in to the Sacred Valley

There are several rainbow mountains one can visit from Cusco. We chose Vinicunca! To see a video of this adventure from our November 2019 visit, click here!

View of the Red Valley, from the top of Vinicunca.

Vinicunca

At 17,100 ft (5 200m), Vinicunca is the highest mountain I’ve been to. To visit it, buses leave Cusco very early, and after a breakfast stop and some more time in the bus, you get to the starting point of the hike, which is itself quite at altitude. You guide will give you some advice about the altitude, including covering your ears, using a few drops of Agua de Florida (a blend of alcohol and essential oils) on your hands (to breathe in), and not staying too long at the top. The trail itself in not very difficult, though it can get muddy, but how long it takes you will depend on how in shape you are and how much you feel the altitude. Some people rent horses to do most of the hike. There is one stop with “bathrooms” and people selling snacks. The last part is the steepest and horses can’t get there. It’s also the most crowded, along with the top itself.

It's an interesting hike, because even if some of the views from the trail up are nice, you don’t really see any of the colors until you get some elevation and turn around. The best views are from the top. To go back, you can choose to do the same trail, or take an alternative route through the Red Valley (you might need to pay a fee to enter the locals’ lands), which is what my husband did, but I was tired and was told it was more difficult than just going back down directly.

It was a unique experience, and I highly recommend it! We were there on a gray day and still it made quite an impression! Since our trip, we’ve heard of several other rainbow mountains, but we haven’t visited any others.

My husband and some others from our bus returned to the starting point of our hike through the Red Valley.

To visit the Sacred Valley, we chose to do a tour from Cusco that had three sites, and included breakfast and lunch on the road. It was a lot of time in the bus, but absolutely worth it! The only site where I felt we didn’t have a lot of time was the very first one, but there was a decent amount of time later to explore the other sites by ourselves.

To see a video of this day, click here!

Pisaq

The first stop on our tour of the Sacred Valley was the archeological site of Pisaq, where you can wander and visit the ruins, observe the architecture and the fountains, as well as see the former place where people used to be buried. There are several levels, and we were able to walk for a while and explore on our own after an introduction to the site from our guide.

I was glad our bus arrived there early, as it was crowded when we left. It was also nice to see some Peruvian school groups there!

We didn’t visit the town or market, and instead got back in the bus towards our next destination: Ollantaytambo!

View of the valley from Ollantaytambo.

Ollantaytambo

I think this was my favorite site of the day! It was neat to walk these ruins, although some sections are quite steep, see the different areas of the site, and the views from there on the valley and mountains across the town. The ruins are more carved into the mountains than at Pisaq, it was impressive!

We observed the arrangement or rocks, the guide explaining how some small rocks were placed under big rocks so that in case of earthquake the small rocks would move but not the big one. On the mountain across, you can also see some openings to caves where the Inca people stored food, as the temperatures inside the mountain were much cooler than outside.

There were a lot of tourists there, and a lot of people vending souvenirs near the entrance. Despite the high number of people, it was still pleasant to walk around. It’s a big site!

Different items used to dye wool different colors, in Chinchero.

Chinchero

On the drive back to Cusco, we stopped in a village called Chinchero, known for its textiles.

We visited one of the artisan shops and a woman showed us what they use to dye the wool of the alpaca before weaving it: some plants for green, bugs for red, purple corn for purple etc. It was interesting to hear her talk about this tradition and to see a demonstration of the dyeing and of the weaving.

We then were able to buy items made right there: I bought a purse (that I still use five years later!) and a run for the living room table.

In the streets of Chinchero.

Another day trip we did included two sites: the archeologically interesting Moray and the salt ponds of Maras.

Moray

The archeological site of Moray is really interesting and quite unique. It consists of several circular terrasses with different elevations, where it is believed agricultural experiments took place. There is a different elevation for each terrasse and temperature, so different food would grow on different levels.

There is a path that goes around the site, where you can walk and observe the levels as well as the steps built in the walls to go from one level to the next and admire the ingenuity of the people who used these sites.

The mountains around it are beautiful too!

To see a video of the tour from our November 2019 visit to Moray and Maras, click here!

View on the outskirts of the Moray archeological site.

Maras

If you are doing a tour of Moray, the next step is usually Maras and its truly spectacular salt mines. You see the white of them from afar coming down into the valley and slowly get to see the shapes more specifically.

You can’t walk in the ponds’ area anymore, but you can still see where the water comes out of the mountain and how it is distributed to different ponds. They have different colors depending on how long the salt has been in them.

If you’re lucky you’ll see locals walk around and collect it!

Have you done such a day trip form Cusco? Are there others you’d recommend? Let me know in the comments below!