10 Most popular day tours from Cusco
You’re heading to the Peruvian Andes soon and looking for the best day tours from Cusco? Sara and I have you covered!
We spent over a month based in the old Incan capital and ventured out on more than a few day tours. Our travels took us all over Cusco, to Machu Picchu and the surrounding Sacred Valley.
So we’re going to suggest, in our opinion, the 10 best day tours from Cusco that you should consider. Whether you’re looking for ruins, cultural immersion or to discover the ONLY way of getting to Machu Picchu and back in one day, everything you need to know in this guide!
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A quick word of warning about altitude sickness
As you probably already know, Cusco city sits at a daunting 3400m above sea level. At this height, altitude sickness is a very real concern for people arriving from sea level.
In fact, Sara and I really struggled with headaches and nausea for the first three days after arriving. Quite often we’d be walking up a mild hill and be hit with a spate of dizziness.
So bearing in mind that altitude sickness in Cusco can be quite strong, we’d recommend acclimatising for at least three days before booking any of these day tours from Cusco. Especially as most of these places are between 2700m and 5000m above sea level and some are day hike locations!
Palcoyo Rainbow Mountain day tour from Cusco
Something most people aren’t aware of is that there are multiple rainbow mountains in the Andes. We’ll cover Vinicunca next (the most popular mountain), but in our opinion, the most popular option isn’t the best option.
If you only have the time to visit one rainbow mountain, we highly recommend heading to Palcoyo. In comparison to Vinicunca, Palcoyo has a much shorter and less steep hike up that only takes 40 minutes.
Palcoyo might not be as colourful or as pointed as Vinicunca, but the biggest difference is that only around 60 people visit Palcoyo daily!
When we visited with our day tour from Cusco, we were literally the only tour group on the mountain. We still experienced a super beautiful, vibrant rainbow mountain and managed to capture one of our bucket list photos. And the views at 5000m above sea level were insane!
Just remember to acclimate in Cusco for a few days before tackling this tour. You can book the same Palcoyo tour we experienced here.
Vinicunca Rainbow Mountain day tour from Cusco
Alright, time for the “other” option – or at least the other option to us. Vinicunca is the typical rainbow mountain we’ve all seen on social media. The super pointed one with clear strata layers, sometimes with snow.
It sits at 5200m (17,100ft) above sea level and the hike up isn’t for the faint of heart. Expect to be really out of breath as you fight your way up to the summit for 90 minutes.
Unlike Palcoyo, at the summit of Vinicunca there are sellers and you can actually hire somebody to carry you up (super weird right?). Vinicunca sees around 1500+ people a day pass through, over 25x more than Palcoyo.
But if you want that classic rainbow mountain photo, then we’d recommend beating the crowds and heading as early as possible!
Pisac
Pisac is a small mountain town just shy of a 1 hour drive north-east from Cusco. It’s close proximity means that it’s incredibly easy to visit with any of the day tours from Cusco.
The town itself is beautiful, it’s in a deep valley surrounded by mountains, but the main attraction here is the nearby Pisac Archaeological Park.
When we entered the park, we were blown away by these huge Incan terrace structures. Above them were houses, guard towers and stores that clearly had been neatly organised on purpose.
Our guide – yes we do recommend a guide here to explain the history – pointed out several small caves in the side of the mountain. It turns out they’re tombs! We still have now idea how the Inca’s back then managed to carry corpses all the way to these caves though.
Moray & Maras Salt Mines
The next two locations are so close to each other that they’re great to combine into one of the day tours from Cusco. Actually, a lot of these spots can be combined into a day trip, but we’ll cover that later.
Moray and Maras are two towns found around a 90 minute drive from Cusco. Moray was actually crazy to us. As we approached this huge Incan agricultural structure, it took our breath away.
Deep into the ground the Incan’s had built these huge circular terraces to combat the climate. Our guide told us that the difference in temperature from the top terrace to the bottom terrace was more than 5°C.
Although not confirmed, the working theory is that the deeper the terrace, the different temperature and different microclimate mean that could farm crops from all over the country.
The most popular place to visit at Maras are the salt mines, which are equally as impressive. As we rounded the corner of a mountain road on the bus, we were mind blown by the beautiful different shades of red and brown that made up the 4500 salt wells.
Each well produces 250-300kg of salt every single month… you do the maths!
Ollantaytambo
Ollantaytambo is actually the town you’d head to if you were to take the train to Machu Picchu, as this is the beginning of the line. But outside of that, it’s also a super historic and interesting town in its own right.
Beyond just being a quaint and peaceful mountain village, over 500 years ago it served as the royal estate for Inca Pachacuti, one of the most important Incan emperors.
When we visited, it was genuinely like stepping back in time. We got to scale huge terraces right to the top of the Incan ruins where Ollantaytambo’s sun temple was built.
From here our guide pointed out all of the most important historical areas of Ollantaytambo. We could see the face in the cliff that the Incas treated like a God, the mountain store rooms and multiple temples. He also explained how the Incas were able to build so well and move such heavy stones around, which is super interesting by the way!
Many travellers like to spend a few nights in Ollantaytambo as there’s so much to do. If you have more time, we recommend that you consider the same. If not, Ollantaytambo day tours from Cusco are a great option!
Chinchero
Similarly to Pisac but in the opposite direction, Chinchero is another historically important town around a 45 minute drive from Cusco.
Once an Incan palace, Chinchero is the site of even more Inca ruins. We were able to walk around these ruins and get a good idea of what the area might have been like many centuries ago.
Another popular stop in Chinchero is the artisan market. We stopped here on a group trip and a lovely lady, who was indigenous to the region, explained in great depth how they manufacture alpaca wool.
From the washing of the wool, to the dying, to the weaving, the entire process is 100% natural. Just be prepared though, because legitimate alpaca wool products will blast a hole in your bank account. So we decided to miss out this time around.
Sacred Valley day tour from Cusco
Remember when we said a lot of these spots can be visited in a single day? Well this is exactly what we did!
From Cusco, we booked a full day tour of the Sacred Valley, the region around the city of Cusco.
A bus picked us up bright and breezy at 6am in the morning, and took us directly to Chinchero and the artisan market. From here we visited Moray and the Maras Salt Mines, indulged in a lunch buffet in Urubamba, enjoyed a visit to Ollantaytambo and finished off exploring Pisac before heading back to Cusco for around 9pm.
Just be warned, if you want to really explore these places then they need to be done on their own day tours. Our Sacred Valley tour was a whistlestop one. We only had 20-30 minutes to explore a spot before we had to hop on the coach to the next one.
We spent a lot of time sitting around on a bus on this tour, but it’s a great option for people who might be tight on time. You can book our exact Sacred Valley Tour here!
Machu Picchu day tour from Cusco
In our humble opinion, a day tour from Cusco to Machu Picchu is not the best way to visit this world wonder. For us, what made Machu Picchu the best world wonder we’ve ever visited is its remoteness and the journey you need to take to actually get there.
So we’d highly recommend booking a trek to tackle the Salkantay trail or the classic Inca trail. Or choose the low budget option like we did. We took a bus from Cusco to Hidroelectrica and hiked the rest of the way to Aguas Calientes.
But if you’re tight on time or simply just not much of a hiker, then you can actually just book on a Machu Picchu day tour.
This tour will pick you up from Cusco nice and early in a bus and drive you to Ollantaytambo. Here you’ll transfer to a train, which we’ve heard is actually quite luxurious and provides some serious valley views along the journey.
Then once you’ve visited Machu Picchu, you can head back along the same route!
Humantay Lake day tour
As much as we would have loved to go, unfortunately Humantay Lake, or Laguna Humantay, was the only spot on this list we didn’t make it to. Either way, we want to make sure that you don’t miss out like we did!
It’s around a 3 hour drive from Cusco on the bus. The tour will pick you up early in the morning and drive there directly before offering a small breakfast.
Then it’s roughly a 90 minute hike up to the lake. But don’t underestimate the difficulty of hiking at 4000 metres above sea level, so take breaks!
After admiring Humantay Lake for some time, you’ll head back down, grab some lunch and drive back to Cusco.
Sacsayhuaman (Saqsaywaman)
Saqsaywaman (that’s how it’s spelt on Google Maps at least) is the closest ruins to the city of Cusco. Actually, if you want, you can just walk there like we did.
It’s an old citadel that sits at 3700m above sea level, towering over Cusco in the foothills.
You can book a tour there if you want to go with a guide, which we always recommend. But also, you can visit with either your Boleto Turistico (a ticket that allows you to enter many different places in the Sacred Valley), or by paying a fairly steep one-off entry price of almost $20pp.
Alternatively, you can just walk up the side of the ruins along a public footpath and look over the wall inside. That’s what we did to save some money, but again, heading inside with a guide to actually learn the history is the best call.
Where to stay in Cusco
Whether you’re spending 2 days in Cusco, 3 days in Cusco, 4 days in Cusco or even just 24 hours in Cusco, here are some great accommodation options in the historic centre.
Best budget hostels:
- Wild Rover Cusco ($7-15/night) ← Cusco’s party hostel.
- Viajero Kokopelli Hostel Cusco ($15-40/night)
- Cusco Rock Hostel ($16.50/night)
Best budget hotels:
- Eco Bunnu Inn ($23/night)
- Cochito Cusco ($28/night)
- Andean Valley Hotel ($26/night)
Mid-range hotels:
- Amaru Colonial ($57/night)
- Casa Montes San Blas ($49/night)
- Hotel Hacienda Cusco Centro Historico ($56/night)
Top luxury hotels:
- Union Hotel Cusco ($100/night)
- Auka Boutique San Blas ($74/night)
- Anahuarque Hotel Boutique ($72/night)
Final thoughts on the best day tours from Cusco
There is sooo much to see in Cusco and the surrounding Sacred Valley. Beyond what we’ve covered in this guide, there are so many hidden gems in the forms of lakes, ruins, trails and villages that just a week in this area isn’t going to scratch the surface.
But the locations we’ve discussed above are the most popular and easy to reach day tours from Cusco. But trust us, just because they’re popular spots doesn’t mean they’re not worth visiting!
Like we always love to say: “the popular places are usually popular for a reason!”
Check out our other Cusco guides:
- 9 Easy things to do in Cusco While Acclimating
- 16 Completely FREE things to do in Cusco!
- Is Cusco safe to visit in 2024? Everything you need to know
We hope that our guide covered everything you need to know about the best day tours from Cusco. We always strive to offer the most accurate and up-to-date information we can but if you think something we’ve said is wrong, please let us know!
