One day from Cusco
Rainbow Mountain, Humantay Lake, the Sacred Valley and the Inca sites above the city. The trips to fill the days around your Machu Picchu booking — and the ones that help you acclimatise.
7 tripsfrom £20 per person
Five hours on the Inca foundations of Cusco — the Plaza de Armas, the Temple of the Sun at Qorikancha, then Sacsayhuamán, Q'enqo, Puka Pukara and Tambomachay in the hills above the city. Morning or afternoon, with a guide.
Twelve hours down the valley and back — the weaving town of Chinchero, the circular terraces at Moray, the salt pans at Maras, the fortress at Ollantaytambo and the hilltop ruins of Pisaq, with a buffet lunch in Urubamba.
The glacial lagoon below the Humantay ice, reached from Cusco in a single very long day. Two and a half hours of road, an hour and three quarters of steep climbing, an hour at the lake, and breakfast and lunch on the way.
The striped mineral ridge of Vinicunca, reached on a steady hour-and-a-half climb from 4,700 m to over 5,200 m, with the option of carrying on into the Red Valley. Buffet breakfast and lunch on the route, and medical oxygen with the guide.
The quiet alternative to Vinicunca — three coloured mountains instead of one, a natural stone forest, views across to Ausangate, and a gentle walk of under an hour instead of a steep climb. Same colours, a fraction of the crowd.
Seven turquoise, emerald and deep blue lagoons strung below the Ausangate glacier, walked as a three-to-four hour circuit at 4,600 m, with thermal baths at Pacchanta afterwards and both meals included.
The newest and least visited of Cusco's coloured mountains, 190 km south near the Langui-Layo lagoon, where stripes of iron oxide, copper and quartz trace the geometric pattern of an Andean poncho. A long drive, a short climb, and a ridge to yourself.
Tell us your dates and how much walking you want to do, and we will tell you which of these fits — including when the honest answer is one of the cheaper ones.
