Tours
- Andes/Incas/Amazon
- Family Adventure
- Machu Picchu
- Nazca Lines
- Colca Canyon
- Lake Titicaca
- Amazon Rainforest
- Lima Day Tours
- Cusco Day Tours
- Huaraz Day Tours
- Volunteer
- Groups to Join
Preparation
Peru: Cusco Day Tours
Add some of these Day Tours, during your free day or extra day, to your treks to Inca Trail or Cordillera Blanca, or to your tour to Machu Picchu. Do not miss these once-in-a-life-time experiences!
NOTE: There will be an additional one-time fee added for the Cusco tourist ticket, which gains you admission to the churches, ruins and sites mentioned in these day tours (there are a total of 16 sites, including a folklorica dance program). The tourist ticket is $60/person for 2008 and $65/person for 2009.
All prices in US Dollars.
On this page:
- Cusco City Tour and Ruins (half day)
- The Sacred Valley - Pisac and Ollantaytambo (full day)
- Urubamba River Rafting (half day)
- Maras Salt Mines and Moray Terraces (full day)
- Mountain Biking from Chinchero to Maras (full day)
- Huchuy Qosqo Hike (full day)
- Andean Markets and Ancient Ruins (full day)
- Chacan, Lanlacuyoc and Cusiyuchayoc (full day)
- Aguas Calientes Hike up Putukusi Mountain (half day)
Link to volunteer service opportunities:
Cusco City Tour & ruins (half day)
 Santo Domingo Church and site of Qoricancha |
 Sacsayhuaman fortress ruins |
This half day tour of the city of Cusco and nearby ruins includes stops and visits to the Plaza de Armes, the Cathedral, Qoricancha (at the church of Santo Domingo) and the ruins of Sacsayhuaman, Qenko and Tambo Machay. This is an excellent introduction to the Inca cultres, the Spanish and colonial times and the Peruvian culture of today.
Tour departs: Every day
Minimum: 1 person
Price includes: Transportation by van or bus (pick up and drop off at your hotel), bi-lingual guide. See note above regarding entrance fees.
Not included: Tips for your guide and driver, meals and overnight at local hotel, personal expenses.
2008 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $80 | $60 | $45 | $40 | $30 |
2009 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $90 | $70 | $50 | $45 | $45 |
The Sacred Valley - Pisac & Ollantaytambo (Full Day)
 Pisac ruins above the Urubamba River |
 Village of Ollantaytambo |
Full-day guided excursion to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Here we will visit Pisac ruins and the town's picturesque market; then we continue down the Urubamba Valley. After lunch at a local restaurant, we reach Ollantaytambo, a small town overshadowed by an Inca fortress. We will tour the ruins and visit a colonial courtyard and home. This valley was an important agricultural area in the Inca times, and this is manifested by many Inca remains dispersed from Cusco to Machu Picchu and beyond. Late afternoon, we return to our hotel in Cusco or the Sacred Valley (L).
Group tours depart: Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday
Private tours depart any day. A private tour is just for your group and allows some flexibility for more or less hiking, more or less markets, and special requests to see unique sites enroute. Your guide can be more attentive to your group's needs and interests.
2008 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $135 | $95 | $80 | $60 | $50 |
2009 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $140 | $105 | $80 | $65 | $45 |
Minimum: 1 person
Price includes: Transportation by van or bus (pick up and drop off at your hotel), bi-lingual guide, lunch. See note above regarding entrance fees.
Not included: Tips for your guide and driver, meals and overnight at local hotel, personal expenses.
URUBAMBA RIVER RAFTING (half day)
 |
A van/bus ride (30 minutes to 1 hour) will take us past various Inca and pre–Inca sites, past villages of colonial origin, to reach the gorges of the Vilcanota River, the main tributary of the Urubamba River. We arrive at the put-in point of today's river trip. We prepare the equipment, receive instruction and embark on a half day float, where we will experience class II and III rapids. We take out at our lunch spot.
This is a magnificent experience as we travel the waterway with a unique perspective of the Andean environment and settlements along the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Mid-afternoon return to our hotel in Cusco or the Sacred Valley (L). (Depending on water conditions, the section of river can change).
2008 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $135 | $105 | $95 | $90 | $55 |
2009 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $135 | $125 | $105 | $95 | $55 |
Minimum: 1 person
Price includes: Transportation by van or bus (pick up and drop off at your hotel), bi-lingual whitewater certified guide, river raft and paddles, safety equipment (helmets and life jackets), wetsuit, windbreaker, rafting instruction, safety boat, changing tent, portable toilet and lunch.
Not included: Tips for your guide and driver, sun screen, meals and overnight at local hotel, personal expenses.
[NOTE: There is an optional full day trip, with 1/2 day river rafting, lunch and a tour of the Pisac ruins and market. If you would like two days of river rafting, we offer a 2 day/1 night trip, with two days of river rafting on different sections of the Urubamba River, ruin tours and overnight in the Sacred Valley. Please let us know if you would like either of these options.]
MARAS Salt Mines & MORAY Terraces (full day)
 |
 |
This day you will spend a full day, first visiting the remote village of Maras and the nearby fascinating salt mines. Maras is renowned for its colonial doorways having been an important trading town for the open pit salt mines nearby. You continue your drive to the community of Moray. The Moray National Park has Inca circular shaped agricultural terraces. It is said that the area was used to experiment with acclimatizing and domesticating crops. A picnic lunch will be enjoyed at Moray. Return to Cusco or overnight in the Sacred Valley (L).
2008 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $120 | $85 | $70 | $65 | n/a |
2009 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $150 | $110 | $90 | $75 | n/a |
Minimum: 2 persons (pricing for one person available upon request).
Price includes: Transportation by van or bus (pick up and drop off at your hotel), bilingual guide, lunch. See note above regarding entrance fees.
Not included: Tips for your guide and driver, meals and overnight at local hotel, personal expenses.
Mountain biking from Chinchero to Maras
 |
 |
Depart early from your hotel in Cusco and travel by car/van to the village of Chinchero, a half–hour drive over a pass and along a narrow valley. You will see a spectacular panorama of patches of fields that melt into the snow-capped peaks of the Cordilleras Urubamba and Vilcabamba. On bicycle (an easy flat ride first, then slowly ascending, and finally becoming a moderate descent), ride to the archeological site of Moray, which has huge circular agricultural terraces. End bicycling when you reach the colonial village of Maras. Return to Cusco by car/van. There will be an option to visit the salt-mines of Maras. (L)
2008 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $160 | $140 | $120 | $85 | n/a |
2009 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $170 | $145 | $120 | $105 | $95 |
Minimum: 2 persons (pricing for one person available upon request).
Price includes: Transportation by van or bus (pick up and drop off at your hotel), mountain bikes, helmets, bi-lingual guide, lunch.
Not included: Tips for your guide and driver, meals and overnight at local hotel, personal expenses.
Huchuy Qosqo hike (full day)
 |
 |
This is a full day hike for a moderate adventure. At 7:00 a.m., leave Cusco for Chinchero, where you can see the beautiful sunlight on Mount Veronica and the Vilcabamba range. Begin the hike either near Chinchero or Ccorao. where you will slowly ascend to a high Puna with herds of Alpacas and Llamas. After the crossing the Apacheta pass (4,200m), start down overlooking the snowcapped mountains of the Sacred Valley and descending to the ruins of Huchuy Qosqo. These ruins are three story high Inca structures made of stone and adobe (mud-brick). The beauty of these ruins is that they are built on the mountain top, with clear blue skies above and many streams running on either side.
After relaxing in the shade of the Queñua trees (Andean Oak) while feasting on the prepared lunch, continue on the hike. You will trek across the open terrain and begin the zigzag trail down the face of the mountain, until reaching the trailhead in Lamay Village. Your vehicle will take you back to Cusco in the early evening (L).
In this particular area, you do not meet with other tourists; only Andean people working their fields, and their children playing outside their adobe houses. To enjoy cultural experiences as well as a pleasant hike, this is a good one-day hike. It is also a great warm-up for the Inca Trail or other treks in the area!
2008 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $120 | $85 | $65 | $55 | n/a |
2009 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $140 | $100 | $75 | $60 | n/a |
Minimum: 2 persons (pricing for one person available upon request).
Price includes: Transportation by van or bus (pick up and drop off at your hotel), bi-lingual guide, lunch.
Not included: Tips for your guide and driver, meals and overnight at local hotel, personal expenses.
Andean Markets and Ancient Ruins (full day)
 |
You depart early for the one-hour drive south to Urcos where a colorful Andean market takes place. On the return drive visit the colonial church of Andahuaylillas with its renowned frescoes and the pre-inca Wari site at Pikillacta, where you have the rest of the morning to explore the ruins. After lunch, visit the Inca ruins at Tipon below Mt. Pachatusan; a series of water fountains on the terraced hillside characterize this important site. In the late afternoon return to Cusco (L). (NOTE: This is best done on a Sunday, when the market is in full swing!)
2008 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $135 | $95 | $80 | $65 | n/a |
2009 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $180 | $125 | $100 | $90 | n/a |
Minimum: 2 persons (pricing for one person available upon request).
Price includes: Transportation by van or bus (pick up and drop off at your hotel), bilingual guide, lunch.
Not included: Tips for your guide and driver, meals and overnight at local hotel, personal expenses.
Chacan, Lanlacuyoc and Cusiyuchayoc (full day)
 |
 |
 |
Our group will depart from the Plaza de Armas, to begin the hike up through a eucalyptus forest beside the Saphy River. After an hour and a half hike the Chacan cave is in view. "The Temple of the Rainbow", called so because of the small waterfall inside the cave, which reflects rainbow rings off the winter sun’s rays. We can bathe under the waterfalls and be surrounded by the rainbows; it is an incredible feeling both refreshing and spiritual.
Chacan is a beautiful quiet setting, unknown by other tourists, as are the next destinations: Cusiyuchayoc, commonly known as the “Zona X”, which is one hour away from Chacan. This is one of the most enigmatic places of Cusco. Are these tunnels natural, pre-Inca or Inca structures under the earth’s surface? Our guide will take you through these subterranean passages during the early afternoon where we will be able to observe the incredible illumination created between each passageway.
The tour continues to the “Temple of the Moon”, a natural rock structure that has a man-made altar inside one of its passageways on which the full moon shines at certain times of year. Until this day the shamans and spiritual groups from all corners of the world gather in this place on a full moon to receive its energy. Even during the afternoon we can appreciate the Temple, as an interesting natural structure.
For those of us who need a bit of peace and quiet, away from the bustling Cusco, this is a great way to spend our day! (L)
2008 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $120 | $85 | $65 | $50 | n/a |
2009 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | Available upon request | Available upon request | Available upon request | Available upon request | n/a |
Minimum: 2 persons (pricing for one person available upon request).
Price Includes: Bi-lingual Guide, box lunch, transportation back to your hotel in Cusco.
Not included: Tips for your guide and driver, meals and overnight at local hotel, personal expenses.
Aguas Calientes: Hike up Putukusi Mountain (1/2 day)
 |
 |
 |
This hike is an option for those who want some hiking "away from the crowds" at Machu Picchu. Your local guide will meet you at your hotel or the bus or train station in Aguas Calientes. After a short walk down the train tracks to the trailhead, you begin your hike and ascent! This will take approximately 3 hours total (including picture stops), with stunning views of the town and Machu Picchu! The top of Putukusi is at 11,500 feet (3500 meters), after climbing log stairs and steps. This hike is not for the timid or those afraid of heights! But, it is awesome at the top!
2008 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $35 | $30 | $25 | $20 | n/a |
2009 PRICING
| # Group | 2 | 3 | 4-6 | 7-9 | Join Group |
| Price per person | $40 | $30 | $25 | $20 | n/a |
Price Includes: Bi-lingual Guide(s).
Not included: Tips for your guide, travel to/from, hotels and meals in Aguas Calientes.