We spent 5 days, 4 nights in Cusco and we found that this was the perfect base from which to explore the best of the region.

Once known as the capital of the Incas, Cusco is rich in history and has full of charm. We spent one full day acclimatising and exploring the city itself. We spent the morning doing our souvenir shopping at San Pedro Market and then the spent the afternoon doing a free walking tour and booking the 3 day trips below

Read on if you’re looking for ideas for exciting and beautiful day trips from Cusco (excluding Machu Picchu).

1.   Rainbow Mountain

One of the most famous and unique day trips from Cusco is hiking Rainbow Mountain. It is known for its colourful mountain peak with several different layers of vibrant minerals. These layers are created by various minerals in the soil including clay, mud, sand, quartos, sandstone, calcium carbonate and claystone. It was only discovered a decade ago as Rainbow Mountain was completely covered in snow but due climate change, you can now see the peak.

I would recommend booking this day trip through a tour agency. We paid 60 sols per person (£13 each) and this included transport, guide, breakfast and lunch. You would also have to pay 25 soles entrance fee when you get there (£5.50) so make sure you bring some cash! They picked us up at 3am and it takes around 3 hours to get there. Once you’ve arrived, it will take around an hour and a half to get to the actual top of the Rainbow Mountain. You will then have one hour at the top to take pictures and enjoy the scenery. We got back to Cusco at 5pm.

The views are absolute breath-taking once you get to the top. We saw half a rainbow mountain as it snowed for a few days before. It was still beautiful up there.

You can read my full visitors guide here

2.   Humantay Lake

Humantay lake is a beautiful turquoise, alpine lake located 2 hours outside the city. It sits at an elevation of 4,236 meters. The easiest way to hike this lake is by going on a guided tour. We booked this on the first day we arrived to Cusco and paid 65 soles (£14) per person which included transport, guide, breakfast and lunch.  

The hike is around 7.5km round trip and takes up to 1.5 hours to hike up and 1 hour back down. Don’t let the short miles fool you – the hike is tough! We were left huffing and puffing on the way up because of the altitude. The sense of accomplishment when you make it to the top is unreal!

We loved our tour guide as he was so charismatic, especially when he spoke about the history of this lake. We were able to spend an hour exploring the lake before heading back down – just look at the dramatic mountain and that backdrop!

You can also experience this hike by embarking on the Salkantay Trek.

3.   Quad Bike tour of Moray and Maras

Another brilliant day trip from Cusco is to explore the ruins of Moray and see the Salt Mines of Maras. As we were getting a bit fed up of minibuses – we thought that to change it up a bit, lets explore these site with a quad bike! We booked the tour from Cusco which was 80 soles (£17) each, which included a private transfer to the ATV rental place and also the quad bike hire. It doesn’t include entrance to the sites. When we went, we waited a while until the rain stopped and then eventually went to Maras and then took the quad bike to Moray. The views were beautiful.

I really enjoyed visiting Maras Salt Mines because it is a place where people still produce salt the way the Incas did! We saw more than 6000 salt pools there and each pool belongs to someone from the community.

We then drove to Moray, one of the most famous Incas ruins in the Sacred Valley. This composes of several terraced circles that were used to grow food for the Incas. The variation between each terrace was 5 degrees Celsius, which is interesting.

4.   Sacred Valley Tour  

This is a very popular full-day tour from Cusco which stops at the various town and sites in the Sacred Valley including Pisac, Urubamba, Ollaytambo and Chinchero.

As part of our 2-week itinerary included visiting these places in the Sacred Valley but on different days, we didn’t actually do this day tour. We visited Urubamba, a centrally located village that sits next to the mighty Urubamba River. We walked past some beautiful artisanal shops and coffeeshops. that were scattered throughout the city.  

After staying the night at Skylodge, we had a few extra hours to explore Ollaytambo. This is is a town located in the Sacred Valley that was originally built by the Incas in the late 15^th century. It was strategically located at the intersection of the Urubamba River Valley and the Patakancha Valley, which made it an important administrative, agricultural and religious centre. The Incas constructed impressive stone structures, terraces and building using the most fascinating and intricate stone masonry techniques – look at those joints!