Rainbow Mountain (One Day TOUR)
A wonderful one day trek from Cusco to visit the increasingly popular natural, multi-colored "rainbow mountain" (Vinicunca). You have the option to hike or ride a horse through the beautiful Andean valley to the top viewpoint. Along the way you will see snow capped peaks, herds of alpaca, glaciers and birds of prey, all set within this incredibly stunning mountain range at 5,200m above sea level. Sediment of minerals give the mountains its distinctive turquoise, lavender, gold colors.
A great extension to any itinerary. We recommend to do this trek in the dry season (April - October) to see the colors at their best. See our Blog: Rainbow Mountain - A Traveler's Guide to find out all about this beautiful mountain range and our recommendations.
THE TRIP AT A GLANCE
Start: Cusco around 4AM Duration: One full day
Finish: Cusco around 5PM Group size: 2 - 16
Difficulty Rating: 3/5 Highest altitude: 5,100m (16,800ft)
Itinerary
4 AM: We have a very early morning start, you will be picked up from your hotel in Cusco. It’s about a 3 hour drive to the start of the trek - enjoy the sunrise and scenery from your private transport, or sleep a little bit longer.
7:00 AM: When we arrive, you will be provided with breakfast to energize you while the crew prepares for the trek. You can also rent a horse if you prefer not to hike. The hike then takes about 2 to 3 hours to the viewpoint. We recommend you bring both rain and sun protection. Take your time to enjoy the journey and various landscapes, and we’re sure to encounter some llamas and alpacas!
10:00 - 10:30 AM: We take in the wonderful view of the 7 colored mountains for a while and take pictures. Your guide will also explain some of the history and geography of this area. After about half an hour, we trek back to our starting point. Enjoy your lunch there at around 12:30 - 1PM. Our private transport will be waiting to take us back to Cusco.
5:00 PM: Expected return to Cusco.
What’s Included and Not Included
- Meals: Breakfast, a packed lunch, water.
- Activities: Entrance to Rainbow Mountain, trekking with private, expert, English-speaking guide.
- Transport: Private transport to the start of the hike and return to Cusco.
- First Aid Kit: To deal quickly with basic first care.
- One safety horse in case of emergency.
- Dinner, personal snacks and other drinks.
- Rent a horse at additional cost if you don't want to hike.
- Tips including for your guide.
- Accommodation.
- Trekking poles (but you can rent these from us).
Altitude warning
The hiking path will not be too steep but we do reach high altitude (maximum 5,200m) so the difficulty will not only depend on your level of fitness but also on how well you’ve acclimatized and react to the altitude.
Price: 145 USD per person
Prices are dependent on many factors including seasonality and number of travelers. Please fill out the booking form, or get in touch via Email, Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp.
Make sure to check our Terms and Conditions.
“Booking papis treks was one of the best parts of my trip. Having the taxis, rainbow mountain and macho picchu tour organized made it all worth it. Michael and his team were so great at communicating and timely. I can’t imagine my trip without them and I am a very sufficient traveler. Having their support and input really helped me to enjoy Peru and I will be recommending them for years to come :)”