Cusco
THE CUSCO BUCKETLIST 5 DAYS
Our bucket list includes the whole must seen places of Cusco, this trip is especially good for those who love outdoor and photography.
- Trip type: Bucket list
- Season: Year arround
- Duration: 5 days
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Elevation: 2,400m – 5,038m (7,874 ft – 16,550 ft)







ITENERARY
DAY 1: SACRED VALLEY TOUR
We start at 7:00 am your guide is going to pick you up from the lobby to take you to the colorful town of Chincheros known for its alpaca farms and weavers we continue then to visit the circular terraces of Moray used as a lab to experiment with different types of corn and potatoes near here we take you to visit the salt mines of Maras you will get a try of the different varieties, after our visit to this amazing places we are going to stop on a restaurant (not included) your guide will suggest options. As we say here full belly happy heard we then continue to the last archeological place Ollantaytambo use as a temple and fortress during the Inca golden times.
Once your journey to the archeological sides mention is finished, we take you to board the train at Ollantaytambo station this is going to be a wonderful experience for about 2 hours until Aguas Calientes where your Hotel bedroom is waiting for you.
DAY 2: MACHU PICCHU TOUR
On this day we purchase your visit to Machu Picchu for the very first schedule 6:00 am, in case you want to be one of the first ones exploring the ruins or get there by sunrise time, the bus rides from/to Aguas Calientes – Machupicchu are included they are 30 min each, your Machupicchu guide will take you for about 3:00 hours inside the ruins, of course, we will take you to the best spots, have fun taking pictures before history lessons begin, please take note the government organized the visit as a loop it means there is only one chance to enter to Machupicchu unless you purchase either Huaynapicchu hike or Machupicchu mountain hike, in case you want to have a hiking challenge you should let us know during your booking process, we will ask while booking! (depending on time reservation and space), these fees are 20 USD extra each, on the hikes you will go on your own to enjoy the breathtaking surrounding scenery along the trails.
Once you are done you can get a passport stamp on the outside (up to you), pull out your bus tickets, and go back to Aguas Calientes have time for lunch, explore the town, etc. before you get on the train to come back to Ollantaytambo station, then get on our van to come to your Cusco hotel.
DAY 3: CITY TOUR
- Sacsayhuaman (lightning temple)
- Cusco Cathedral
- Qoricancha (Sun temple)
- San Pedro Market (meet the folks)
After we pick you up in the morning at 8:00 am from your hotel we will take you for a half-day journey, the first place we visit is Sacsayhuaman, where you can learn about Inca massive stone constructions and what they represented in the golden Inca days as well as, have the opportunity to visit a viewpoint to Cusco city, we then continue to visit the Cathedral where you will blow your mind after seen lots of ancient paintings, gold, silver and awsome history here is where you see the last supper guinea pig painting.
The last two places we take you is Coricancha Sun temple where you will learn about the Spanish conquest, after all, we take you to visit San Pedro market where you will get what we call GIP experience, we mean talk with locals see what the folks do on this side of the world how we live, etc. Our journey ends up in here we can take you back to the hotel or drop you off near the main square.
*NOTE: We run this trip in the morning because the following days have an early start.
DAY 4: HUMANTAY LAKE
At 3:30 am your GIP guide and driver are going to pick you up from your hotel. The first stop is going to be at Mollepata where we pump energies with a delicious breakfast to continue on the car until the start hiking point.
The hike until the summit will take us around 2.5 hours in a distance of 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the very beginning, we get a view of the Humantay glacier ahead, after a few minutes of hiking the view turns into another glacier pick call Apu Salkantay a trail that other people take for 5 days until Machupicchu on the way we will pass across camping sites we won’t see these hikers because they star late we keep going across a gentle trail at the base of the valley for the first half of our hike then the fun begins we mean the uphill part as it always is in our lives we have to go up to get our rewards and there is no better reward than an astonishing view to this blue-greenish lake at the base of Humantay glacier.
Your guide will make sure of your safety carrying an oxygen tank and a first aid kit on his backpack taking always the slow and steady peace once you guys make it to the look-out point you will enjoy your included snacks, take awesome pictures, learn about the area and have a chill time before the hike down.
*If you don’t want to hike up there is horseback available to hire they are not the property of Get In Peru (GIP) the muleteer there ask hikers if they want to, please note they do not speak English and they go ahead of the group, in case you want to hire one you assume all liabilities.
DAY 5: RAINBOW MOUNTAIN + RED VALLEY
This day we will depart at 3:15 am to beat the crowds for a 3-hour van drive until the starting point where we first have breakfast before hiking. Our goal is 4km (2.5miles) to the RAINBOW MOUNTAIN lookout, your guide will always take the slow and steady peace due to the high altitude, you guys call your top tough hikes 14ners we call ours 16ners, to make there takes around 2 hours once there, after taking pictures and having free time we continue to the RED VALLEY for another 30 min hike you are going to see how the landscape completely changes it literally looks like another planet we are going to enjoy our snacks here having the whole landscape for us we call this relaxing time a GIP experience.
Once we make it back to our van we will take you to a restaurant for lunch before we go back to Cusco and drop off you at your hotel approximately at 3:00 pm.
- Fluent English and Spanish speaking guide.
- Private transportation to/from your hotel.
- First aid kid & Oxygen.
- Fees to access to Machupicchu, Sacred Valley, Rainbow mountain, red valley, Humantay lake.
- Train tickets to Machupicchu.
- Bus up and down from Aguas calientes to Machupicchu ruins.
- Hotel night in Aguas Calientes.
- Breakfast, lunch, and snacks for Rainbow mountain and Humantay lake tours.
- Fees for the Cathedral (25 soles), Coricancha (15 soles), Sold mines (10 soles).
- Horse
- Travel insurance.
- Gratuities for the team.
- Personal medications.
- Day back pack (with rain cover if possible).
- Water (we recommend 2L per person).
- Rain jacket/poncho.
- Extra snacks.
- Hiking shoes and pants.
- Sun hat, sun scream, and sun glasses.
- Chopstick.
- Warm cloths (thermal base layer, sweater, fleece).
- Motion sickness tablets (roads are windy).
Weather:
The Andes mountain range is a place with only two seasons dry and rain from November to April there is the rain season, nowadays with climate change it is changing a bit which makes it unpredictable most of the time, this is why we recommend travelers to have the proper gear and be ready for any fluctuate temperature change throughout the day. As you can see in our season box on every trip we offer we point when it is the time we operate but still if there is bad weather we reserve the right to cancel a trip prior to departing from Cusco city in case of unsafe conditions, if this happens you will get a full refund of your deposit or if you prefer reschedule your trip, however we still depart whether there is snow, fog or rain and refunds are not possible due to the bad weather conditions.
As well as the climate is very changeable in the Andes temperature range fluctuates from 0 Celsius degrees in early morning and warm up until 15 Celsius degrees along the day, we recommend you to bring sun cream because sun index is pretty high.
Group sizes/departures:
GIP trips depart daily with a minimum of 2 people and 10 max, all we do is private or small group trips, if a large group of friends is coming we still run it GET IN PERU is about harmony. You can price the cost if you are coming with 4 or more people.
Reservations:
Get In Peru recommends you to book with 3-4 months in advance to ensure availability. If you have flexible dates we can take your reservations although GIP trips tent to be book in advance due to our personalized small group service.
First aid:
Our trips go from 8,000 ft up to 16,500 ft (2,400m – 5036m), GIP recommends you to spend at least 2 days in Cusco or similar elevation to acclimatize, please ask your doctor if you are concerned with the altitude although our guides always have a proper first air and oxygen in all adventure trips in case you need it do not doubt and please ask for.
Accommodation:
GIP hotels accommodations is based on double or triple occupancy, solo travelers will have their own privacy at a reasonable price.
Food:
Peru is known by its variety of food we will served you always local dishes in a family style manner, if you have any dietary requirements please let us know on the booking process we cannot guarantee that we will be able to accommodate.
Gratuities:
Our guides and staff are all paid based on the number of days they spend on each GIP trip, it is not a require to tip the crew but we are always welcome if you do tip, we understand as a crew that our service went above and beyond your expectations, we will greatly appreciate it. A common tip is 5 to 10% of your total trip cost.
Insurance:
An insurance is essential for your safety throughout your trip, emergency medical transport and air rescue in remote areas could be very expensive and will probably not be covered by your 401(k) or another health plan so it is recommendable for you to purchase an adequate personal travel insurance which should be appropriate for your trip, this insurance must cover accident, medical expenses, repatriation cost and all other expenses involve
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