Visit Moray's giant agricultural laboratory and the Maras Salt Mines
This tour is a lovely way to begin acclimatizing to the high altitude of Cusco and get ready for a trek if you have booked one. With an extraordinary views of the Andes since the bus road until the places you will visit during this tour, farming lands, typical Andean villages, mountains, Inca complex and the famous salt mines make a best way to discover the highland of Peru. Nowadays, this tour is the most recommended for everyone who comes to visit Cusco and Peru.
- Overview
- Itinerary
- Inclusions
- Packing List
- Faqs
- Pricing
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Maras is a beautiful little town that maintains some of its architectural colonial charm. You can see amazing facades made of thin stone. At the Moray Complex, located at 3450 meters (11319 feet), you can explore circular agricultural terraces with a complex system of irrigation. These terraces served as a natural greenhouse to grow an extraordinary variety of crops at an altitude that they would typically only reach in the tropical Andes. Salineras is a vast salt mine set in a breathtaking little valley in the Andean mountains. End your fantastic tour in Ollantaytambo by visiting the Inca complex and their temples.
Highlights: Moray, Salt mines & OllantaytamboHike Distance: Few minutes from the bus stop
Considerations: Permit required
Season: March to December
Max. Altitude: 3450m/11319ft
Itinerary at a Glance
- Day01
Cusco - Moray - Salt Mines- Ollantaytambo
Chinchero, Maras Moray, Salt Mines, Ollantaytambo
Maras Moray and Salt Mines Full Day Tour
Embark to explore the most beautiful Inca complex along the Sacred Valley tour: Chinchero, Moray, the Salt Mines of Maras, and Ollantaytambo, which are surrounded by snow-capped mountains and green lands. Learn about the local culture and see some alpacas on the way.
Chinchero Inca complex, explore the different Inca temples and its colonial church, then visit the textile centers, where you will learn how the locals weave different textiles using alpaca wool and natural ingredients to dye the colors. Following, you will visit the Moray circular farming terraces used by the Incas as laboratories to study different crops.
Afterwards, you will drive to the Salt Mine of Maras, where you will see hundreds of salt pools. You have lunch in Urubamba, then you will visit Ollantaytambo, one of the largest Inca sites along the Sacred Valley, and explore its different temples. Around 4:00 p.m., you are going back to Cusco.
Receive a morning pickup from your hotel in Cusco, after which you’ll be transferred for 50 minutes into the Peruvian countryside, passing through the typical town of Chincheroen. Make your first stop in the small town of Maras, offering you the chance to catch a glimpse of daily life in one of the region’s small towns. Wander the streets of this typical village and sample some “Chicha,” a Peruvian-style corn beverage.
Leaving Maras behind, you’ll drive for another 30 minutes to Moray, an archaeological site from the Inca era. Learn about the design and purpose of this circular-style terrace system, a complex that was built by the ancient civilization as a testing ground for various micro-climates and different types of agricultural crops.
You’ll have one hour on site. After your Maras visit, make a stop at the “Salineras,” a collection of salt mines used since the Inca period to extract salt. The pattern formed by the area’s range of more than 3,000 small salt pools makes for a visually arresting view for visitors. After your visit to the Salineras, we will reach the Ollantaytambo Inca archaeological site, where your guide will lead you to explore the most incredible temples built on top of the mountains, you’ll receive a ride back to your Cusco hotel.
At Vidal Expeditions, we are transparent and provide specific details of what is included and excluded from our tours. We know this is very important so that you know exactly what to bring and don’t miss anything. We provide this information to ensure that you have an incredible experience during your tour.
WE INCLUDE
Vidal Expeditions Team Provide
Pre-departure briefing
Once you book the tour with us, you will get a notification about the pre-departure briefing, where you will meet with your cultural guide and the tour group in our office the night before your Moray and Salt Mines tour departure. During this briefing, you will receive important details of the tour.
Professional Cultural Guide
All our tour guides have a great reputation for customer service. Our tour guides have graduated with a tourism career from the National University San Antonio Abad of Cusco. They have also studied English at a private language institute. Through their patience, responsibility, knowledge, passion for adventure, and pride in having been born in the land of the Incas, we ensure our tour guides provide an excellent experience for you when you explore Cusco city.
Lunch
Traditional lunch is included
Transportations
Private Transport
We included all the transportation during your tour. We will pick you up from your hotel in Cusco and take you to the beginning of the tour, and the bus returning once you are done with the city tour to Cusco will drop you off at your hotel.
Equipment
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Medical First Aid Kit
All tour guides at Vidal Expeditions are very well trained in first aid. They received training courses every six months on how to assist someone who is in an emergency situation. Also, they are trained on how to supply balloon oxygen if someone requires it.
WE NOT INCLUDED
Entrance Fees
To visit the archaelogical sites on this tour, you need a ticket, which costs S/70 Peruvian soles plus S/10 soles for the salt mines.
Water bottle
Every customer needs water during this tour. We will stop in a shop where you can purchase some water bottles and snacks.
Travel Insurance
We recommend buying travel insurance before leaving your country in case something happens during your visit to Peru.
Tips for our team
Tips are not included. Tipping the team is usual on any excursion in Cusco, and although we pay good salaries to our entire team, tips are welcome as a token of your appreciation for the team hard work.
At Vidal Expeditions, we focus on making your trip an unforgettable experience, and we want to provide all the details you need to know before leaving your country and starting your life experience in Peru.
What you need to pack? Important- Passport
- Good daypack (the smaller, the better)
- Water storage: Water reservoir like Camelback is encouraged - but enough for at least 2-3 liters.
- Comfortable hiking pant
INSIDE YOUR DAYPACKS:
A daypack can be any size for hiking, but we always say the smaller, the better. If it is larger, try to make it as light as possible.
- Sunhat
- Rain gear
- Fleece
- Camera
- Music (iPhone)
- Hand sanitizer
- Toilet paper and small plastic bag for waste
- Extra Money for Souvenirs, Drinks & Tips
- Earplugs
- Snacks (Chocolate, energizing bars, caramels, etc.)
PREPARING FOR YOUR MARAS MORAY DAY TOUR!
Here some frequently asked question about our day tours in CuscoAt Vidal Expeditions, we make the booking system as easy as possible for you. Once you decide to do some of our day tours, we will send you a booking form where you need to complete all the required details that we need to book your tickets. We also need a previous deposit of 50% of the price per person. As soon as you pay, we immediately book a spot for this tour. Once we are done with it, we will send you your invoice and a confirmation form that all the booking processes have been satisfactorily set up.
Of course! During this tour, you will explore the most amazing landscapes along the Sacred Valley and the Andes, from the Inca complex to beautiful green fields where locals are growing different crops, learn about the local culture, and learn about handwoven techniques. Definitely, this is a must-do tour in Cusco.
Moray was a big farming experimental area where the Incas used a laboratory to study different varieties of crops and see which was the right altitude and condition where they could grow better. You will see circular terraces of different sizes. This theory was first proposed by anthropologist John Earls in 1975 and officially published in 1981.
Well, the tickets for visiting these places cost S/70 soles, around $20 USD, and they allow you to visit Chinchero, Moray, and Ollantaytambo during this tour. The extra ticket is for Salt Mines of Maras, which is S/20 soles.
Moray is located at 3,500 meters (11,482 feet) and the Salt Mines of Maras is at 3,000 meters (9,842 feet) above sea level
No, because you will visit these places in a car. The only hike will be visiting each place, but this is optional. You can walk a few minutes to the view point and enjoy the view, and the car will take you as close as possible to each site.
The layout of the urban sector includes two clearly differentiated areas: residential and administrative. Exquisite stonework is displayed alongside impressive agricultural technology that includes terraces, fountains, and irrigation canals that are still in use today
During this Maras Moray tour, we include: pick-up from your hotel, transportation, a tour guide, and a local lunch.
Actually, it is not allowed to use any walking poles in each of these Inca sites, but if you have any leg problems, they can give you a special permit.
This Inca complex was built as a royal state area and also has a military purpose to defend access to Machu Picchu.
Yes, you can visit Chinchero, Moray, Salt Mines, and Ollantaytambo on the first day, then ride the trin to Aguas Calientes, where you will spend the night. On day two, you can visit Machu Picchu. Contact us for more details.
From: USD 45.00 per person
USD 40.00: from 4 people to more
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Full Day
Maras Moray Salt Mines
What's it like
Maras Moray Salt Mines Full Day Map
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT?
At Vidal Expeditions we offer the best service for all our customers and here is what makes us different than others.
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Small groups: Along our excursion group size is a capped at 8 people. This guarantees that you will enjoy every step of our excursion
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Hotel: During our excursion to Machu Picchu, we offer a 3 stars hotel stay for the last night. This ensures you are well rested and ready to explore Machu Picchu.
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Bus to Machu Picchu: To enjoy Machu Picchu, we provide a round trip ticket on the bus from Aguas Calientes to the main entrance of the archaeological site.
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Local Tour guides: Our team consists of 100% local tour guides, who have expert knowledge in our ancient culture.
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Best Camping Equipment: We have the state-of-the-art camping equipment for our excursion. The equipment is thoroughly cleaned and sanitized before and after every excursion.
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Best Trekking team: At Vidal Expeditions we focus to create the best experience during our excursions. Our team that consists of tour guides, cooks, porters, horse drivers are handpicked. We train our team to offer you the best service. We take care of our team by providing them with good equipment and paying them fairly.
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