Maras Moray and Chinchero tour is a fantastic half-day tour to explore and enjoy different landscapes around Cusco as you prepare for the long trip to Machu Picchu. We start visiting the Circular terraces at Moray, visit Maras’ picturesque town, count the thousands of salt pools at salinas, and visit Chinchero for a Textile demonstration and visit the Archeological site.
Highlights of Maras Moray and Chinchero Tour
- Book with Confidence and Flexibility
- Visit important Inca sites of Chinchero and Moray
- Explore the Salineras and see the more than 3,000 salt pools
- Learn the techniques on Andean weavers, women descendants of the Incas
- Visit the city of the Portraits, Maras, former salt producers
Price per person: 110.USD [payment_system_code]
To book the Maras Moray Tour, you need to make an initial payment of 50.USD per person, the remaining balance can be paid online, in installments, or Cusco with any credit card at no booking fees at all.
Full description of the tour
After being collected from your hotel in Cusco at 8:00 am, you’ll drive to Moray, meandering through the lush fields of potato, wheat, and high Andean villages. Moray is Located at (3,450m/11,318ft), where we can find four impressive Inca ruins, with beautiful terraced circular depressions used as an agricultural laboratory by the Incas. Next, you’ll stop by Maras’s town, a colonial town built during the Spanish invasion to exploit the Salt mines located near the village. In the city, you can see the ancient ways and a beautiful church built-in 1650.
When you finish exploring Maras, you’ll continue driving for 20 more minutes to Salineras and explore the over 3000 salt ponds where the villager of Maras are harvesting salt for centuries even before the Incas, The harvesting process is through evaporation and cloud take over a month. Later continue our journey to Chinchero, a small rustic town dedicated to agriculture, textiles, and famous for the colorful market. Women will show you how they wash, dye, spin, and weave their traditional costumes. After visiting the market, shopping, you’ll drive back to Cusco, arriving just for Lunch around 13.pm.
Included in Maras Moray Tour
- Hotel Pick up and drop off
- Private, comfortable transportation (round trip)
- Professional Tour Guide
- Entrance ticket to all the places we visit (Moray, Salineras, Chinchero)
Not Included in Maras Moray Tour
- Meals not Included
- Tips to your staff
Places to Visit in this tour:
CHINCHERO (Land of great weavers), Located at 3760 masl, is famous because of its local market, colonial church, and farming terraces. The Inhabitants are dedicated to agriculture, farming mainly potatoes and textiles, producing the best fabrics in the region using Andean designs, natural colors, and ancient traditional tools.
MORAY (Greenhouses, Located at 3,500 meters, This stunning archeological site is compound by 4 Roman amphitheater-like circular terraces, situated in enormous holes in the ground, the deepest one is 30 meters. Although these terraces’ purpose is unknown, it is believed that the terraces were used for agricultural experimentation, an adaptation of different crops.
SALT MINES (Salineras). Located near Maras town, with over 3000 salt ponds, Salineras have been in this place since pre-Inca times. Maras’ villagers harvest the salt using the evaporation system, irrigating the ponds every day for up to a month. Once the slat gets thick enough, about 10 cm, they will harvest and deliver to the Local markets. Each member of Maras village owns a certain number of ponds, and all together, they make a Local company called MARASAL.
What you need to take
- Extra Money for souvenirs
- Rain gear, warm clothes
- Suncream, Insect repellent
- Water, snack
- Camera
Important to know before booking
- Two people minimum need to start a tour
- Shopping available, take some cash with you
- Half-day tour only
Cancellation policy
You can cancel this tour for up to 48 hours, and you will get a full refund
Covid-19 measures to keep you safe during traveling
- Temperature checks for all traveler are mandatory
- Face masks required for travelers and staff in public areas
- Hand sanitizer available to travelers and staff at all times
- High traffic places and equipment sanitized regularly between use
- Maximum eight people per group to reduce crowds. For bigger groups, we will assign two teams
- Transportation and touristic sites capacity will be reduced to 50%
- Printed material such as maps or vouchers will be avoided.
- 100% online payments with no booking fees at all
- Flexible bookings during COVID – 19 outbreak
