Day Tours in Cusco

Horse Back Riding Tour (Half/Full Day)

Level : Easy journey, no experience required.

Duration : Half Day (2-3 hours riding approx.) / Full Day (5-6 hours riding approx.)

Location : Ruins surrounding Cusco.

We will pick you up from your hotel followed by a twenty-minute drive to the horse ranch. From this point you will star your ride, which will lasts two hours and a half, and will take you through fields, Andean-style villages and Inca’s vestiges. We will enjoy a wonderful view of the city of Cusco on our way to the Temple of the Moon, where we will leave our horses and drive back to Cusco. Depending on your type of tour, you will have a longer route with a ruin visit. At the end of your ride, you will change your horse for a van, which will take you back to your hotel. This tour includes all the necessary equipment for the tour. Optional other routes upon request, such us around Sacred Valley, Maras & Moray or Ollantaytambo.

Mountain Biking Tour (Half/Full Day)

Level : Soft adventure, don’t need experience. Advanced options upon request

Duration : 3 hours approximately

Location : Off road and single truck out of the city of Cusco.

We will pick you up from your hotel and transfer you to the meeting point, where we will test our bikes and have a short instruction and safety tall about our ride. We will have an easy to technical ride visiting the most important archeological sites and rural areas around the city of Cusco. Due the experience of the bikers we can choose a trip descending by a paved road or just doing down hills for dirt roads and single trucks. This tour includes all the necessary equipment such us front suspension mountain bike, gloves and helmet. There is an optional full day biking tour trough Maras & Moray upon request.

Urubamba River Rafting Tour (Half/Full Day)

Level : Class II, III, rapids. Challenging options upon request.

Duration : 2 ½ hours on the river

Location : Sacred Valley of the Incas – Cusco

We will pick you up from your hotel and drive through the mountains towards the Sacred Valley of the Incas until we reach our private river put-in. Here you will receive your rafting equipment and a safety briefing, while toilet facilities are available for you. After a brief practice on the flat parts of the river, we will start our journey on easy waters, while we admire the spectacular views of the mountains and archaeological remains, continuing towards Ollantaytambo and its amazing Inca terraces, at the time we experience class II and III rapids, to finish with “El Resbaladero” (The Slide), a strong class III rapid that includes waves and small whirlpools. Depending on the type of you day tour, you will then have lunch in a traditional restaurant located on the riverside and owned by the local community. This is a great chance to enjoy the Andean cuisine while supporting community projects. At the end of your tour, we will transfer you back to your hotel in Cusco. This tour includes all the necessary equipment for the rafting as a security kayak.

Maras & Moray Tour (Half/Full Day)

We will pick you up from your hotel and head to Moray. This site is not the ruin of a city or a fortress, it is an earthwork. The ancient peoples of the region took four enormous natural depressions in the landscape and sculpted them into several levels of agricultural terraces that served, hundreds of years ago, as an experimental agricultural station for the development of different strain of crops. This was possible due to the discovery of a fascinating phenomenon: the climates of many different ecological zones were present at a single site. In the thirty or so meters of altitude between the bottom and top levels of Moray’s main depression, one scientist, John Earls, has recorded a full 15 degrees Celsius difference in temperature. That is equal to the difference between the mean annual temperatures of London and Bombay. Conceivably it was Moray itself that played the key role in the original transformation of maize into a high-altitude crop. Next, we will continue with our tour with a visit to Maras (11,152ft), a small Andean community whose economy is based in the recollection of Salt. The Maras “salt works” to which some people call “salt mines” are about 3000 small pools with an average area of 5 m² (53.8 ft²), constructed in a slope of the “Qaqawiñay” mountain. People fill up or “irrigate” the pools during the dry season every 3 days, with salty water emanating from a natural spring located on the top of the complex, so that when water evaporates the salt contained in it will slowly solidify. That process will be carried out approximately during one month until a considerable volume of solid salt is obtained. After the visit to these fantastic places, passengers will board their vehicle that will transfer them back to their hotel. An optional hike can be arranged upon request.

Tipón + Andahualillas + Piquillacta Tour (Half Day)

During this tour we will visit Tipón, which is said to be a royal garden commissioned by Wiracocha. It is one of the most elaborate examples of agricultural terracing created by the Incas. These tall terraces which run up the narrow valley are irrigated by an aqueduct from Pachatusan, the mountain above the site, in addition to the terracing there are also some other structures at Tipon, including baths, a temple complex, canals and aqueducts. We will also visit Piquillacta, the only pre-Inca site in the Cusco area. This adobe complex was built around 700 to 900 AD by the Huari, in the area; there is a small Inca site just a short walk from Pikillacta, known as Rumicolca, a travel checkpoint for the Incas. Finally, we will visit Andahualillas, known for its “Sistine Chapel of Peru”, a church that is home to golden altars, paintings and many colored ceilings. Built at the beginning of the 17th century, the church walls are decorated with beautiful murals that depict the roads to glory and to hell. Along the way, we will also pass trough the towns such us San Sebastian, San Jeronimo and Saylla, where people can enjoy their famous delicious pork chicharrones (optional).

Novoandina Cooking Class (Half Day)

Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire and therefore its cuisine inherited a huge amount of culture. Novoandina cuisine not only uses ingredients used in Inca’s times but also these ingredients are farmed and stored in the same way that the Incas used to do it. All these techniques have passed from generation to generation and now are part of the culture. During this class you will learn how to make dishes such us the K´apchi de zetas y de habas, which is a casserole made with Oyster Mushrooms and Fava Bean “Pallares”; also Cuy al horno con rocoto relleno, consist in a baked “Cuy” served with Rocoto Relleno” (Rocotos are one of the very hot, spicy, chilis of Peru) among other dishes. The menu will be determinate according to the availability of the restaurant. Followed you will enjoy a tasting of the dishes you learned how to prepare.

Shamanic Ceremony in MachuPicchu (Half Day)

A unique opportunity to immerse in the spiritual traditions of the Inca shamans and native healers.

You will have a ceremonial offering to the mother earth to set things right or to connect to the sacred and thank or wish for something or someone. Our shaman will lead the purification of the group with a focus on the relationship between the physical and the spiritual. The rest of the day will be free to enjoy the vibe of one of the most powerful and energetic centers of the world. Optional shamanic ceremonies in other sites as other rituals such us the reading of the coca leaf.

Shopping Tour (Half Day)

You will embark on a special shopping tour, through the city of Cusco. You will be taken to the most popular neighborhood full of interesting and unique stores and have a chance to shop to your hearts content—full of bartering and negotiating with the locals.

Not exactly what you want?

Remember, that Magical focuses on providing the best available options, and can work with you in fully customizing your tour to better fit your interests and budget without compromising the quality of your tour. Just contact us with your questions and preferences, and we can modify this tour based on your expectations and requests.

Price

Upon request.

As most extensions are additions to our tours, we have found that it would be best to send each individual client a customized price to accurately reflect the cost of the whole tour. We are committed to providing you with the very best service and we will send you your specific tour proposal, which meets your needs almost immediately after receiving your request, within 24 hours. As price depends on each passenger choices, please send us the following information and we will respond.

• Number of people in your party
• Choosing a Private or Group Tour?
• Adding options: if you like to add day tours, extra days, meals, etc
• Have a special request (ie: special diet, wheelchair, children, senior, etc)

What’s Included?

• Expert leadership / guides & support personnel for all listed tours
• Necessary Equipment for all activities (Bike and helmet for the biking tour; helmet, top of the line rafting equipment, professional first aid kit and security kayak)
• Land excursions as noted including entrance fees (BTG, Tipón, Piquillacta, Andahuaylillas, MachuPicchu)
• Transportation trough all of the tour.
• Meals as noted (B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, S= Snack, D = Dinner). We can add any meals upon request

What’s Not Included?

• Airport taxes: Local ($5-6) and International ($31) departure tax of payable in local currency by each passenger at Lima International Airport upon departure (if applicable)
• International and domestic airfares, usually quoted separately
• Insurance of any kind: mandatory evacuation insurance; suggested cancellation insurance, interruption, baggage loss, damage and delay
• Visas. Please be advised that some citizens other than Canadians and US may need visa to travel to Peru. Please advise us of your nationality to help you or check with the Peruvian Consulate
• Tipping & Gratuities (Guides $4 per person per day / Drivers $1 per person per day)
• Excess baggage charges
• Medical immunizations
• Items of a personal nature (clothing, sodas, liquor, snacks, laundry, etc.)

Domestic Tickets

Lima/Cusco/Lima: From US $190 per person. This is an example price. Prices depend on date and time of booking