Local operator · Cusipata trail
A van collects you in Cusco before dawn, feeds you breakfast in Cusipata and drops you at the trailhead for a walk of about 1.5 hours to the stripes. Pick it for the full classic day with both meals and the Red Valley option, and bring cash for the entrance fee.
This is the day most people mean when they say Rainbow Mountain. The listing gives a hotel pickup in Cusco's historic centre between 3:30 and 4:00 am, depending on the option you book, or a meeting point at the door of the Hotel Casa Andina. Two hours in the van bring you to Cusipata for breakfast, and another hour on a dirt road takes you up to the trailhead. From there it is about 1.5 hours on foot, climbing from around 4,850 m to the viewpoint the listing puts at 5,010 m.
The walk is short on paper and hard in practice. You are breathing thin air the whole way, and the last slope is steep. Horses wait at the start for anyone who wants to ride most of the way, rented from local handlers for cash. After 30 minutes or so at the top you can add the Red Valley, a rust-red ridge next door with its own entrance fee. One guest put it simply: do the Valley as well.
Two things to know before you book. The Rainbow Mountain entrance fee is not in the price: it is paid in cash, in soles, at the trail, and there are no ATMs once you leave Cusco. And it is a twelve-hour day with six hours of it in a van, so the hike is the smallest part of your time. If you want the fee paid and a capped group, look at the premium small-group trip.
Your van collects you from a hotel in the historic centre, or you meet at the Hotel Casa Andina door. Times depend on the option you book.
A 30-minute breakfast stop in the village, then one more hour on a dirt road to the trailhead.
Around three and a half kilometres up from about 4,850 m. Horses are for rent at the start if you would rather ride.
Time at the viewpoint, and the option to add the Red Valley if you have the legs and the cash for its fee.
Down to the van, a one-hour buffet lunch in Cusipata, then about two hours back to the Plaza de Armas.
★★★★★The day was so well organised and the views were incredible.
★★★★★Awesome day [...] the walk was hard work with the altitude but 100% worth it.
★★★★★If you go, do the Valley as well. [...] so completely worth it.
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No. The listing excludes it: you pay the community entrance fee in cash, in soles, at the trail. The Red Valley has its own separate fee, also in cash.
The listing gives about 1.5 hours up, around three and a half kilometres from roughly 4,850 m to 5,010 m, then about 30 minutes at the top before you walk back down.
Between 3:30 and 4:00 am from hotels in Cusco's historic centre, depending on the option. Otherwise you meet at the Hotel Casa Andina door. You are back at the Plaza de Armas between 4 and 5 pm.
Yes. Local handlers rent horses at the trailhead for cash. They cover most of the climb, though the last steep stretch is usually done on foot.
Ready to book
The classic day out of Cusco: hotel pickup, breakfast and lunch in Cusipata, and the Red Valley if you have the legs for it. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Premium Rainbow Mountain & Red Valley TripA group of 15 at most, the entrance fee in the booking and a steady 1 h 45 climb from Fulawasipata.★ 4.8 · 12 hours
Rainbow Mountain Tour, Optional Red ValleyA straightforward group day with the entry ticket in the booking and the Red Valley as an option for strong hikers.★ 4.7 · 12 hours
Beat-the-Crowd Late StartA later pickup and a group of 15 at most, reaching the stripes as the early crowd heads down.★ 4.9 · 12 hours