Discover the cultural and archaeological highlights of the Sacred Valley on a curated half-day tour to Chinchero, the Salt Mines of Maras, and Moray, featuring expert local guides, comfortable transport, and a thoughtfully designed itinerary that blends history, tradition, and stunning Andean landscapes.
This half-day Chinchero, Moray and Maras Salt Mines experience will take you off the beaten track to enjoy the stunning scenery of the snow-capped Andes Mountains in the Sacred Valley, Chinchero with its colonial church and Inca ruins, also known as the “Green Houses” of the Incas, Moray with its impressive circular terraces and the stunning Maras Salt Mines.
The tour begins with the pick up from your hotel at 8:00 am in our private transport heading towards the town of Chinchero. Upon arrival we will walk through the beautiful colonial streets of Chinchero until we reach the archaeological site where you will see in the square a colonial adobe church, dating back to the early 17th century, which has been built on the foundations of an Inca temple or palace. The roof and walls are covered with beautiful floral and religious designs. In addition, you will discover the Inca archaeological ruins and agricultural terraces, which are attributed to the Inca Tupac Yupanqui, who possibly used Chinchero as his summer palace. You will have time to explore with our guide and ask any questions you may have and then return to our transport and continue with our tour.
Now we will head towards the MARAS salt mines where we will be dazzled by the beauty of more than 3 thousand salt pools that are still used for salt extraction since the time of the Incas. A thermal spring located at the top releases water loaded with salt that is diverted to the wells and evaporates to produce salt that is sold in the region. Do not worry, we will go down to the lower part of the salt pools where you will take the beautiful photos that you see on our website and on social networks. Likewise, our guide will answer any questions you may have. At the end of our visit to the Maras salt mines, we will board our transport again to continue to our next destination, which is the archaeological site of Moray, which is 20 minutes away.
Upon arriving at the archaeological site of Moray, our guide will tell us the history of this incredible place.
Moray is also known as “The greenhouses of the Incas.” A unique and fascinating place. Where we will find several concentric terraces that have been excavated within a large natural bowl. Each terrace has a microclimate that allowed the Incas to adapt certain crops to the high Andean climate conditions; only in this way were they able to define the optimal conditions for the crops. It is also thought that this place served to create new varieties of plants.
After finishing the explanation, we will take a 20-minute walk around Moray to better appreciate such a beautiful place and take photos for our memories.
At the end of our visit to Moray, we will board our transport for the last time, which will be waiting for us, to return to the city of Cusco and finally leave you at your hotel. The tour will end at approximately 2:30 pm.
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