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Join us on a full day Cusco to Palccoyo tour to experience the best of this Alternative Rainbow Mountain Peru in a small group or in our exclusive private tour.
The seven coloured mountains are one of the most visited attractions in Cusco after Machu Picchu. Most travellers choose to hike Vinicunca Rainbow Mountain. It’s preferable to visit the Rainbow Mountains during the dry season in Cusco, because the absence of rain makes any hike safer and easier.
Palccoyo Rainbow Mountain Tour is an easier option. It barely involves any hike as we will be driving you closer to the summit on this full day tour. The highest point of the tour is at 4900 metres above sea level and the trail begins at 4800 metres above sea level, so you will just be hiking 100 metres.
The trail offers enchanting views of the Stone Forest or Bosque de piedras which are a natural stone formation here. You will also get to see many flora and fauna. Vicunas are quite common here.
Unlike the Vinicunca Rainbow Mountain trek, Trip to Palccoyo begins at a reasonable time from Cusco. Before reaching the trailhead, we will be stopping at a town called Checaupe. It is home to a colonial rope bridge that resembles Q’eswachaka and was built during the Spanish era.
You will also get to see the mighty Ausangate Glacier. This is a Sacred Andean Peak and dominates the southern skyline of Cusco on a clear day. The tour guide will share some information about the locals who have preserved their traditional Andean way of life.
Please note that this full day trip to Palccoyo Rainbow Mountain is a high altitude experience. We highly recommend you to spend a few days in Cusco and acclimate to the altitude before the tour to avoid altitude sickness. For learning more about the trip, you can check our guide about the hike to the Rainbow Mountains.
Do take a moment to check our reviews on Trip Advisor.
Cusco Hotel Transfer
0500 AM
We will be picking you up from your hotel in Cusco at 0700 AM. Then in our private transport, we will be driving you through the South Valley of Cusco to Checacupe. This is a colonial town. Here you will have some time to buy some water or snacks or use the restrooms.
Checacupe has a colonial vibe. The town houses a rope bridge that was built by Spanish rulers and looks like Q’eswachaka. The town also houses a colonial church.
After touring here, we will embark on a drive up the hill to Palccoyo. We will be driving through many remote highland communities and schools. Our guide will be giving you an insight to their way of life.
We may even invite the head of the community or some kids to join us as this would give them an exposure to the outside world.
Once we reach the car park, our tour guide will be handing you over a snack box. We will then begin hiking. The hike is relatively easier as you will be gradually walking up to the summit.
Along the way, we will be crossing the Stone Forest or Bosque de Piedras. Here, distinctly shaped rocks tower up to the sky. This is a natural rock formation.
Once at the summit of Palccoyo, our tour guide will introduce you to the Andean mythology. As farming is a main profession here, since Inca civilization, people continue to worship the natural entities like Lakes and Mountains.
Once you have had your fill of this enchanting attraction, we will start to hike down the same way we went up. We will then drive you back to Checacupe. Here we will stop for lunch.
After lunch, we will be driving you back to Cusco. We will be reaching Cusco city by 0600 PM.
Palccoyo Rainbow Mountain is a part of the Peruvian Andes. Here it is subject to two seasons – Dry Season and Wet Season. We highly recommend doing the trek during the dry season – March to November. This is when you will get a clearer view at the colors of Palccoyo.
During monsoon, the trail gets slippery and the mountain is often covered in snow.
Each review from our users is important to continue growing and offering the best service to each of our clients. Our priority will always be that you enjoy your trip to the fullest while our professional team works to fulfill it.
The 1-day trip to Machu Picchu was very well organized!
Our vacation was great to the land of the Incas in Perú with Gringo Tours.
We strongly recommend traveling... read more in Cusco. We had an amazing experience.. Thanks to our guide Juan!
We highly recommend booking the Machu Picchu day tríp from Cusco with Happy Gringo!
Everything else was a dumpster fire that had us waiting for two hours for a guide to show up (he stated he hadn’t been notified from the travel agency even though we went to the physical Happy Gringo location to check in the day before AND provided all requested information in person and again via WhatsApp). If we hadn’t reached out to them on WhatsApp, I’m certain we would have still been standing outside of the train station waiting. The information you get when you get to the Machu Picchu location is also confusing, telling you to go to a Pueblo, but when you look it up on the maps, there are several listed, which further added to the confusion. Very much underperformed our expectations for nearly $800.
Final thought, Machu Picchu is very much worth the visit, but not with this outfit.
My family had difficulty to find a travel agent to book the Machu Picchu tour, however the workers of Gringo Tours were very helpful... read more to assist us with our trip to Machu Picchu.
The pick up was on time, the journey from Cusco to Aguad Calientes town was amazing with fantástic views, and finally the tour guide at Machu picchu was very knowledgeable.
Highly recommended tour operator in Peru!
The communication was great, the pick up was on time, the box lunch was very delicious,... read more the hotel at Aguas Calientes was clean and our tour guide Wilder was very informative.
All the team of Happy Gringo tours were professional. Therefore, we hughly recommend hiking the Inca trail to Machu Picchu with them and with Wilder!
¡Thanks for everything!
We booked the 2 days tour to Machu Picchu. The service was very well organised from Cusco, the Communication... read more was fsntastic with Ariana, the pick up ass on time and our tour guide Ivan gave us a lot of information of Machupichu site.
Strongly recommend our guide Ivan and thanks Gringo tours!
We noticed the sirious work and profesionalism that we received. Juan is the persona who gave us all his support. Therefore, we share our experience that Happy Gringo is the only company in Cusco that got our dream reop to Machu Picchu.
Thanks all the team of Gringo tours for your help and we highly recommend the travelers who want to ise this tour operator in Cusco.
Our Rainbow Mountain experience was second to none. Marko is a fantastic guide with an excellent knowledge about the trek and the life of the community who live there.