Day Tours from Cusco, Lima and Puno
One day is enough to reach a mountain lake at four thousand meters, walk through a cloud forest to a hidden Inca citadel or stand on the rim of the world’s highest navigable lake. We organize everything so you just show up and experience it.
Make Every Day Count
Some of the most extraordinary experiences Peru has to offer are within reach of a single day from Cusco, Lima or Puno. The logistics, however, require early departures, reliable transport, coordinated entry tickets and knowledgeable guides who know the terrain and can handle the unexpected. Getting all of those elements right on your own takes time and effort that most travelers would rather spend on the journey itself.
At Inka Tickets we organize day tours that are fully coordinated from pickup to drop-off. You tell us which experience you want, how many people are in your group and when you are available, and we handle everything else. Every tour includes private transport, a certified local guide and all the entrance tickets needed for the day. You simply need to be ready at the agreed pickup time and bring the right clothing for the conditions.
DAY TOURS FROM CUSCO
Machu Picchu Full Day
The Complete Day — Machu Picchu Full Day Tour from Cusco
The Machu Picchu full day tour is the most popular single-day experience available from Cusco and one of the most logistically involved. The day begins with an early morning transfer from your hotel in Cusco to Ollantaytambo station, where you board the train into Aguas Calientes. From the station a shuttle bus carries you up the switchback road to the entrance gate of the citadel, where your guide meets you for a two-hour guided tour of the main areas of Machu Picchu. After the guided visit you have free time to explore at your own pace before boarding the bus back down to Aguas Calientes and the afternoon train back to Ollantaytambo, arriving in Cusco by early evening.
The full day tour can be tailored with different train services, entry circuits and guide options. Travelers who want to include a mountain ascent can opt for the Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain versions of this tour with an extended stay at the site. We book the complete package including transfer, train, bus, entrance ticket and guide as a single coordinated arrangement.
Departure: early morning from your hotel in Cusco Duration: approximately 12 to 14 hours door to door Includes: transfer to Ollantaytambo, train both ways, bus Aguas Calientes to MP both ways, entrance ticket, certified guide
Rainbow Mountain Day Tour
The Mountain of Seven Colors — Rainbow Mountain Day Tour
The Rainbow Mountain day tour is one of the most dramatic and physically demanding single-day excursions available from Cusco. The tour departs very early in the morning, typically between 03:30 and 04:30, to allow enough time to reach the trailhead by sunrise and begin the hike in the cooler morning hours before the altitude and midday sun become factors. The drive from Cusco to the trailhead takes approximately three hours and crosses some of the highest roads in the region, passing through remote Andean communities where alpaca and llama graze in the pre-dawn darkness.
The hike to the summit viewpoint takes between one and a half and two and a half hours depending on fitness and acclimatization. The guide walks with the group throughout, manages the pace and provides altitude first aid if needed. Horses are available at the trailhead for travelers who prefer not to hike the full trail on foot. The descent returns to the base camp in time for a late lunch at a local restaurant before the drive back to Cusco, arriving in the late afternoon or early evening.
Departure: 03:30 to 04:30 from your hotel in Cusco Duration: approximately 13 to 14 hours door to door Altitude: approximately 5,100 meters at the summit viewpoint Includes: private transport both ways, certified guide, entrance ticket, lunch Optional: horse rental available at the trailhead
Humantay Lake Day Tour
The Turquoise Lake — Humantay Lake Day Tour
The Humantay Lake day tour is one of the most accessible high-altitude experiences near Cusco, combining a scenic drive through the Mollepata valley with a manageable one-hour uphill hike to one of the most photogenic natural sites in the entire region. The lake sits in a glacial bowl at approximately four thousand two hundred meters, fed by meltwater from the Humantay glacier that rises directly above it and reflects the surrounding peaks in its vivid turquoise water.
The tour departs in the early morning from Cusco and includes breakfast at a local restaurant near the trailhead before the hike begins. The guide accompanies the group to the lake, explains the geological and cultural significance of the site and allows time for photographs and rest at the viewpoint before the descent. A traditional lunch is included at a community restaurant near the base before the return journey to Cusco in the afternoon.
Departure: approximately 04:00 from your hotel in Cusco Duration: approximately 11 to 12 hours door to door Altitude: approximately 4,200 meters at the lake Includes: private transport both ways, certified guide, entrance ticket, breakfast, lunch
Sacred Valley Day Tour
The Valley of the Incas — Sacred Valley Day Tour
The Sacred Valley day tour follows the river road from Cusco into the heart of the valley that the Incas considered the most sacred and fertile landscape in their empire. The tour covers the terraced ruins and market of Pisac in the morning, includes free time to explore the artisan market at the base of the ruins, then continues through the valley with a stop at a traditional weaving community before reaching Ollantaytambo for an afternoon visit to the fortress and temple complex. The day ends with a late afternoon transfer back to Cusco along the valley road.
The Sacred Valley day tour works well as a warm-up for the Machu Picchu visit, providing context about Inca architecture, agriculture and town planning that makes the main citadel easier to understand and appreciate. It also gives travelers a chance to acclimatize gently to the altitude of the valley, which sits slightly lower than Cusco itself.
Departure: approximately 08:00 from your hotel in Cusco Duration: approximately 9 to 10 hours Includes: private transport, certified guide, entrance tickets for Pisac and Ollantaytambo Note: BTC Circuit 2 ticket covers these sites and can be booked separately
Palcoyo Day Tour
Three Colored Mountains, Almost No Crowds — Palcoyo Day Tour
Palcoyo offers the same extraordinary mineral landscape as Rainbow Mountain but with a significantly shorter hike, lower altitude and a fraction of the visitors. The site features three adjacent mountains with the same layered coloring caused by mineral deposits exposed over centuries of erosion, viewed from a ridge that requires only a forty-five minute walk from the trailhead on a clear, well-marked path. The lower altitude compared to Vinicunca makes Palcoyo a more comfortable option for travelers who are still acclimatizing or who prefer a less physically demanding day.
The drive from Cusco to the Palcoyo trailhead takes approximately three and a half hours each way, making the total day slightly longer than the Rainbow Mountain tour in terms of travel time but much easier in terms of physical exertion. The tour includes a guide who explains the geology and cultural significance of the landscape and allows time for photography at multiple viewpoints along the ridge.
Departure: approximately 05:00 from your hotel in Cusco Duration: approximately 12 to 13 hours door to door Altitude: approximately 4,900 meters at the viewpoint Includes: private transport both ways, certified guide, entrance ticket
Maras, Moray and Salineras Day Tour
Salt, Science and the Sacred Valley — Maras, Moray and Salineras
This half day tour from Cusco covers three of the most visually interesting and intellectually rewarding sites in the Sacred Valley, all within a compact area that makes them easy to combine in a single morning or afternoon. Moray’s circular terraces descending into a natural depression in the landscape have been interpreted as an Inca agricultural laboratory where crops were cultivated at different microclimates. The Salineras salt evaporation pools cascade down the hillside in a mosaic of over three thousand individual basins, still producing salt using the same traditional methods that have been employed for centuries. The village of Maras completes the visit with its quiet colonial streets and the opportunity to visit a local family producing chicha, the traditional Andean corn beer.
Departure: flexible, morning or afternoon departure from Cusco Duration: approximately 5 to 6 hours Includes: private transport, certified guide, entrance ticket
Waqrapukara Day Tour
The Horned Fortress — Waqrapukara Day Tour
Waqrapukara is one of the most rewarding off-the-beaten-path destinations accessible as a day tour from Cusco. The site requires a full day of hiking through high Andean terrain to reach and is visited by only a small number of travelers each year, which means that those who make the effort find a site of genuine archaeological significance in complete silence and solitude. The approach trail crosses rivers, climbs to high grassland ridges and passes through communities where traditional Andean life continues largely as it has for generations, making the journey itself as interesting as the destination.
Departure: early morning from your hotel in Cusco Duration: approximately 10 to 11 hours door to door Difficulty: demanding — 6 to 7 hours of hiking at altitude Includes: private transport, certified guide, entrance ticket, packed lunch
Cusco City Tour (Day)
One Day in the Inca Capital — Cusco City Day Tour
The Cusco city day tour covers both the hillside archaeological sites above the city and the historic center itself, giving visitors a complete picture of Cusco as both an Inca capital and a colonial city in a single well-organized day. The morning visits Sacsayhuamán, Qenqo, Puca Pucara and Tambomachay with private transport between each site, followed by a walking tour of the historic center in the afternoon covering the Plaza de Armas, the Cathedral, the Qorikancha complex and the famous Inca stonework of the narrow streets between the main square and the San Blas neighborhood.
Departure: approximately 08:00 from your hotel in Cusco Duration: approximately 7 to 8 hours Includes: private transport to hillside sites, certified guide throughout Note: BTC Circuit 1 ticket and Qorikancha entrance required, bookable separately
DAY TOURS FROM PUNO
Day Tours from Puno
Lake Titicaca Day Tour — Uros and Taquile
The Highest Lake in the World — Lake Titicaca Day Tour
Lake Titicaca sits at an altitude of three thousand eight hundred and twelve meters above sea level and covers an area larger than Puerto Rico, making it both the highest navigable lake in the world and one of the most extraordinary natural environments on the continent. The day tour from Puno begins with a motorboat crossing to the floating islands of the Uros, artificial islands constructed from totora reeds that the Uros people have lived on for centuries. The community receives visitors and explains the traditional methods of island construction, boat building and daily life on the water.
The boat continues across the open lake to the island of Taquile, where a Quechua-speaking community maintains one of the most intact textile traditions in the Andes. The weaving and knitting of Taquile has been recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Lunch is served at a family restaurant on the island before the return crossing to Puno in the late afternoon.
Departure: approximately 07:30 from Puno port Duration: approximately 8 to 9 hours on the water Includes: motorboat both ways, certified guide, lunch on Taquile Island, entrance fees
DAY TOURS FROM LIMA
Lima City Day Tour
The Capital in a Day — Lima City Day Tour
Lima is one of the most underestimated cities in South America and a day spent exploring it properly can be one of the highlights of a Peru trip. The Lima city day tour covers the UNESCO-listed historic center, including the Plaza Mayor, the Government Palace, the Cathedral and the extraordinary baroque church of San Francisco with its underground catacombs, before moving to the dramatic clifftop districts of Miraflores and the bohemian streets and galleries of Barranco. The tour ends with a sunset walk along the Miraflores malecón with views of the Pacific coast stretching in both directions.
Departure: flexible morning departure from your hotel in Lima Duration: approximately 6 to 7 hours Includes: private transport, certified guide, entrance fees
Lima Gastronomy Day Tour
The Best Food City in the Americas — Lima Gastronomy Tour
Lima has been recognized as one of the world’s great food cities for over a decade and the gastronomy tour is designed to show visitors why. The experience begins at the Surquillo market, one of the city’s main produce markets, where the guide introduces the extraordinary variety of Peruvian ingredients including over three thousand varieties of potato, dozens of types of chili and the tropical fruits of the Amazon. The tour continues with a cooking demonstration and tasting before a long lunch at one of Lima’s celebrated restaurants, covering the diversity of Peruvian cuisine from ceviche and tiradito to causa and lomo saltado.
Departure: mid-morning from your hotel in Lima Duration: approximately 5 to 6 hours Includes: market visit, cooking demonstration, tasting menu lunch, certified guide
AMAZON JUNGLE DAY TOURS
Into the Amazon — Jungle Day Tour from Puerto Maldonado
The Amazon basin begins within flying distance of Cusco, and the Madre de Dios region around Puerto Maldonado offers one of the most accessible introductions to the lowland jungle available anywhere in Peru. The day tour begins with a short flight from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado followed by a motorboat transfer along the Madre de Dios River into the Tambopata National Reserve, where a naturalist guide leads a walk through primary rainforest, pointing out wildlife, medicinal plants and the ecological systems that make this one of the most biodiverse places on earth.
The day includes a visit to an oxbow lake where giant river otters, caimans and hundreds of species of birds can be observed from a platform on the water, followed by lunch at a jungle lodge before the afternoon return to Puerto Maldonado and the flight back to Cusco.
Departure: early morning flight from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado Duration: full day including flights, approximately 12 hours door to door Includes: return flights Cusco to Puerto Maldonado, river transfers, certified naturalist guide, lunch, park entrance fees
HOW TO BOOK
How to Book Your Day Tour with Inka Tickets
Tell us which day tour you are interested in, your travel dates, the size of your group and your hotel in the relevant city. Our team confirms availability, arranges pickup at your hotel and sends you a complete booking proposal within a few hours.
If you want to combine your day tour with entrance tickets, train travel or additional guided experiences, we coordinate everything together so that your days in Peru are as full and as effortless as possible.
Inka Tickets · Day Tours
Book Your Day Tour
Select your city, choose your tour and tell us your dates. Our team handles everything — transport, guide, entrance tickets and pickup from your hotel. No payment required at this stage.
- Cusco · Puno · Lima
- Transport, guide and tickets included
- Hotel pickup included
