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Maras salt pans

Chinchero Market & Ruins
Maras salt pans

During your day of exploration, you visit the colorful local market in the town of Chinchero. This is one of the most traditional markets in all of South America, and you will be surrounded by locals in their traditional dress all buying and selling their produce.

Next visit the Maras salt pans, a fascinating system of platforms used since the Inca times to extract salt from a natural mountain spring. Visually the shining salt-encrusted terraces are extraordinary. There are beautiful views of the snow-capped mountains of Chicon, Veronica and Salcantay and the stunning Altiplano of the Andes that surround you.

Maras is a typical Andean village that boasts a beautiful 400-year old colonial church. A further 6 km down the road are the experimental agricultural terraces of Moray. Here, different levels of terraces are carved into huge bowls, two large and one small.

Part of the landscape is thought to have occurred naturally and part of which was developed further by the Incas. Their exact purpose is unknown but it is thought that the terraces created varied microclimates in which the Incas determined the optimal conditions to grow their crops.

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Photos of Chinchero Market & Ruins

  • Moray, Sacred Valley of Incas
    Moray, Sacred Valley of Incas
  • Chinchero ruins
    Chinchero ruins
  • Chinchero market
    Chinchero market
  • Maras, Sacred Valley
    Maras, Sacred Valley
  • Moray
    Moray
  • Moray
    Moray
  • Maras, Peru
    Maras, Peru
  • Maras, Peru
    Maras, Peru

Other experiences in Cuzco

These activities are designed to give you the most authentic experiences around where you're staying. We work with local guides, who use their knowledge and often a resident's eye to show you the main sights and more out-of-the-way attractions. Our specialists can suggest tours and activities that will introduce you to the local ways of life.

  • Cuzco City Tour
    Cuzco, Peru

    Cuzco City Tour

    Cuzco City Tour

    A half-day tour of the city and nearby Inca ruins begins at Koricancha, which was the Inca’s sumptuous Temple of Sun before becoming the Spaniard’s Santo Domingo church.

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  • Huchuy Qosqo Trek
    Views of the Sacred Valley from the Huchuy Qosqo trek

    Huchuy Qosqo Trek

    Huchuy Qosqo Trek

    The trail takes you through small hamlets and affords stunning views of the Sacred Valley and Písac below. The trail climbs steadily to a pass at 4,200 m, beyond which you will descend to a beautiful canyon, where a picnic lunch is served.

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  • Moray, Maras & Ollantaytambo
    Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley of the Incas

    Moray, Maras & Ollantaytambo

    Moray, Maras & Ollantaytambo

    Visit the Maras salt pans, the experimental agricultural terraces of Moray and the remnants of Ollantaytambo, once an important Inca administrative center.

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  • Písac Market and Ruins
    Pisac

    Písac Market and Ruins

    Písac Market and Ruins

    In the small colonial village of Písac, spend the morning exploring the colorful Indian market, with its wide variety of textiles and ceramics.

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  • White water rafting on the Urubamba
    Rafting in the Sacred Valley

    White water rafting on the Urubamba

    White water rafting on the Urubamba

    Today will take you above Cuzco to the Chuquicahuana section of the Urubamba River to raft on class III-IV rapids. Here the river is much cleaner and more fun than in the lower sections, and no previous experience is necessary.

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Experience it for yourself

You can enjoy this activity as part of the suggested tours below, or we can weave it into a trip shaped entirely around you.