Rainbow Mountain is located in the Cusco region of Peru in the Andes Mountains. It sits at an elevation of 5,036 meters (16,522 feet) above sea level. It was discovered around 10 years ago when the snow atop the mountain melted revealing the beautiful and shocking colors beneath. Over the next few years it became a tourist destination.

Our Experience at Rainbow

Mountain

We took a day trip from Cusco with a tour guide for this excursion. The bus picked us up early that morning and drove us to the mountain. The drive there was absolutely beautiful as we drove through the country side. Once we arrived there is a small area where you can choose to ride a horse up to the top of the mountain. We chose to hike it. The hike itself is not too long. The elevation…that’s another story. We pride ourselves on being a very active couple but let me tell you, we were stopping every few steps once we got to the incline section of the hike. We had to catch our breath multiple times while going up. At the top, there were a couple sets of Alpacas where you could take photos. It is free to take your own photo but it is encouraged to tip.

Take it a step further…..

If you so desire and feel that the already high elevation isn’t enough, you can talk a very short hike to the very very tippy top of Rainbow Mountain. This does provide another view and a great spot for taking photos. One option as well is to grab a snack while you are at the top. There people set up with food and we got some alpaca meat that had been grilled (I tried to not think about the ones we had taken pictures with only moments before).

Recommendations

There are two big things I’d recommend. The first being to wear layers. We went earlier in the morning and it was very cold at the start. Like the type of cold where you have your layers on as well as your hat and gloves and you still complain about being cold. But by the time we worked our way to the top, it was warm enough to take off a couple layers. In part due to the exertion of getting up there. The second thing I’d recommend is get the tour guide that will take you just around the corner from Rainbow Mountain to Red Valley. This was one of my favorite parts of this excursion because when we walked over to it, there was only one other person there. And by the time we walked a bit up the trail they had left. We rushed forward before the rest of our tour group was very close to get photos by ourselves. It was like being on another planet where we were the only ones who existed. Absolutely stunning and dream like.

If you are interested in going to Peru, we would love to connect and talk about our experiences! We’d would love to hear about your must sees and what parts you’ve loved the most!

If you liked this info, check out our other posts from Peru!

• Adrenaline Excursions Huacachina Oasis – Lima, Peru
• World Wonder – Machu Picchu Inca Trail 2-Day Excursion
• Colca Canyon Tour and Rafting Excursion in Arequipa, Peru

Below are a couple of tour options for booking Rainbow Mountain and other activities in Peru!

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