Peru captivates travelers with its ancient Incan heritage, including the iconic Machu Picchu, diverse landscapes from Amazon rainforest to Andean peaks, and vibrant culinary scene. This South American gem offers world-class hiking, rich indigenous cultures, and colonial architecture in cities like Cusco and Lima.
Top day trips
Handpicked excursions within easy reach.
Sacred Valley (Pisac & Ollantaytambo)
The Sacred Valley strings together Inca terracing, a working market town and a fortress-temple along the Urubamba River, and it rewards a full day because Pisac and Ollantaytambo show two different faces of Inca engineering. Pisac's hillside terraces and ceremonial sector sit above a town whose market still trades in produce alongside crafts, while Ollantaytambo is the rare Inca settlement still inhabited on its original street grid, with a temple complex rising in steep terraces opposite the town. Most visitors also use this route as their acclimatisation day before Machu Picchu, since the valley floor sits noticeably lower than Cusco.
Highlights: Pisac Inca terraces and Sunday market · Ollantaytambo fortress ruins · Chinchero weaving village · Maras salt ponds and Moray circular terraces
Ballestas Islands (from Lima)
The Ballestas Islands are a cluster of rocky islets off Paracas often nicknamed a 'poor man's Galapagos' for the density of sea lions, Humboldt penguins and seabirds visible from a boat without ever landing on the islands. The appeal is entirely the wildlife-watching boat ride itself, since access to the islands is restricted to protect the colonies, and the outbound drive also passes the Paracas Candelabra, a large geoglyph cut into a coastal hillside. Because Paracas is a genuine drive from Lima, this only works as a day trip for travellers willing to commit most of a day to transport.
Highlights: Sea lion colonies and Humboldt penguins · Peruvian boobies and pelicans · Paracas National Reserve desert coast · Candelabra geoglyph visible from water
Tipon Inca Water Temple & Pikillacta Wari Ruins
This pairing combines two very different pre-Columbian engineering traditions within an hour of Cusco: Tipon's precisely cut Inca terraces built around a still-functioning system of canals, fountains and aqueducts, and Pikillacta's much older, sprawling Wari administrative complex of stone-walled compounds. Tipon is prized among Inca-site enthusiasts specifically for its hydraulic engineering, since the water channels still run today, while Pikillacta shows the pre-Inca Wari civilization's very different building style of tightly gridded rooms and corridors on a flat plain. It's a quieter, less-touristed alternative to the Sacred Valley for a half-day of ruins.
Highlights: Tipon remarkable Inca hydraulic engineering and cascading fountains · Pikillacta pre-Inca Wari city · Raqchi Temple of Wiracocha en route · Quiet trails with almost no tourists
Huacachina Oasis & Sand Dunes (from Lima)
Huacachina is a small palm-ringed lagoon town built into a genuine desert oasis, surrounded on all sides by towering sand dunes, and it draws day-trippers from Lima almost entirely for dune buggy rides and sandboarding rather than the town itself, which is only a few blocks around the lagoon. The dune buggy tours climb steeply into the surrounding dunes for sunset views before dropping riders down slopes to sandboard, making late afternoon the standard time to go. It's often combined with a stop in nearby Ica for a pisco or wine bodega visit given the drive from Lima is substantial.
Highlights: Sandboarding on massive desert dunes · Dune buggy adrenaline rides at sunset · Oasis lagoon swimming · Ica pisco bodegas and tasting tours
Marcahuasi Stone Forest
Marcahuasi is a high plateau above the village of San Pedro de Casta where wind and frost erosion have carved isolated rock formations across an open highland landscape, and it's visited as much for the trek and camping experience as for any single sight. The plateau sits well above 3,800 metres, so the appeal is a genuine day of hiking through thin mountain air among rock outcrops that some visitors read as resembling faces or animals, combined with wide views back over the Rimac valley. It's a demanding trip physically rather than a casual sightseeing stop.
Highlights: Plateau at 4,000m with bizarre rock formations resembling human faces and animals · Andean condor sightings · Off-the-beaten-path adventure close to Lima · Clear stargazing skies at altitude
Trips by distance
How far you can go in a day.
Getting there
Transport options for day trips.
- Tours
- Organized day tours from $25-80 per person including transport, guide, and entry fees — most convenient for Sacred Valley, Rainbow Mountain, Colca Canyon
- Private
- Private car with driver-guide from $80-150/day for Sacred Valley and Cusco environs; most flexible option for families and those wanting custom schedules
- Public
- Collectivos (shared vans) from Cusco to Sacred Valley towns S/10-20 per leg; Cruz del Sur or Oltursa buses from Lima to Paracas and Ica S/40-60
- Rental
- Car rental from $50-80/day from Lima airport; practical for Paracas coast and Ica valley pisco tour; not recommended in Cusco city due to traffic and altitude
Multi-day tours from Peru
If you have longer than a day, these are organised multi-day trips that start here.
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Day trip tips
Make the most of your excursions.
Start early — Rainbow Mountain and Colca Canyon require 3-4AM departures from Cusco/Arequipa for day trips
Book Sacred Valley and Rainbow Mountain tours at least 48 hours ahead during June-August peak season
Consider spending 1-2 nights in Sacred Valley to properly explore multiple sites without rush
Altitude varies dramatically on day trips — from 3,400m Cusco to 5,200m Rainbow Mountain in hours; acclimatize first