Rainbow Mountain Travels — Local services in Distrito de Cusco

We went on a tour to Rainbow Mountain on 26.07.2024 with Carlos as a guide and we loved it!

We travelled through ton of countries and we always try to stay away from organised tours because 90% of times it ended up with bad experiences for us (either too much time, not enough time, guide that just wants to finish and go home, trying to get more money off you etc.).

This time we didn't had much choice because of other logistics so we decided to go with Rainbow Mountain Travels - and it was really good choice. The price transparency, the guide, the driver and overall experience.

Price may seem higher than some other tours, but everything is included, in other ones you will end up paying pretty much the same. There is an optional hike to Red Valley, Carlos said several times that there is additional cost for that and I really appreciate that transparency

I don't remember the name of the driver unfortunately, but he was great too. The road is very bumpy, but even in pitch black he still managed to get us there and was avoiding big holes to not wake everyone up. My gf tends to have motion sickness, but there were no issues even though we expected it.

Carlos deserves all the praise! He was the best guide we ever had. First of all he shared a lot of stories about locals and the lands, he was very proactive and experienced. We often had guides that didn't specified some meeting points etc, with Carlos it was all clear ❤️ I also really appreciate that we weren't pushed to tip, which is the annoying thing most tour operators do. Oh yeah and he knew Emperor's New Groove and told us that Kuzko was black Llama, because those are rare! 🦙

The tour leaves earlier than other ones - IT IS REALLY WORTH WAKING UP. We were finished with photos and additional hike when crowds started to arrive (and there is ton of people there) so if you want to have easy access to photos etc. choose this tour.

Additional hike to Red Valley is totally worth it. It's around 30min both ways and while Rainbow Mountain is more "instagrammable" the Red Valley is just breathtaking, unreal thing to see in-person

PS. At the end of our tour, Carlos thanked us for visiting and said that thanks to the tourists local people have better lives, thanks to the economy we all bring there. This is really heartwarming thing to hear, because most of the times you only hear bad things about tourists. How we all ruin cities and places and there are only a few voices acknowledging also this side of equation. It was really odd thing to say and it made our day. Thank you for being an awesome guide and human being. Wish you all the luck in the world and keep up...

I booked the rainbow mountains tour for 25th November 2023. It was raining when we were picked up early morning (and it had been raining already throughout the night). Optimistic that they would not let their customers sit in the bus for a full day for an unfulfilling experience we made upon the journey to the rainbow mountains.

However the whole day was a disaster and 12 hours of my life that were completely wasted and that I will never get back. When we arrived at the rainbow mountains it had been already snowing throughout the night and the entire region was covered in snow. People were already backtracking from the top of the hill saying that its a complete waste of time and nothing can be seen.

I am not mad about Rainbow Mountains for the weather, obviously they cannot control it. But I am mad because there is no way there were not aware of the situation and regardless let the customers venture to the mountains. I would have rather forgone the moeny and stayed in cusco than sit in a bus the whole day for nothing. There is no way the tour operators dont know or cant anticipate on the same day that the hills are already covered in snow. Either they dont know their own country (thus incompetent) or they just dont want to give people a refund or offer to rebook to maximise their revenue. Since I dont believe they are incompetent it clearly must be the latter. A local at the base of the mountain told me as a general rule that if it rains the night before in cusco there is high chance the rainbow mountains are covered in snow, obviously the tour guides in cusco saw that it was raining. And for this I give the minimum rating.

If the response will be that there is no way to find out about the weather in the mountains consider this: How hard can it be to call in in the morning a local and ask if the mountains are covered in snow? How hard can it be to install a webcam (if there is no internet, install elon musks starlink which is being used by so many other venues in peru). The vendors that are at the rainbow mountains clearly had electricity to their disposal. You should be upfront with your customers when you know there is no way they will see the rainbow mountains.

To all potential customers (not just this operator but the others ones too that acted the same way): Be very upfront with the tourguide when they pick you up and make it clear you dont want to see snowy mountains. You better safe that 12h of your life and...

I had the absolute best day with rainbow mountain travels!!! Everything was planned so perfectly, and our guide was amazing. The pickup close to our hostel in Cusco went very smoothly. We drove a little bit then stopped for a great breakfast, lots of options and really good. We were the first ones to arrive at the Rainbow Mountain, so the departure at 3am is definitely worth it as you will be the first on site. Once there, you’ll be offered options to go up by motorbike or horse, instead of the hike (short but altitude makes it intense). I choose motorbike and didn’t regret it at all, as my driver passed by the other side of the mountain to get me up, and the views were absolutely breathtaking!! If you have a doubt regarding the altitude, or your capacity to get up to the view point, I strongly suggest that you agree on getting there by bike. It will just make your experience better, and you will still be able to go down by the hiking path. Once up there the views were every more beautiful that I would’ve imagine. Our guide was amazing and took care of us, checking up on how we were feeling the whole time. He also gave us a history and info on the place and the people living there. So great! However, after spending about 1h30 up there at 5000m alt., my friend and I started having a terrible headache and nausea on the way down. This was the only time of our stay in Peru where we really felt the altitude. So come prepared with medication, even if you haven’t felt anything in Cusco! The way back was just as smooth, and we stopped at the same restaurant to have lunch (lots of options and pretty good). I really recommend you this package, seeing the colorful mountains of Peru had been a dream of mine for so long, and this exceeded my...