In shortThese six tours drive south from Cusco to Cusipata, swap the van for a quad bike on the high Andean tracks, then finish the stretch to the Vinicunca viewpoint on foot. Days run from 10 to 14 hours, starting prices begin at $52, and the tours that state a language have guides in Spanish and English. They suit riders who want less walking than the standard hike and not people after a long day on the trail.
6tours compared
from $52per adult
★ 4.926 reviews
Vinicunca and Red Valley by quad, buffet meals
13 h · from $90 · ★ 4.7 (110)
For riders who want both viewpoints with buffet breakfast and buffet lunch in Cusipata, a Spanish and English guide, safety equipment and a team that stays with the group all day.
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Mountain of 7 Colors and Red Valley by ATV
12–13 h · from $69 · ★ 4.5 (155)
For travellers who care about punctual pickups and reaching the colours with one of the first groups, with helmet, breakfast, lunch, oxygen and a walk of about half an hour after the ride.
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Vinicunca ATV tour with meals and four start times
12 h · from $70 · ★ 4.8 (74)
For anyone who wants to pick the hour, with daily departures at 3:00, 4:00, 6:00 and 8:30 am, a quad loop of 4 km in about forty minutes and 45 minutes at the mountain.
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Quad bike full day, small group
10–11 h · from $99 · ★ 4.7 (52)
For small groups who want the shortest day here, with semi-buffet Peruvian breakfast and lunch, oxygen and a first-aid kit, transport from your hotel and a drop-off at the main square.
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Red Valley and Vinicunca on ATVs, one quad each
11 h · from $52 · ★ 4.9 (26)
For budget riders who still want a quad per person, with private transport, helmets and fuel, a professional guide, oxygen and a first-aid kit, meeting at the water fountain in the Plaza de Armas.
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Red Valley and Rainbow Mountain, 4 or 6 am start
14 h · from $75 · ★ 4.8 (13)
For people who want the longest time on the quads, about two hours of riding plus a hike of half an hour, with hiking poles, buffet meals and a choice of two departure times.
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What a rainbow mountain ATV tour actually involves
A quad bike replaces part of the approach and none of the climb. The vehicle takes you south from Cusco to Cusipata, two hours on the schedule of the four-start-times tour, breakfast is served there, and the riding stage begins at a base further up: Laya on the one-quad-each tour, Kayrawiri on the four-start-times tour, another hour and twenty minutes past Cusipata.
Riding time varies more than anything else on this page. The four-start-times tour runs a loop of 4 km in about forty minutes and leaves 45 minutes at the mountain, while the 4 or 6 am tour puts roughly two hours on the quads before a walk of half an hour to the viewpoint. The Mountain of 7 Colors tour also quotes about thirty minutes on foot. That final steep section and the staircase are walked on all six tours, at an altitude catalogued as 5,036 m (16,522 ft).
Start times cover the whole early morning: 3:00, 4:00, 6:00 and 8:30 am on the four-start-times tour, 4:00 or 6:00 am on the 4 or 6 am tour, breakfast at 8:00 am on the small-group full day. Colours are strongest between 5 and 10 in the morning, and the viewpoints fill between 9:30 am and midday when the standard Cusco buses converge. Both access routes are reported open from 6:00 am to 5:00 pm.
The Vinicunca entrance is not included on any of these six, and where the Red Valley is part of the itinerary its entrance is listed separately too. Read the inclusions on each one before you choose.
Which one fits you
Lowest starting price with a quad each is the one-quad-each tour over eleven hours, with private transport, helmets and fuel, a professional guide, oxygen and a first-aid kit. Meeting point is the water fountain in the centre of the Plaza de Armas, and a taxi there is the operator's own suggestion.
Most time on the quads goes to the 4 or 6 am tour, fourteen hours door to door, with about two hours of riding, a walk of half an hour, buffet breakfast and buffet lunch, handcrafted hiking poles and single or double machines according to your choice. Hotel pickup applies only if you are staying in the historic centre.
Sleeping in matters to a lot of people, and the 8:30 am shift of the four-start-times tour is the one that allows it. That departure comes without hotel pickup and without breakfast, meeting instead at Plaza Regocijo at 8:20 am, with a guide in English and Spanish.
Short day, small group: the quad bike full day at ten to eleven hours, the briefest here, with Peruvian food served as a semi-buffet, oxygen, a first-aid kit, a guide waiting near the fountain in Plaza Regocijo and a drop-off back at the main square.
Both landscapes with meals handled is the buffet-meals tour, thirteen hours, with buffet breakfast and buffet lunch in Cusipata, air-conditioned transport, safety equipment, permanent assistance from the team and a Spanish and English guide who comes to find you in the centre of the square.
If the review record is what you weigh, the Mountain of 7 Colors tour has the longest one of these six at ★ 4.5 (155), with helmet, breakfast, lunch, oxygen and a first-aid kit, and an operator that holds to its pickup times in order to reach the mountain ahead of the main flow.
Before you book
- Meeting points differ: the centre of the square, where the guide comes to find you, on the buffet-meals tour; the water fountain in the Plaza de Armas on the one-quad-each tour; Plaza Regocijo on the small-group full day and on the 4 or 6 am tour, where the guide calls out the name on the reservation or writes on WhatsApp.
- Hotel pickup is listed on most of these tours, but the 4 or 6 am tour limits it to the historic centre of Cusco, and the 8:30 am departure of the four-start-times tour includes neither pickup nor breakfast.
- Gloves for handling the machines, a hat for the cold and a face covering are not included on the 4 or 6 am tour, so bring your own on any of the six, with layers and sun protection in every month.
- Hiking poles come with the 4 or 6 am tour only, and they earn their place: the last section to the viewpoint is on foot whatever you booked.
- Oxygen is listed on five of the six, including a small tank for the whole group on the 4 or 6 am tour; the four-start-times tour lists a first-aid kit without oxygen.
- Quads are single or double according to the booking on the four-start-times tour and the 4 or 6 am tour, one per person on the one-quad-each tour, and the 4 or 6 am tour carries assistance staff in case someone in the group cannot drive.
- Entrance to Vinicunca is not included on any of these tours, and the Red Valley entrance is not included either where the valley appears in the itinerary.
- May to October is the dry, recommended window; from November to April rain and snow can cover the bands and slow the drive.
- Spend two or three nights in Cusco at 3,399 m (11,150 ft) before any of these days, because the ride does not reduce the altitude you end up standing at.
- Current prices, departure times and cancellation terms appear on each booking page before you confirm.
Tour details from the operator's listing, checked 20 October 2026. Prices and times can change; the booking page has the current ones.
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