If you’re in the market for some serious bragging rights, high-adrenaline thrills, great mountain biking, and the chance to explore a spectacular part of Peru that’s remote and at the same time accessible to the beginner bike rider, this Cusco day trip is for you. Mountain biking in Peru is one of the most coveted biking experiences in the world, and with Haku’s Inca Legends mountain bike day trip from Cusco, you can cross off a major bucket list item in just a day!
Prepare to be stunned by incredible views on backcountry Andean mountain roads. Beginning in cloud-covered passes at almost 14,000 ft, you’ll drop into lush valleys far from any heavily trafficked tourist trails through breathtaking scenery. You’ll be descending almost 5,000 ft/1,524 m over the course of 35 mi/56 km in a full, action-packed day with our team of passionate guides who will use their wealth of local knowledge to ensure your experience is as fulfilling, fun, and safe. This Cusco day trip is the full package: culture, adrenaline, and brilliant vistas, all in a manageable one-day adventure ride. If you are looking for a more intense day on singletrack trails, check out our Cusco day trip singletrack rides.
Ride Description: 56 km/35 mi of back country gravel road with lots of switchbacks, cliffs and beautiful Andean villages.
Highlights
Some highlights to look forward to on your Peru Mountain Bike Vacation:
- You don’t have to be a pro, this is a ride for every skill level.
- Bring your family! This is a family friendly tour so you can enjoy a ride of a lifetime.
- Tailored trips & small groups available. Enjoy this trip at your pace.
- Safety is our priority. Our professional team will always put safety first.
- Top of the line equipment and well maintained bikes.
- 11 years experience. We are one of the most seasoned bike agencies in Cusco.
- Best guides. Feel safe with our talented, multi-lingual team of guides.
Day by day:
One Day Imperial City of Cusco
You’ll meet us at the shop at 8 a.m., where we’ll gear up and head out for our MTB adventure. We’ll shuttle for a little over an hour up to a beautiful, cloud-covered pass at an altitude of about 13,800 ft. There, we’ll start the ride on gentle switchbacks and through majestic scenery, you’ll experience local culture and see the “real” Peru — we’ll take you through small adobe towns inhabited only by the Peruvian locals. In fact, your group will be unlikely to see another tourist all day!
We’ll stop for lunch about an hour and a half into the ride; after that, you’ll have the option of putting your mountain bike on the shuttle and driving up a short uphill section of the ride or taking the challenge and pedaling up.
Then the road opens up into lush valleys and passes by seven gorgeous waterfalls. Once you’ve reached the end, you’ll share stories and pictures with the other riders over a Coca-Cola before loading up our mountain bikes and heading back to Cusco. The beautiful ride back to Cusco takes about 2 hours, where you’ll be able to sit back, unwind, and enjoy the scenery.
General Information
Information
PRICE BRAKEDOWN
The cost of our Inca Legends mountain bike tour is $205 per person with a 2 person minimum. We generally have daily departures, so simply pick the date that works for you and secure your place with a $50 deposit.
Included:
- Rental Bike: A fitted, top-of-the-line, full-suspension Kona Process mountain bike, expertly adjusted to your physique and riding style. We update our fleet of Kona bikes every couple of years to make sure we stay on top of the best technology.
- High-quality protective gear (e.g. Race Face, 661, Fox, Giro, Bell, and/or Demon Dirt).
- A professional, English-speaking mountain bike guide who’s intimately familiar with the surrounding landscape and its settlements. They’ll ride at your level and take care of you through the entirety of the trip.
- A comfortable, private shuttle that will be accessible for the whole day. In it, you’ll be able to leave extra belongings or take a break whenever you want.
- A delicious picnic lunch or locally-prepared meal.
- Complimentary water refills throughout the trip
Not included:
Snacks
Biking shoes. You can rent a pair of MTB renal 510s from us if you’d like — add on at check out $7 USD
CURRENCY AND MONEY MATTERS
Peru’s currency is called the Nuevo Sol. You’ll be able to exchange US currency for the Sol easily in Cusco. The exchange rate often fluctuates between 3.7 – 4 sol per US dollar.
We recommend you bring cash. Peru is still a cash society. Most people don’t have bank accounts as Peruvian banks charge up to $15 per month just to have the account open. So, services like Venmo, Pay-Pal, and Apple Pay aren’t used here. Most local stores, taxis, and local restaurants are cash only.
ATMS charge around $8 to take out $60-200. Banks only allow a small withdrawal daily. Thus, it’s probably a good idea to withdraw a good sum of cash before you come to Peru unless you have a bank that returns the ATM fees. You can also try the app called ATM hero and do a little research before you come to decide if an ATM card or cash is best for you.
The USD, EURO, CAD cash you bring should be non-ripped bills. Small rips or bills that are written on are not accepted for exchange.
Seeing as Peru is a cash society and it is difficult to withdraw large amounts of cash, we require your balance be brought in cash.
TIPPING: Local restaurants generally do not require a tip, however, leaving a few soles is a nice gesture. Tourist restaurants are generally a 10% tip.
Tipping your guide in Peru is generally 10-15% of the price you paid for the tour. Drivers are generally the same amount in soles. (If you tip a guide 200 USD the driver would get often 200 soles) Tips should always be based on performance and are never obligatory.
TRIP INSURANCE
Each person is required to have a specific travel/trip insurance outside of your credit card or regular medical insurance.
You should get comprehensive coverage with trip interruption/cancellation and with personal liability. Mention all activities that you will be involved in such as mountain biking, hiking at high altitude and whatever other activities you may have planned.
We do not provide refunds. If you should get hurt or sick not only will travel insurance cover your medical expenses it will also cover the lost portion of the trip. Make sure you have trip interruption or trip cancellation included! South America is famous for people striking and shutting down all activities. If you miss your Machu Picchu trip, Galapagos or any other side trip, or even your flight due to strikes the insurance will cover the loss or additional costs that are incurred.
MEALS & DIET RESTRICTIONS
Our lunches are generally in the home of a local along the way, but sometimes we’ll do a picnic lunch overlooking the roaring Apurimac river. If you have dietary restrictions please let us know in advance so we can accommodate you.
CANCELLATION POLICY
All of our deposits are non-refundable. If you are booking a trip during the rainy season there is a chance you may get wet. We do not cancel for rain unless there have been landslides or something to close the trail. In the case that we cancel the trip we will refund you 100%.
If you are booking for a full day ride and the two person minimum has not been met:
You can choose to do a half day ride for 180$ or pay $220 USD for a full day ride or cancel for a full refund. You will be asked which of these options you prefer during the booking process. Please choose one, so we can plan accordingly.
TYPE OF RIDE
Our singletrack mountain biking day trips in Cusco and the Sacred Valley are shuttle assisted rides. We do not do any pedaling or uphill climbing. Check out the descent vs the ascent on the data section. Most trails will be pretty technical compared to many parts of the world. These trails are foot trails, animal trails and Inca Trails. They are not maintained mtb flow trails! We ask you to make sure you have the ability to ride these trails before booking. You need an intermediate background or higher. For intermediate riders you may walk some sections as we do have some gnarly stair sections.
Haku Expeditions is renowned for the uniqueness of our rides and treks, our award-winning service, the unbeatable value of our trips, and our refusal to cut corners. But you don’t have to just take our word for it — check out our five-star rating and hundreds of “excellent” reviews on TripAdvisor, or pro freeride MTB Hall of Famer Brett Tippie’s review of a Haku biking trip on Instagram (@bretttippie).
FAQS
WHAT SHOULD I BRING?
You will need to have:
- Rain jacket.
- A water bottle (we’ll provide the water).
- A small pack to carry your snacks, rain jacket, etc.
- Flat bottom shoes to ride in (although, if you want super grip, we do have 510’s for rent).
- Sunglasses and sunscreen.
- An extra set of clothes (you may get wet!).
DO WE HAVE A SHUTTLE?
Yes. On some trips you’ll have a relatively long shuttle ride on Andean mountain roads. See the shuttle times on the next bullet point. You can leave stuff in the shuttle; use that as an excuse to bring extra clothing in case you get wet or cold!
Local Cusco: 20 minute ride. Lares: 1:45-2 hour ride. Lamay: 1:45-2 hour ride. Radar: 2:15 hour ride. Inca Legends: 1:10-1:30 hour ride.
WHERE DOES THE TRIP START AND END?
All of our mountain biking day tours and half day tours start and end in Cusco. If you are located in the Sacred Valley please contact us to talk about your options.
HOW SHOULD I DRESS?
Dress in layers! Long sleeves and shorts with a jacket on or in the backpack. Wear wool socks if possible. The best is a nice base layer, wool if possible, with jersey or t-shirt over it.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I CAN NOT MAKE THE TOUR?
We highly recommend that you get travel insurance. Our deposits are non-refundable.
WHAT’S THE GUIDE TO GUEST RATIO?
1 guide for every 4 riders.
WHAT WILL THE WEATHER BE LIKE?
In short: Our dry season is between mid-May and late September. The shoulder seasons are April and October, and the rainy season is between November and March with the heaviest rains in December and February.
The weather in the mountains changes quickly. Be prepared always for both cold, hot and rainy weather.
Basically, this is true year-round: if you’re in the sun, you’re hot; if you’re in the shade or the clouds are out, it’ll be chilly.
The cloud forest area can be very warm. You can use shorts and short sleeves but may choose not to due to the bugs.
ADD-ONS
HAKU EXPEDITIONS JERSEY
Get a custom Haku Expeditions mountain biking jersey that will be the envy of your riding buddies back home. $25 USD
All add-ons can be purchased at check out.
RENTAL SHOES
Add some grip to your ride! These riding shoes will keep you on the pedals and provide a safer experience.
Price: $7 USD per ride day, $14 USD for the trip
All add-ons will be offered to you at check out.
HOTEL IN CUSCO OR THE SACRED VALLEY
Make your vacation even easier! Let us book a hotel or airbnb for you!
We make sure to book you a place that has a central location in Cusco with in walking distance to the Plaza de Armas.
We also make sure you have a place that has real hot water as many places in Cusco only offer cold water or luke warm showers at best!
Hotels include breakfast. Private apartment airbnb do not.
Price: $60-80 USD for 1-2 person group
All add-ons will be offered to you at check out.
MACHU PICCHU PACKAGE
Seeing this iconic 15th century Incan citadel is a more than worthy bucket list item for most people that come to Peru. If you’d like, we’ll organize a tour of the site that includes a round-trip train ticket, entrance to the sanctuary, and an English-speaking guide.
Archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as a palace for the Incan emperor Pachacuti in the 15th century. They abandoned it after roughly a century, during the Spanish conquest, and it then remained virtually unknown until 1911, when American historian Hiram Bingham made Machu Picchu’s existence public. In 1983, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and since then it has captured the imagination and awe of the millions of people who travel to experience its magic.
Price: $350 per person. (Normally $389 pp when purchased separately)
Included:
- Entrance into Machu Picchu
- Round-trip train ticket on Peru rail
- An English-speaking guide
- Two-hour tour
- Taxi to the train station in Cusco
Not included:
- Bus up to the ruins ($24 USD, available to purchase at checkout)
- Entrance into Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain
- Taxi to train station in Ollantaytambo
All add-ons can be purchased at checkout.