Updated Date:
Author: Yapa Explorers Editorial Team
Quick Summary: Maras and Moray are best visited before Machu Picchu, not after. They sit on the route between Cusco and Ollantaytambo train station, which makes them a natural addition to a Sacred Valley day that ends with you boarding the Aguas Calientes train — rather than a separate post-Machu Picchu excursion that requires backtracking. Each site takes 45–60 minutes with a guide. Together they add 2–3 hours to a standard Sacred Valley day and reward the extra time substantially.
Rather skip the logistics? Pisac, Ollantaytambo and more in one guided day from Cusco, with transport included.
Check dates for the Sacred Valley Tour → (from US$39). Or see the Sacred Valley Max (small group) (from US$99).
Before the before-or-after question, it’s worth being precise about what these sites are — because most travelers arrive with only a vague idea.
The Maras Salt Mines are a functioning salt extraction operation at approximately 3,380 metres (11,080 feet) altitude in the district of Maras, roughly 40 kilometres from Cusco. More than 4,500 individual salt evaporation pools terrace down a steep hillside, each pool roughly 14 square metres, fed by a single underground saline spring. The spring’s source is unknown — it does not connect to any visible surface water. The salt it carries has supported a continuous extraction economy in this location since before the Inca Empire, believed to have been built by the Wari civilisation between 500 and 1,100 AD.
The Incas incorporated Maras into their empire’s redistribution economy, using the salt for food preservation, mummification, and ritual. Today approximately 600 local families share ownership and management of the pools, extracting salt using hand tools and techniques unchanged from the Inca era. The operations continue year-round.
What makes Maras immediately arresting is scale and colour. The pools in morning light appear white-gold; in afternoon sun they take on a warm amber tone when crystallisation is at its peak. Photographs consistently fail to convey the full effect — the terraced hillside viewed at ground level, with the valley dropping away behind you, is one of those places that registers differently in person than in any image you’ve seen.
Moray is located 9 kilometres from the Maras Salt Mines in the same district, making them natural companions on the same day. The site consists of three large bowl-shaped depressions in the ground, each ringed by concentric circular terraces. The largest depression is approximately 30 metres deep; the smallest terrace ring at its base measures only a few metres across.
The leading interpretation — supported by analysis of soil samples showing imports from up to 20 different Andean ecological zones — is that Moray functioned as an Inca agricultural research station. Each ring of terraces creates a microclimate distinct from the one above it through varying sun exposure, drainage, and wind shielding. The temperature differential between the bottom ring and the top ring reaches up to 15°C. This was apparently used to test which crops could survive at which altitudes, generating knowledge applicable across the Inca Empire’s vast range of ecosystems, from coast to high jungle to Altiplano.
Equally impressive: the site never floods despite sitting in a natural depression. The Incas built an underground drainage system before constructing the terraces, demonstrating a level of civil engineering planning that is only visible through absence — the absence of standing water on a site that should, in principle, be a lake in the rainy season.
The strongest argument for visiting Maras and Moray before Machu Picchu is simply geographic logic. Both sites are located between Cusco and Ollantaytambo — which is also the route you travel on your Sacred Valley day before boarding the train to Aguas Calientes. Visiting them before Machu Picchu requires no detour, no backtracking, and adds naturally to a day that already ends at Ollantaytambo train station.
Visiting Maras and Moray after Machu Picchu, by contrast, requires a separate dedicated trip from Cusco — an extra day of planning, transport, and coordination that many travelers either don’t have time for or don’t have the energy for after a long Machu Picchu day.
The practical sequencing on Yapa Explorers‘ Sacred Valley Max Tour captures this exactly:
This is the sequence that makes Maras and Moray genuinely accessible for most travelers. Attempting them after Machu Picchu works only if you have a dedicated extra day in the region, the energy after two full days of travel and site visits, and transport arranged separately from Cusco back into the Sacred Valley.
“We did the full day — Pisac, Maras, Moray, Ollantaytambo, then the train. Long but absolutely worth every hour. Moray in the afternoon light with almost no one else there was one of the calmest, strangest, most beautiful moments of the trip. And then Machu Picchu the next morning felt even more significant because we understood the scale of what the Incas were doing across the whole region.” — AnaïsF_Lyon, France, June 2026
The after-Machu Picchu scenario does work for a specific type of traveler:
In these cases, a half-day hired taxi from Urubamba or Ollantaytambo to Maras and Moray (with a wait at each site) is a manageable independent option. Round-trip taxi from Urubamba to both sites runs approximately $30–$40 USD for the vehicle, negotiated in advance with a driver at Urubamba’s main square. This does not include a guide — independent visits mean you’re navigating the sites without historical context.
Maras Salt Mines have two distinct atmospheres depending on when you visit:
Either window works. Morning is calmer and has the advantage of seeing the salt workers in action.
Moray is less visited than Maras, which is part of its appeal. On a typical weekday in shoulder season, you may find only a handful of other visitors at the site. The concentric terraces descend into the bowl in near-silence — wind, birds, the distant sound of farming activity in the surrounding farmland. The quietness is appropriate: Moray requires a kind of focused attention to absorb, and crowds interrupt the contemplative quality that makes the site rewarding.
Walking down into the bowl, standing at the lowest ring of terraces, and looking up at the concentric levels rising above you is spatially disorienting in a pleasant way — the geometry doesn’t quite match your visual expectations from above. A guide’s explanation of the temperature measurement studies conducted here (each ring maintains its own microclimate through differential sun exposure) reframes the site from “interesting circular terraces” to “a scientific instrument at landscape scale.” That reframe is what makes Moray memorable rather than merely unusual.
| Site | Minimum (rushed) | Recommended (guided) | Maximum (photography or deep interest) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maras Salt Mines | 30 min | 45–60 min | 90 min |
| Moray Ruins | 30 min | 45–60 min | 75 min |
| Travel between sites | 15–20 min | 15–20 min | 15–20 min |
| Both combined | 75–90 min | 1 hr 45 min – 2 hrs | 3+ hrs |
Yapa Explorers‘ Sacred Valley Max Tour includes Maras and Moray as part of the full Sacred Valley day. The guide covers both sites with full historical and scientific context, private transport handles all movement between sites, and the day ends at Ollantaytambo for the train connection. This is the most seamless option for travelers connecting to Machu Picchu on the same day.
Group size is capped at 8 travelers — which matters more at Maras and Moray than at Pisac or Ollantaytambo, because the intimate scale of both sites rewards small-group dynamics. Moray in particular is the kind of place where a guide can speak at a normal conversational volume and you can hear them clearly from the bottom of the bowl.
For travelers not on a connected Machu Picchu itinerary, a private taxi hired from Cusco or Urubamba can cover both sites in a half-day. Agree the total price in advance (including waiting time at each site) — do not pay per kilometre, as the driver will have no incentive to move efficiently between sites. A fair round-trip from Urubamba with 1 hour at each site runs approximately $30–$45 USD for the vehicle.
No public bus services run directly to Maras or Moray. Colectivos from Cusco go as far as the Maras crossroads, from which you’d need a taxi or mototaxi for the remaining distance — a workable but disjointed approach that requires local navigation and a degree of Spanish fluency.
A note on guides at the sites themselves: Maras and Moray do not have the same volume of at-gate guides as Machu Picchu. For independent visitors, a self-guided visit is possible but context-light. A pre-booked local guide from Cusco (negotiated through a Cusco agency with TripAdvisor reviews) can meet you at either site if you’re not on an organised tour.
| Site | Entry Fee (approximate) | Covered by Boleto Turístico? |
|---|---|---|
| Maras Salt Mines | 10–15 soles (~$3–4 USD) | No — separate community fee |
| Moray Ruins | 15–20 soles (~$4–5 USD) | No — separate SERNANP fee |
Neither Maras nor Moray is included in the Boleto Turístico that covers Pisac and Ollantaytambo ruins. Their entry fees are low and paid at the site entrance. Fees may be adjusted periodically — verify current amounts on arrival.
At Maras:
At Moray:
Can Maras and Moray be visited as a half-day trip from Cusco without going to Machu Picchu at all?
Yes, entirely. A half-day trip from Cusco covering both Maras and Moray — either by hired taxi or as a standalone tour — is a well-established excursion. It works well as an acclimatisation activity (both sites are at 3,300–3,500 metres, slightly above Cusco, which makes physical activity moderate but not strenuous). It’s worth considering for travelers who’ve already done Machu Picchu and want to see more of the Sacred Valley without repeating Pisac and Ollantaytambo.
Does the Sacred Valley Max Tour with Yapa include a guide at both Maras and Moray?
Yes. The guide is with the group throughout the full day — at Pisac, Maras, Moray, and Ollantaytambo. The Max Tour does not hand you off to a local site guide at any point. The same guide who explains the Pisac water channels in the morning explains the Moray temperature research in the afternoon.
How physically demanding are Maras and Moray?
Maras is the easier of the two — the walking path between pools is a flat, wide track along the edge of the hillside. Some sections are uneven underfoot. Moray involves descending and ascending the terrace steps in the bowl, which is roughly 30 metres of vertical movement on stone steps. Neither requires trekking fitness. Anyone who can manage normal city walking, including older visitors and families with older children, should find both sites accessible.
Is there anything to eat or drink at Maras or Moray?
Small food stalls occasionally operate near the Maras entrance, selling drinks and snacks. Moray has no on-site food or drink. If your day includes Maras and Moray, carry water and snacks from the morning — most Sacred Valley tours include lunch in the midday window, typically in a restaurant in Urubamba or near Ollantaytambo, which is the refuelling point before the afternoon sites or before the train.
Which site is better for families with children?
Both work well for families, but Moray tends to generate the most enthusiasm from children and teenagers — the mystery of the concentric circles, the descent into the bowl, and the scientific explanation about Inca crop experiments tend to capture younger imaginations in a way that archaeological stonework sometimes doesn’t. Maras is visually striking for any age but has a “look from the path” format that can feel passive for younger visitors.
Entry fees for Maras Salt Mines and Moray Ruins are set by the managing community organisations and SERNANP respectively, and are reviewed periodically. Prices cited reflect publicly available 2026 figures — verify current entry costs at the site gates. Road conditions on the Maras/Moray road and access to both sites can be affected by weather (particularly in rainy season, November through March), and temporary closures for maintenance have occurred at both sites in the past. If you’re visiting as part of an itinerary that includes a fixed train departure from Ollantaytambo, always build a conservative buffer into your return schedule. For current tour availability and pricing, contact Yapa Explorers directly.
