Humantay Lake or Rainbow Mountain?
Plenty of travelers in Cusco have room for one big pre-dawn outing and end up weighing these two. One trip ends at a glacier lake below snow peaks, the other on a ridge of striped earth much higher up. Both cost you a very early alarm and a full day on the road. We compare them on the points that actually differ, then show how to fit in both.
Two long days that begin in the dark
On paper the two trips look alike. Each collects you from a hotel in Cusco long before sunrise, stops for breakfast on the way out, gives you a few hours on a high trail and brings you back for a late lunch before the drive home. Cusco itself sits at about 3,400 m (11,150 ft), so both days take you well above a city that already leaves newcomers puffing on its stairs. The real differences lie in where the road goes and how high you end up. What waits at the top is a different kind of sight as well.
The Humantay day
The lake trip heads north-west. After roughly 2 hours on paved road you stop for breakfast in Mollepata, then a dirt road climbs for about another hour to Soraypampa, at around 3,900 m (12,800 ft). Allow 2–3 hours of driving in each direction. Most people walk up in 1.5–2 hours to the shore at about 4,200 m (13,780 ft), where Nevado Humantay sends its glacier down toward the water. Fine rock flour in the meltwater gives Laguna Humantay its color, which looks brightest when the sun is on it. On a group day with Chullos Travel Peru, from ~$25, you are back in Cusco around 6 pm. Getting to Humantay Lake from Cusco sets out the timeline hour by hour.
The Rainbow Mountain day
Vinicunca, the peak sold as Rainbow Mountain, lies the opposite way, south-east of Cusco, with roughly 3 hours on the road each way. The draw is a mountainside striped in bands of colored minerals, and the walk tops out close to 5,000 m (16,400 ft). That is about 800 m higher than the lake, so the air is thinner and the wind at the top colder. If the idea of a busy summit puts you off, a quieter alternative exists at Palccoyo, a separate range of striped slopes in the same part of the Andes. This site does not compare Rainbow Mountain tours, so you will find no prices for them here.
The two trips side by side
| Humantay Lake | Rainbow Mountain | |
|---|---|---|
| Direction from Cusco | North-west | South-east |
| Driving each way | About 2–3 h | Roughly 3 h |
| Highest point | About 4,200 m (13,780 ft) | About 5,000 m (16,400 ft) |
| What you walk to | A glacier lake below Humantay and Salkantay | Mineral-striped slopes |
| Quieter option | An earlier start, or a night at Soraypampa | Palccoyo |
| Group day price | ~$25–27 | Not compared on this site |
Crowds, and which climb feels harder
Neither place is lonely. At Humantay most vans reach the shore in the same mid-morning window, and the lake gets busy for an hour or two. One reviewer of the Chullos day still found it less crowded than Rainbow Mountain, which is one person's impression rather than a count. The harder trip is less obvious than the altitude figures suggest. Kantu Peru Tours' listing calls the Humantay climb tougher than Rainbow Mountain, most likely because the second half of the lake trail steepens into tight switchbacks. Vinicunca makes its demands through sheer height instead. Altitude at Humantay Lake explains how the body copes above 4,000 meters, and horses for hire at the lake trailhead take some of the strain; riding a horse up to Humantay Lake has the prices in soles.
The lake day most travelers pick
Chullos Travel Peru, our pick, runs its group trip from ~$25 with breakfast and a buffet lunch in Mollepata. Pickup falls between 4 and 5 am in the historic center. Guides lend walking sticks, and you can cancel without charge up to 24 hours before.
Questions that settle it
- Water or color? If the picture in your head is a glacier lake under snow peaks, go to Humantay. Only Vinicunca or Palccoyo gives you the striped hillside;
- How long have you been at altitude? With only a day or two in Cusco behind you, the lower trip is the gentler test of your lungs;
- How do you handle cold? Both summits are chilly at dawn, and Rainbow Mountain's extra 800 m makes the wind bite harder;
- Which season is it? Clouds can hide the peaks above the lake for days in the wet months. The best time to visit Humantay Lake runs through the year month by month.
Doing both in one stay
Many travelers end up doing both, on separate days. Put Humantay first, because it is the lower of the two and works as a step up before a day near 5,000 m. Leave a rest day in Cusco between them, since two 3 or 4 am alarms back to back on long mountain roads wear people down faster than the walking does. A combined two-day trip covering both does appear on GetYourGuide, but with few reviews behind it we have left it out of our comparison. If you also plan the long trek to Machu Picchu, Humantay and the Salkantay trek explains how the lake fits into it.
For the lake itself, the six tours on our home page cover most budgets, and two more turn up on Viator. Willka Travel's small-group day, from ~$45, includes breakfast and a buffet lunch with a vegetarian option, and its listing counts tips in the price. The catch is a 3:30–4 am pickup and groups of up to 19, which is small in name only. CrossoverPeru Tours, from ~$99, holds a perfect 5.0 from 93 reviews and covers the entrance plus a snack and water. Its catch is a price about four times that of a group day for the same trail, and it is sold on Viator only.