Maras

Maras is a small, windswept town on a high plateau above the Sacred Valley of the Incas, in the Urubamba Province of Peru's Cusco region, sitting at roughly 3,300 m above sea level. Honest travellers have long described the town itself as dusty and workaday rather than charming — it is not a polished tourist destination in its own right. What draws visitors is its role as the gateway to two of the Sacred Valley's most extraordinary sites: Salineras de Maras, the cascade of thousands of pre-Inca salt pans terraced into a canyon, and Moray, the concentric agricultural terraces where the Incas appear to have run an open-air laboratory of microclimates. Both lie within a short drive of the town, and most people see them together on a single half-day loop.

Look past the dust and Maras rewards a slower eye. It was a town of some standing in the colonial era, and several of its plain adobe houses still carry carved stone doorways topped with heraldic crests — relics of the indigenous nobility who lived here after the conquest. A large white colonial church dominates the skyline and is visible for miles across the plateau, a useful landmark when you are walking back from the ruins. The surrounding tableland is open, treeless and brilliantly lit, with the snow line of the Urubamba range filling the horizon.

The Sacred Valley has two clear seasons. The dry season (roughly May to early October) is the time to come: sunny days, sharp blue skies ideal for photographing the salt pans, and reliably dry trails — though nights are cold and the high-altitude sun is fierce, so bring both sunscreen and a warm layer. The wet season (November to April), peaking in January and February, brings afternoon rain that can make canyon paths slick and muddy and dulls the light. Whenever you come, give yourself a day or two acclimatising in Cusco or the lower valley first — the altitude here is no joke.

By Plane

The nearest airport is Cusco's Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ), the main air gateway for the whole region, about 50 km away by road (roughly 1.5 hours' drive via Chinchero). There is no airport bus or rail link to Maras. The simplest option is a pre-arranged private transfer or taxi from the airport to the Sacred Valley, which typically runs around S/100–180 (about US$30–50) for the run out to the Urubamba/Maras area. Budget travellers usually take a city taxi into Cusco first, then a shared colectivo van toward Urubamba (around S/10–15), getting off at the Maras turnoff.

By Train

By Car / Road

Maras sits just off the paved Cusco–Urubamba highway that runs via Chinchero, the easiest road approach. From Cusco it is about 40 km (around 45 minutes to 1 hour) on good sealed road; from Urubamba in the valley below it is only a few kilometres up to the turnoff.

By public transport, take any bus or colectivo travelling between Urubamba and Chinchero (many continue to Cusco) and ask to be dropped at the Maras turnoff (el desvío), a few kilometres outside Urubamba — fares from Urubamba are just a few soles. The turnoff is marked by a blue-and-white bus stop where taxis wait. From here it is about 4 km into Maras town and a longer winding run of roughly 13 km to Moray. Negotiate before you get in: drivers arriving with a group of five or more have been quoted around S/10 per person for a round trip taking in both Moray and the salt pans, while solo travellers and weak hagglers pay considerably more (S/15+ for a one-way drop at Moray alone). Settling a round-trip fare that includes waiting time is the least stressful approach.

Maras town is small and easily covered on foot — there is little to it beyond a few streets, stores and the church. The challenge is reaching the two sites.

• To Moray: Most visitors take a taxi from the turnoff or the town; rates can feel steep, so agree the price (and whether the driver waits) up front. You can also walk, but going out to Moray is easy to misjudge because the terraces are sunken into the ground and easy to miss — better to taxi out and walk back, when the white church on the skyline gives you a clear bearing and you can cut across in a more or less straight line, doing the descent in about an hour rather than following the road's switchbacks.
• To Salineras: Best reached on foot. From the centre of Maras, follow the road back toward the turnoff, and a little past the church keep going straight where the road bends right; a dirt path drops into the canyon to the salt pans, about a 2 km hike on an easy-to-follow trail. If you lose it, any local will point you back to it.
• Organised tours: A guided mountain-biking or biking tour out of Cusco is a popular and hassle-free way to link Moray and the salt pans and skip the negotiation entirely — book through a reputable Cusco operator.

A practical loop: many people end the salt-pan walk at Punta Arco de Iris (Rainbow Bridge) on the Urubamba–Ollantaytambo road at the bottom of the canyon, where it is easy to flag a colectivo or taxi onward — so you can start at Maras and finish down in the valley.

Watch points: agree all fares before setting off, carry small soles in cash (there are no reliable ATMs), and don't underestimate the sun and altitude on what looks like a short walk.

Salineras de Maras (the Maras salt pans) — The signature sight: some 3,000 small, family-owned salt pans terraced down a canyon, fed by a naturally briny spring that the community has harvested for thousands of years, well before the Incas. Each pan is filled, left to evaporate in the sun, then scraped of its salt on a rotating cycle. The pans are not worked on Sundays, so come midweek if you want to see harvesters in traditional dress at work — though an off day means you may have the dazzling white amphitheatre almost to yourself. Admission about S/10 (note: this 2018 rate has since risen — confirm locally) and is not covered by the Cusco boleto turístico. In recent years visitors view the pans from designated walkways and platforms rather than wandering among the working basins. About a 2 km hike from Maras town or a short climb up from the valley road.

Moray — A breathtaking set of deep natural depressions into which the Incas built vast concentric circular terraces, widely interpreted as an agricultural research station. Sitting roughly 3,200–3,500 m above sea level and some 600 m above the Sacred Valley floor, the terraces create temperature differences of up to about 5°C between top and bottom; pollen studies suggest the Incas even imported soils from different regions — Andean, jungle, semi-tropical — into the various basins to model distinct growing conditions. Seeds developed here were probably distributed across the empire to harden crops for high-altitude farming. Included in the boleto turístico (Cusco's combined-ticket: around S/130 for the full 10-day ticket or roughly S/70 for a partial Sacred Valley circuit; rates as of 2018, verify current pricing). Open daily, roughly 7:00–17:00. Free guides are available at the control point — worth taking, as the site is sparsely labelled and little is for sale in the way of books. About 13 km from the turnoff, on the high plateau west of the town.

The town of Maras — Quaint rather than gripping, but worth a slow wander for its colonial doorways carved with heraldic coats of arms and the prominent white colonial church on the plateau. Don't plan a day around it, but it's a pleasant 20–30 minutes between the two main sites.

• Hike the salt-pan canyon — The 2 km walk down from Maras to Salineras, continuing to the valley floor at Rainbow Bridge, is the area's best short trek: gentle, scenic and easy to follow, ending where you can pick up onward transport.
• Walk back from Moray — After exploring the terraces, climb the hill that overlooks the site for the classic photograph of two of the concentric circles in one frame; on this rise you'll also find the Inca reservoirs used to store water through the year. Then make the downhill walk back toward town rather than paying for the return taxi.
• Mountain-biking day trip — The plateau's open dirt roads make for excellent guided biking tours from Cusco that string together Moray, the salt pans and often Chinchero. The most reliable way to arrange one is through an established Cusco operator.
• Combine Moray, Salineras and Chinchero — Since the buses pass through Chinchero (colonial church, Sunday market, weaving cooperatives) en route, it makes sense to fold it into the same outing.

Be realistic: Maras is not a place to eat well, and the old advice still holds — bring your own lunch and water. The town has no real restaurants, only a few small shops selling basic supplies. At Moray you'll find only walking snack vendors; near the salt pans the vendors are a little better, offering ice cream, salted nuts and dehydrated banana. Plan your meals around the trip rather than expecting to find them on it.

The notable exception sits right beside Moray:

• MIL Centro (upscale) — A celebrated high-altitude restaurant overlooking the Moray terraces, serving a multi-course tasting menu built almost entirely from Andean highland ingredients sourced from surrounding communities. It is a destination dining experience in its own right; reservations well in advance are essential and you should expect a several-hundred-sol set menu.

For everything else, eat down in the valley:

• Urubamba (budget–mid) — The valley hub has a good spread of picanterías and local joints serving hearty Andean fare; a filling set-menu lunch (menú) runs around S/10–25.
• Pisac — Ulrike's Café (mid) — A long-standing traveller favourite a little further afield, strong on vegetarian options and good value: a three-course set meal (try the pumpkin soup, vegetable lasagne, and a slice of Kahlúa cheesecake) has run around S/14–17, with lighter plates for less.

Vegetarians are well catered for in Urubamba and Pisac; expect Andean staples such as quinoa, potatoes in countless varieties, trout, and cuy (guinea pig) on more traditional menus.

Bring plenty of water for the sites themselves — there's nowhere reliable to buy it at the ruins, and tap water is not safe to drink, so stick to sealed bottled or properly boiled/filtered water. The high, dry air dehydrates you faster than you expect.

For local flavour, look to the valley. Non-alcoholic standbys include chicha morada (a sweet, spiced drink of purple corn) and mate de coca (coca-leaf tea), the latter genuinely helpful against altitude headaches. On the alcoholic side, the Andean classic is chicha de jora, a lightly fermented maize beer sold at rustic village chicherías — traditionally signalled by a red flag or plastic bag tied to a pole outside. You'll also find the national pisco sour and cold bottles of Cusqueña beer in most valley restaurants. There are no bars to speak of in Maras itself; for cafés and an evening drink, head to Urubamba, Pisac or Ollantaytambo.

Maras town has essentially no formal accommodation — there are no hostels or campgrounds in Maras or at Moray. Base yourself in the Sacred Valley below, where everything from backpacker beds to Relais & Châteaux lodges is within a short drive; Urubamba and Ollantaytambo are the most convenient hubs, with Pisac and Cusco also good options.

• Budget: Guesthouses and ecolodges around Urubamba (e.g. Las Chullpas Ecolodge, a quiet rural option) and Ollantaytambo (e.g. Apu Lodge, a popular garden guesthouse) typically run around S/70–180 per night for a double; dorm beds in Cusco hostels are cheaper still. (Rates approximate — confirm when booking.)
• Mid-range: El Albergue Ollantaytambo, set right on the train-station platform and handy for Machu Picchu departures, and the centrally located Tierra Viva Valle Sagrado Urubamba both fall in roughly the US$90–160 range.
• Upscale / heritage: The valley around Urubamba holds some of Peru's finest resorts, including Sol y Luna (Relais & Châteaux), Tambo del Inka, a Luxury Collection Resort (which has its own private station for the Machu Picchu train), and Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba, generally from about US$300–600+ per night.

There is very little formal shopping in Maras itself, but one product is the whole point of coming: salt. At the Salineras you can buy the prized flor de sal — the fine, top crystals skimmed from the surface and sought after by chefs — for around S/4 per kilo or roughly S/10 for three bags (2018 prices). Look also for the region's distinctive pink-tinged sal rosada de Maras, plus salt-based souvenirs sold at the pond-side stalls: bath salts, salt soaps, and even salt-laced chocolate. Prices at the salt pans are largely fixed and modest, so there's little hard bargaining here.

For crafts, save your shopping for nearby Chinchero, famed for its handwoven alpaca and wool textiles dyed with natural pigments, where demonstrations at the weaving cooperatives are part of the appeal, or the larger artisan markets at Pisac and Urubamba. In those markets gentle bargaining is expected.

• Urubamba (a few km below the turnoff, ~15 min) — The Sacred Valley's main town and transport hub, with restaurants, lodging and onward connections in every direction.
• Chinchero (~15–20 km, ~30 min) — Hilltop colonial church built on Inca foundations, a celebrated weaving tradition, and a colourful market; conveniently on the bus route back toward Cusco.
• Ollantaytambo (~30 km, ~45 min) — A living Inca town beneath a dramatic terraced fortress, and the rail gateway to Machu Picchu.
• Pisac (~45 km, ~1 hr) — Famous for its sprawling artisan market and the extensive Inca ruins on the ridge above town.
• Cusco (~40–50 km, ~1–1.5 hr) — The former Inca capital and the region's great historic city; the essential base for the whole area.
• Machu Picchu (via the train from Ollantaytambo) — Peru's iconic citadel, reached by rail down the valley and well worth pairing with a Sacred Valley loop.