Horse riding near Cusco can be a great alternative for the first days of you travel in high attitude parts of Peru. Cusco definitely is the most popular city in Peru. Every year a lot of tourists come here to visit famous Machu Picchu. Most companies recommend for visitors take a rest during first or even second day after arriving and then start to explore the region, including hiking, climbing and other physical activities. Why? Because of the risk of altitude sickness. Elevation of Cusco is around 3400 meters, so for a lot of us at the beginning it can be a problem. Of course for some people it is not an issue, but for majority yes. I agree that at least first day or sometimes even second you should take very easy, just walk around the city, or visit other places, but without doing long trekking, hiking, climbing. You need to be aware that to strong physical effort in the first days can really destroy your holiday. It is maybe not so important for these of you who have plenty of time, but if you have 1, 2 or maximum 3 weeks, better take care about that and choose at the beginning the easiest and the lightest options. Below you will find some information about where you can organize horse riding near Cusco, which can be an excellent alternative for the first days of your travel.
Where you can organize horse riding adventure near Cusco?
Just around 25 minutes by bus from the center of Cusco, in the direction of Saksaywaman and Cristo Blanco you can find wonderful landscapes with a great panoramic view for the city and mountains. Here also are organized horses riding tours. To buy the tour you can contact one of the companies in the city centre. They will prepare for you all trip, including transport, a guide who will explain the history of the ruins which you will pass and an equipment. But you can also go directly to Saksaywaman and hire the horse directly from the owner. For sure the second option will be cheaper 🙂
Riding by horse in the area surrounded by lovely mountains, with typical Andean villages around, will be a great choice to become familiar with the neighborhood of Cusco. And what is more important – without strong physical effort :-). A lot of different paths, pure nature! If you do not have too much time for trekking around and exploring this area, definitely horse riding tour will give you opportunity to see much more in a shorter time :-).
Saqsaywaman, Puka Pukara, Tambomachay and horse riding adventure in one!
If you haven´t yet seen the Incas ruins of Saqsaywaman, Puka Pukara and Tmbomachay, you can choose horse riding tour to this places. You will have two in one :-). There are some different options to see the ruins near Cusco. You can walk there, you can go by bike, you can choose the bus tour or you can go by horse. A lot of options, all depends what you like the most, how much time you have, and how much money you want to spend 🙂
If you like horse adventures, there are also other great places where you can organize horse riding. One of them is for example in Ollantaytambo. You can read more about that on the article: Tips about horse riding and trekking from Ollantaytmbo to Inti Punku.
