Both are on the two VIP routes, from US$31 with lunch: the salt mines at 09:30 and Moray at 10:30, 45 minutes each, 15 minutes apart. The Classic routes do not visit them.
Not a separate tour
Maras and Moray come inside the Sacred Valley VIP
One day, five sites: Chinchero, the Maras salt mines, Moray, Ollantaytambo and Pisac, with lunch. The salt mines and Moray are stops 2 and 3, mid-morning, with Chinchero before and the valley floor after.
Where they fit in the day
On the VIP the order is fixed: Chinchero at 07:40, the Maras salt mines at 09:30, Moray at 10:30, then lunch in Urubamba at 12:00. The two sites take an hour and a half of visits plus 45 minutes of driving between Chinchero, Maras and Moray. Full VIP itinerary.
Maras salt mines, 3,385 m
More than 3,000 shallow ponds step down a ravine, each fed in turn by a single salty spring and worked by a family from Maras. The white is brightest in the dry season, when the ponds are being harvested. The visit is a walk along the upper paths; the community ticket is paid at the gate. More about the salt mines.
Moray, 3,500 m
Three sets of concentric terraces, the largest dropping deep enough to feel the temperature change as you descend. The leading reading is an Inca agricultural laboratory for testing crops at different depths. The Tourist Ticket covers it. More about Moray.
What you give up for them
Compared with the Classic, the VIP starts an hour earlier, drops the Taray viewpoint and gets back to Cusco half an hour later. Pisac moves from the morning to the late afternoon. If you end in Ollantaytambo for the train, Pisac is dropped altogether. Compare both routes.
Updated 2 October 2026.
