Sacred Valley · highlight

Maras Salt Mines: over 3,000 pans on a hillside

Short answerThe Maras Salt Mines are more than 3,000 salt pans terraced down a hillside at 3,385 m, fed by a salty spring and worked by families from the community. Only the two + Maras & Moray versions visit them, with a 45-minute stop at 09:30. The community charges its own fee, separate from the Boleto Turístico.

Salt pans of the Maras Salt Mines on the hillside

Altitude: 3,385 m
Compared with Cusco: +35 m above Cusco
Entrance: Community fee, separate from the Boleto Turístico
Visited by: 2 of the 4 versions
Time on site: 45-min visit

How the salt is made

An underground salt-water spring emerges on the hillside and is shared out among the pans. Each family in the community works its own: they let the water in, wait for it to evaporate and gather the salt left behind.

A fee of its own

The salt pans aren’t part of the state’s system of archaeological sites: the Maras community runs them and charges its own fee. That’s why no Boleto Turístico covers them.

What time do you reach the Maras Salt Mines?

The salt pans are the second stop on + Maras & Moray, between Chinchero and Moray. The time is indicative and may shift a little with traffic.

Version	You arrive	Visit	Place on the route	Previous leg	Next
Sacred Valley + Maras & MorayReturning to Cusco	09:30	45-min visit	Stop 2 of 6	30 min to Maras	15 min to Moray
Sacred Valley + Maras & MorayEnding in Ollantaytambo	09:30	45-min visit	Stop 2 of 5	30 min to Maras	15 min to Moray
Traditional Sacred ValleyReturning to Cusco	Doesn’t stop at the Maras Salt Mines
Traditional Sacred ValleyEnding in Ollantaytambo	Doesn’t stop at the Maras Salt Mines

For your visit

The community fee can be added when you pay for the tour on WeTravel, together with the Boleto Turístico.
You arrive from Chinchero after a 30-minute drive and continue to Moray, 15 minutes away.
Comfortable shoes: you walk among the pans.