Everything you need to know about Rainbow Mountain (save + share this post): 1. Rainbow Mountain is a 3 hour drive from Cusco. 2. The majority of tours leave at 3am but I like sleep & booked with a company that has 7:30am tours. This was much better as when we arrived most groups were walking down from the mountain so when we reached the top the crowds were minimal. 3. Rainbow Mountain’s elevation is 17,000 feet. It’s imperative you stay in Cusco (11,151ft in elevation) a few days prior so your body gets used to the altitude. 4. The hike is roughly 4.5 miles RT, most of it is flat but the last stretch is steep and you will get short of breath, needing breaks. I def thought I wasn’t going to make it! 5. Wear lots of layers. It was warm at the base of the mountain but towards the top & especially when the wind came through it’s cold! 6. The best time to hike Rainbow Mountain is the dry season April-Oct. 7. You can rent a horse for the majority of the hike, but the steep part you have to hike yourself as horses aren’t allowed there. The cost is about 70 soles (roughly $17 at the time of this post). 8. Vendors at the base of the mountain will stamp your passport for 2 soles. They actually do this at Machu Picchu too but I forgot to get mine stamped there. 9. If you traveled to Peru 10 years ago you would not have been able to do this hike because Rainbow Mountain was just discovered around 2015. Prior to it was always covered by snow but global warming has caused the temperatures to rise & the snow to melt. 10. Most popularly called Rainbow Mountain the original name is Vinicunca, which comes from the native Quechua word meaning mountain of colors. The 7 colors of this mountain come from mineral compositions and depending on if it rained recently or not the colors vary in their brightness. Rainbow mountain was not on the Peru itinerary with Adventures by Disney but there was no way I was going to Peru without visiting. I stayed an extra night after the fam left to do this excursion & booked via Viator (I’ll link in stories). Have you heard of Rainbow Mountain? Would you do this hike? #rainbowmountain #solotravels #bucketlistadventures