Full Day from $ USD 65.00
Explore Quelccaya, the world's largest tropical glacier, located in Cusco, Peru!
Quelccaya Glacier Day Tour | Suyuparina Glacier Day Tour. Explore part of the largest tropical glacier in Cusco, Peru, and the world. Treat yourself to being more than 5,200m/17,060ft, touch the perpetual ice, and enjoy the breathtaking landscapes and incredible Andes’ biodiversity.
Absolutely! The Quelccaya Glacier is an impressive and unmissable tourist destination for nature lovers. This tropical glacier, the largest in the world at over 44 square kilometers, is located in southeastern Peru, in the Vilcanota Mountain Range, between the Cusco and Puno regions. Its maximum altitude exceeds 5,600m /18,373ft. The Suyuparina glacier is a small part of the Quelccaya glacier where ice crevasses, tunnels, caves and bars can be seen.
The Quelccaya Glacier Day Tour or Suyuparina Glacier Day Tour from Cusco is one of the best popular options for seeing this ice giant if you are short on time, but this day trip is a long and demanding journey, mainly due to the distance from Cusco (5 hours’ drive) and the high altitude.
The journey by transport from Cusco is an important part of this experience. You will pass through beautiful high Andean villages, marshy pampas, and freshwater lagoons teeming with biodiversity, surrounded by huge snow-capped mountains, making the views on the trip unforgettable.
This Quelccaya Glacier Day Tour begins at 3:00 a.m. and ends at 8:30 p.m. in the city of Cusco. The recommended months for this tour are April through November (dry season). We offer daily departures on private tours. If you would like to join a shared tour, please inquire about available departure dates for group tours.
Note: times are approximate and will depend on weather conditions and how the group progresses.
Amazing ice tunnels.
Beautiful ice swords.
Get ready to explore the new and impressive tourist circuit in Cusco!
Begin your unforgettable Quelccaya Glacier Day Tour. The professional guide and the tourist mobility assigned by Machupicchu Andes Tours will pick you up at your hotel in Cusco city center at 3:00am (on the shared tour, if your hotel is far from downtown, the meeting point will be in the center of Cusco’s main square). You’ll then take a 5-hour trip to the Phinaya high Andean village, where you’ll have a short stop to enjoy your homemade breakfast carefully prepared with local ingredients. Here you can also use the restrooms and shop in the small stores. Then continue your journey for another hour through a beautiful inter-Andean valley full of alpacas and llamas.
From the bus parking lot, walk about 20 minutes along a flat path until you reach the enormous ice blocks of the Suyoparina Glacier, which is a small part of the Qelqaya Glacier. Here you’ll see a huge mountain covered in perpetual ice, with ice blocks over 20 meters high. You’ll also see beautiful ice formations such as green crystal crevasses and caverns, and penitente formations (long, thin ice swords, blades, or columns). After enjoying the amazing beauty of the landscape and taking excellent photographs, return to the Phinaya village, where you’ll enjoy a homemade lunch that will be very rewarding.
After lunch, explore the small village of Phynaya and visit the small Church whose interior walls are covered with beautiful religious paintings. Then, take your vehicle back to the city of Cusco, but before making the 5-hour trip, make a short stop at the immense Sibinacocha Lagoon viewpoint to contemplate its majesty and the incredible landscape that surrounds it. This lagoon is one of the largest freshwater reserves in the Cusco region and supplies drinking water to 54% of the population of Cusco.
After all this, return to the city of Cusco. Arrival at approximately 8:00 p.m. (Plaza Regocijo, one block from the main square).
B&L
2, Moderate
400 meters/0,25miles.
20 minutes
3350m/10,991ft, Cusco
4730m/15,518ft, Phinaya
5200m/17,060ft, Suyuparina Glacier viewpoint.
For the Quelccaya Glacier day tour, you should pack the following items in your small backpack:
For the best experience on the Quelccaya Glacier Day Tour, we recommend you consider the following:
The Quelccaya Glacier Day Tour prices are expressed in US dollars (US$) and per person, and we offer 2 types of tours: Group Tour and Private Tour.
Join our pre-arranged shared day tour to the Qelqaya Glacier and explore the world’s largest tropical glacier with your new friends.
This Quelccaya Glacier group day tour has a single price per person, expressed in US dollars. The entire trip will be conducted in a group of 15 or more people. Group members will be of different nationalities, languages, beliefs, ages, genders, etc. However, the guided tour will only be conducted in two languages: English and Spanish.
Important: If you wish to join one of our shared tours, please check the available departure dates before booking through this website. We don’t offer daily departures for group excursions as this tourist destination is new and relatively unknown to travelers around the world.
| Pax number | Price per person | |
| 2 or more people | $ USD 65.00 |
This option is excellent for travelers who prefer to travel with their couple, family, or friends and don’t want to share the tour with strangers. In addition, with this option, you choose your excursion date, and we organize departures any day of the year.
The Quelccaya Glacier private day tour prices are quoted in US dollars (USD) per person and varies depending on the number of people traveling together; the more people in your group, the lower the price.
| Pax number | Price per person | |
| 1 Persons | $ USD 390.00 | |
| 2-3 Persons | $ USD 199.00 | |
| 4-5 Persons | $ USD 130.00 | |
| 6 or + Persons | $ USD 99.00 |
For the Quelccaya Glacier day tour, you should pack the following items in your small backpack:
The Quelccaya Glacier, also known as the Quelccaya Ice Sheet or Quelccaya Ice Field, is a tropical glacier of great global importance: Historically, it has been considered the largest tropical glacier in the world, its millennial ice layers recording the atmospheric history of the planet.
Dimensions (approximate):
The Quelccaya Glacier is located southeast of Cusco, in the Vilcanota mountain range, an eastern Peruvian Andes extension, specifically on the border between the Cusco and Puno regions.
The Quelccaya and Suyuparina glaciers are located 250 kilometers/155.3 miles from the imperial city of Cusco, a 6-hour trip. Two hours on paved roads and four hours on dirt roads.
Getting to the Quelccaya/Suyoparina glacier is a true Andean adventure that combines ground transportation and a demanding hike, as there is no direct road to the glacier.
The most common route starts in the city of Cusco and goes to Phinaya, a 5-hour trip by private or public transportation.
The duration of the hike will depend on which glacier you are heading to:
If you are traveling on your own, you can find public transportation at any time from Cusco to Checacupe or Quehuar. The problem is that you will not be able to find transportation from these two cities to Phinaya; you will have to wait many hours or perhaps days. If you want to hire transportation from these two locations, they will charge you an arm and a leg.
The best option. If you want to visit the Qelqaya/Suyoparina glacier, hire the services of a travel and tourism agency in Cusco. This way, you will avoid unpleasant surprises and save time and money, as the travel and tourism agency will provide tourist transportation and pick you up at your hotel in Cusco. It will also include a professional guide and meals.
Machupicchu Andes Tours, your recommended travel and tourism agency for the Quelccaya Glacier Day Tour.
Both tourist destinations are in the same place and offer the same attraction, which is the authentic scenic beauty of the Andes glaciers. The only small difference is in the walking time from the bus parking lot. At the Quelccaya Glacier, the walk there takes more than 2 hours, but at the Suyuparina Glacier, the bus will drop you off practically at the site itself, and you only have to walk about 15 minutes at most to get to the glacier.
On the Quelccaya glacier day tour and the Suyuparina glacier tour, the highest point is 5,200masl / 17061ft.
The best time to take the Quelccaya Glacier day tour is during the dry season, which generally runs from April to November. During this time, there is less chance of rain and snow, allowing for clearer skies and breathtaking views of the glacier and the Andean landscape. The roads are also in better condition and the weather is more favorable for high mountain hiking.
It is not recommended during the heavy rain and snow season (from early December to late March).
The cost of trips to either glacier is the same, but it will depend on the type of tour you choose.
The group tour costs US$ 65 or S/ 230 PEN per person, and the private tour depends on the number of people booking together; the more people, the lower the price. For example, if you are traveling alone, the price will be US$ 390 or S/ 1365 PEN, and if you are traveling with a family of 6 or more people, the price per person will be US$ 99 or S/ 350 PEN.
The Quelccaya Glacier Day tour includes: pick-up and drop-off at your hotel, tourist transportation, professional guide, and meals (breakfast and lunch).
The trip to the Quelccaya or Suyoparina Glacier usually lasts 17 hours, starting at 3 a.m. and ending at 8 p.m. in the city of Cusco. You will spend more than 12 hours traveling by bus there and back.
Booking the Full-Day Quelccaya Glacier tour is very easy. Just visit our website.
Go to the prices tab and click on the book tab. Our payment system will open. Follow the instructions and fill in the blanks. You can pay with any type of debit or credit card.
If you have any questions, you can write to us at the following email address: machupicchuandestours@gmail.com or on WhatsApp: https://wa.me/51914229882
Joining a group for the Quelccaya Glacier group day tour is very easy. Before paying for the shared tour through our website, contact us and ask for the available departure dates for the shared tour. We will let you know on which dates we have group tour departures, as we do not have group departures every day.
The reservation is confirmed with a 40% deposit in advance, and the remaining amount must be paid before the start of the tour. If you are already in Cusco and would like to join a group tour, you must make the reservation 12 hours before the confirmed dates and pay 100% of the tour price.
Our private tour to the Qelqaya or Suyuparia Glacier is completely customized. The tour guide and transportation will be available exclusively for you and your family. This option is recommended for special trips such as weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, or simply a family experience. We depart on the date of your choice or at your convenience.
In Cusco, I am your travel specialist, with more than 10 years of experience organizing adventure trips.
Thank you for your interest in having an travel experience in Peru operated by "Machu Picchu Andes Tours". Please take a moment to complete our short form so that one of our friendly travel consultants can provide you with all the information for the best trip of your life in Peru.
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YOU WILL ENJOY THE BEST OF THE NIGHTS IN THE ANDES.
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