Chivay sits at 3,635 meters and marks the first real stop on the route into Colca Canyon. By this point, your body has had a few hours to start adjusting to the altitude. The main plaza is busy in the mornings—locals setting up market stalls, villagers heading to work. The tour pauses here for breakfast, and it's a good moment to observe how an Andean town actually functions. Coca leaf tea is usually available, and it does help ease the altitude discomfort.

Yanque has a baroque colonial church and a plaza where you might see local women and children performing Wititi dances in embroidered skirts and vests—they dance for tips in the early morning hours. The tour either drives through or stops briefly. If you get out, you'll notice the church façade is in good condition, and depending on the day, locals wearing the distinctive Colca Valley dress with its embroidered details and wide-brimmed hats.

The town sits in the middle of the valley and has an 18th-century colonial church with volcanoes visible behind it—the setting makes for decent photos if the weather cooperates. Maca was partially rebuilt after a landslide in the 1990s, and some tours stop briefly to walk around the plaza or grab a quick snack before continuing toward Mirador del Condor

Colca Canyon drops over 3,000 meters in some sections, putting it among the deepest canyons in the world. At Cruz del Cóndor, you're standing at the rim looking straight down into the gorge and across to the opposite side, where small villages and agricultural terraces hold onto the steep slopes. The reason everyone comes here is the Andean condors. These birds have wingspans that can reach over 3 meters, and they ride the thermal currents that rise from the canyon floor—usually in the morning when the air starts warming up. They glide close enough to the viewpoint that you can see the white collar markings on their necks and hear the wind through their feathers. Cruz del Cóndor has several lookout spots connected by a short path. You'll have time to move between them, watch for condors, take photos, and absorb the scale of what you're looking at.

A popular relaxation stop, these thermal baths are located about 10 km from Chivay. offers several man-made pools fed by natural hot springs, with water temperatures around 35–38°C (95-100F). Surrounded by canyon walls and with a view of the Colca River, it’s a scenic spot to soak your muscles. Facilities include changing rooms, showers, and a small snack bar. Bathing here is optional but recommended if you brought a swimsuit​

Patapampa sits at 4,910 meters, and you'll feel it—the air is thin and cold up here. The pass is covered with stone cairns, small piles of rocks that travelers have stacked over the years. When the weather clears, you get views of multiple volcanoes: Ampato at 6,288 meters (where the frozen Inca mummy "Juanita" was found in the 1990s), Sabancaya at 5,976 meters (still active, you might see smoke rising from it), and Mismi, which is considered one of the sources of the Amazon River. The stop is brief—most people step out for photos, catch their breath, and get back in the vehicle before the cold really sets in.

This reserve stretches across the Arequipa and Puno regions—high plains, wetlands, and volcanoes on the skyline. Pampa Cañahuas is the section where vicuñas live under government protection. These wild camelids have softer, finer coats than their domesticated relatives, and they move in herds across the grasslands. The tour stops here so you can see them, often grazing close to the road. You'll also spot alpacas and llamas—usually near herders who tend them—and you can start picking out the differences: vicuñas are smaller, lighter in color, and move with more caution since they're not used to people.

Lagunillas sits at about 4,450 meters, roughly halfway between Chivay and Puno. The tour stops at a viewpoint above the lake—the water is often a deep, clear blue, bordered by wetlands that pull in birds and other wildlife. Flamingos wade through the shallows when conditions are right, and vicuñas sometimes graze near the shoreline. It's a quick stop, but the combination of altitude, color, and stillness makes it worth the pause.

This is the end of the trip, you'll be dropped off some blocks away from Plaza de Armas of Puno