The Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu tour is a 2-day service that begins in Cusco with the tour of ancient villages in the Urubamba Valley, and ends at the archaeological complex of Machu Picchu.
The Sacred Valley of the Incas is located at an altitude of 2,800 meters above sea level and has many beautiful landscapes as well as many picturesque villages and imposing Inca archaeological complexes. This valley and its pleasant climate and fertile plains allows for the cultivation of the giant white corn (unique to Peru) among other fruits and plants typical of the tropical lowlands. Machu Picchu, in Quechua, means Old Mountain. It is the name of the Inca citadel that is located 112 km northwest of Cusco, surrounded by a humid forest typical of the high jungle of this region and the Urubamba River.
We will arrive at a small town below Machu Picchu “Aguas Calientes” on the first day at night so that we have the opportunity to visit the archaeological complex of Machu Picchu very early on the second day, thus avoiding the later congestion.
This first day begins at 9 am. Once the group is picked up from their hotels, we will travel to the ancient Inca citadel of Pisac (in Quechua, Perdiz) built to resemble the form of the bird it’s named for. The Inca agricultural terraces you will see there had a triple purpose: military, religious and agricultural structure.
Then we will continue in the direction of the city of Urubamba, where we will have a delicious lunch buffet of Peruvian food. After we will continue our journey until we reach the only Inca village of living stone: Ollantaytambo. There we will take a guided tour of the archaeological complex.
Later we will board the train at Ollantaytambo station at approximately 7:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. (depending on availability of timetables) towards the town of Aguas Calientes. Then we will go to our hotel, where we will spend the night before visiting Machu Picchu on Day 2.
Very early the next morning, around 5 am, we will board the bus to Machu Picchu. This allows us to reach the archaeological complex at a precise time and hopefully enjoy the sunrise on the heights of the citadel.
Once inside we will have a guided tour for about 2 hours where our guide will tell us history about the most important monuments: plazas, towers, temples, etc. Then passengers will have free time to explore the citadel on their own and those who have tickets to one of the optional mountains “Huaynapicchu” or “Montaña vieja” can access them at thistime.
Around 2 pm most of will already be descending to the town of Aguas Calientes. There we will have lunch and time to rest.
Finally after having free time in Aguas Calientes, we will head to the train station to board the return train to Ollantaytambo where our tour bus will return us to Cusco.
What to expect and bring on the 2-Day Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu tour:
Cusco
9:00 am
