Sacred Valley, Peru: A Guide to the Valley on the Way to Machu Picchu
The Sacred Valley of the Incas is the valley of the Urubamba River north of Cusco, and the best way to see it is on the way to Machu Picchu: you drive out of Cusco in the morning, visit its villages and Inca sites, and board the train to Aguas Calientes at Ollantaytambo in the late afternoon. The valley floor, where Urubamba and Ollantaytambo stand, sits around 2,800 to 2,900 m, roughly 600 m lower than Cusco, which makes it a gentle step in your acclimatisation. The essential stops are Pisac, Chinchero, Moray, the Maras salt mines, Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, and four of them are covered by the Cusco tourist ticket.
What and where is the Sacred Valley?
The Sacred Valley is the stretch of the Urubamba (Vilcanota) River between the town of Pisac and Ollantaytambo, about an hour's drive north of Cusco. For the Incas it was prime farmland: warm, sheltered and well watered, with maize growing on terraces that still climb the slopes today. Inca rulers built estates here, and the Spanish later added churches and colonial towns on top of them.
The valley floor is much lower than Cusco. Urubamba sits at about 2,870 m and Ollantaytambo at about 2,800 m, compared with 3,400 m (11,150 ft) in Cusco. The catch is that some of the classic stops are not on the valley floor but on the high plateau above it: Chinchero is at about 3,760 m, higher than Cusco, and Moray at about 3,500 m. So a typical Sacred Valley day starts high and ends low.
Below Ollantaytambo the road ends for most travellers and the railway carries on down the canyon to Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu, at 2,430 m (7,970 ft). That is why the Sacred Valley works so well as the antechamber to Machu Picchu: you see the valley and reach the train station on the same day.
The main Sacred Valley stops at a glance
| Place | What you see | Approx. altitude | Cusco tourist ticket | On our Sacred Valley VIP day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pisac | Inca terraces and citadel above the town; craft market below | Town on the valley floor; ruins high above it | Yes (Circuit III) | No |
| Chinchero | Weaving house, Inca terraces and a colonial church on Inca walls | About 3,760 m | Yes (Circuit III) | Yes: weaving house and archaeological park |
| Moray | Circular Inca terraces in natural hollows | About 3,500 m | Yes (Circuit III) | Yes |
| Maras salt mines | Thousands of salt pools stepped down a hillside | Around 3,000 to 3,300 m | No, separate entrance | Yes |
| Urubamba | Main town of the valley; hotels and restaurants | About 2,870 m | Not applicable | Yes: buffet lunch |
| Ollantaytambo | Inca town and terraced temple-fortress; train station | About 2,800 m | Yes (Circuit III) | Yes, then the train to Aguas Calientes |
Pisac: terraces, ruins and the market
Pisac is the first town you reach coming down from Cusco into the valley. Above it, the Pisac ruins spread along a mountain ridge: sweeping agricultural terraces, a ceremonial sector with fine Inca stonework, and on the cliffs opposite, hundreds of holes that were Inca tombs. The views over the valley are among the best in the region.
Down in the town, the Pisac market sells textiles, ceramics and silver, and is at its busiest on Sundays. The site is large and steep, so allow at least two hours if you want to walk the upper sectors.
Be aware that Pisac is not part of the Sacred Valley VIP day on our packages, which follows the high route through Chinchero, Moray and Maras instead. If seeing Pisac matters to you, tell us before you book and we will tell you what fits your dates.
Chinchero: weavers above the valley
Chinchero sits on the plateau between Cusco and the valley, with snow peaks on the horizon on a clear day. Its archaeological park combines Inca terraces and walls with a colonial church built on Inca foundations, one of the clearest examples of how the Spanish town was laid over the Inca one.
Chinchero is best known for its weaving cooperatives. In a weaving house, local women show how alpaca and sheep wool is washed, spun and dyed with plants, minerals and cochineal, the insect that gives the deep reds, before it is woven on backstrap looms. It is a good place to buy textiles directly from the people who make them.
At about 3,760 m, Chinchero is higher than Cusco. Walk slowly and drink water; our altitude sickness guide explains why the first days matter.
Moray: the circular terraces
Moray is one of the strangest Inca sites: several natural hollows in the plateau were shaped into concentric circular terraces, the largest like a giant green amphitheatre. Each level gets a slightly different amount of sun and wind, so the temperature changes from the rim to the bottom.
The most widely held theory is that the Incas used these microclimates as an agricultural laboratory, to adapt crops to different altitudes. Whatever their exact use, the shapes are remarkable, and the visit is short and easy: you walk around the rim and look down into the circles.
The Maras salt mines
A few kilometres from Moray, on a hillside below the village of Maras, a salty spring feeds thousands of small evaporation pools stepped down the slope. Families from the local communities still own and work the pools by hand, letting the water evaporate in the sun and scraping up the salt, as people did here before the Spanish arrived.
From the viewpoint the pools form a patchwork of white, cream and pale brown. The salt harvest is mainly a dry-season activity, so the pools look whitest from about May onwards. The Maras salt mines are not covered by the Cusco tourist ticket: they have their own entrance fee, collected by the community. On our packages it is already included.
Ollantaytambo: the living Inca town
Ollantaytambo is where the valley narrows and where almost every train to Machu Picchu leaves. The town still follows its Inca street plan, with stone channels carrying water along the lanes, and above it rises the temple-fortress: a giant staircase of terraces leading to the Temple of the Sun and its huge pinkish stone blocks, hauled from a quarry across the river.
Ollantaytambo was a royal estate, and in 1537 it was the stronghold from which Manco Inca held off a Spanish attack, one of the few Inca victories of the conquest. Climbing the terraces takes about an hour at an easy pace, and from the top you look straight down on the town and the valley.
At about 2,800 m, it is also one of the best places in the region to spend a first night, if your trip allows it.
Urubamba and the rest of the valley
Urubamba is the main town of the valley and its practical centre: many of the valley's hotels and restaurants are here or on the road nearby, and it is where most tours stop for lunch. There is little to see in the town itself, but the setting under the Chicón glacier is lovely.
Smaller villages such as Calca, Yucay and Huayllabamba line the road between Pisac and Ollantaytambo. They are pleasant places to stay if you want a quiet base, but they are not essential stops on a first visit.
Exactly what our Sacred Valley VIP day includes
- Which tours: it is Day 4 of the Peru 7 days package, Day 6 of the Peru 9 days package and Day 5 of the Peru and Bolivia 12-day tour. The route is the same on all three.
- Morning: we leave your Cusco hotel by bus for Chinchero, where we visit a weaving house and the archaeological park.
- Late morning: the circular terraces of Moray and the Maras salt mines.
- Lunch: a buffet lunch in Urubamba at a traditional restaurant.
- Afternoon: a guided visit to the citadel of Ollantaytambo, where the excursion ends.
- Evening: we take you to Ollantaytambo station about an hour before your train to Aguas Calientes, where you spend the night. Machu Picchu is the next morning.
- Included: guide, transport, entrance tickets for the sites visited, the buffet lunch and the tourist train Ollantaytambo–Aguas Calientes. Not on this day: Pisac.
How the Sacred Valley connects with the train to Machu Picchu
The Sacred Valley sits exactly on the route from Cusco to Machu Picchu. The road from Cusco reaches Ollantaytambo, and from there the train runs down the Urubamba canyon to Aguas Calientes, the town below the citadel. Instead of a bare transfer to the station, you can spend the day visiting the valley and take an afternoon train.
Two things make this work: the train ticket and your Machu Picchu entry hour. With an early entry the next morning, you sleep in Aguas Calientes after the valley day, which is what all our packages do. The details of the train companies, luggage limits and timings are in our guide on how to get to Machu Picchu.
On the way back from Machu Picchu, the train returns to Ollantaytambo and the road continues to Cusco, so you only cross the valley in daylight once. That is another reason to see it on the way out.
How many days in the Sacred Valley?
| Time | What you can see | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day on the way to Machu Picchu | Chinchero, Moray, Maras and Ollantaytambo, then the train | Most trips of 7 to 12 days; our packages |
| 1 day as a round trip from Cusco | Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Chinchero, back to Cusco at night | Travellers going to Machu Picchu another way |
| 2 days with a night in the valley | All the main sites, including Pisac, at a slower pace | Travellers who want to see everything or acclimatise lower |
| 3 days or more | The above plus markets, villages and short walks | Slow travel, families, or a quiet base before the Inca Trail |
The Cusco tourist ticket: which Sacred Valley sites it covers
Most Inca sites around Cusco are not paid for one by one but through the Boleto Turístico del Cusco, the tourist ticket sold by COSITUC, the committee that manages it. It comes in two forms: the full ticket, valid for 10 days and covering 16 sites and museums in Cusco, the South Valley and the Sacred Valley, and three partial tickets, one per circuit.
Circuit III is the Sacred Valley ticket. It covers Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero and Moray, and for foreign visitors it is valid for two days. It does not include the Maras salt mines, which have their own community entrance, or Machu Picchu, which has a separate, timed ticket from the Ministry of Culture.
Keep your ticket with you all day: it is checked and stamped at the entrance of each site. On our Sacred Valley VIP day, the entrance tickets for the sites we visit are included, so you do not need to buy one. Prices change, so check the current rates at the COSITUC office in Cusco or with us.
When to visit the Sacred Valley
The valley is open all year. The dry season, May to September, brings clear skies, cold mornings and the whitest salt pools at Maras; it is also the busiest time, especially in June and July. From roughly December to March the rains turn the valley a deep green, with showers that usually come in the afternoon, and there are fewer visitors.
The shoulder months of April, May, September and October are a good balance. Whenever you go, start early: the sites are quieter in the morning and the light is better for photos. Our guide to the best time to visit Machu Picchu goes month by month, and the same pattern applies to the valley.
Our tips for the Sacred Valley
- See it on the way to Machu Picchu. It saves a full day compared with a separate round trip from Cusco. That is how our 7 days in Peru itinerary is built.
- Rest in Cusco first. Even though the valley is lower, Chinchero and Moray are higher than Cusco. A quiet first day after the flight helps.
- Pack for the whole day. You leave Cusco in the morning and sleep in Aguas Calientes, so carry your small overnight backpack, a warm layer, a rain jacket, sunscreen and a hat.
- Bring cash in soles for textiles in Chinchero, salt at Maras, snacks and toilets.
- Wear good shoes. The terraces of Ollantaytambo and Pisac have high, uneven Inca steps.
- Carry your passport. You need it for the train, and student or national discounts on site tickets are checked against ID.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Sacred Valley on the way to Machu Picchu?
Yes. The road from Cusco to Ollantaytambo, where most trains to Aguas Calientes leave, runs through the Sacred Valley. That is why many itineraries, including ours, visit the valley during the day and take an afternoon train to Aguas Calientes.
Is the Sacred Valley lower than Cusco?
The valley floor is. Urubamba is at about 2,870 m and Ollantaytambo about 2,800 m, roughly 600 m below Cusco. But Chinchero (about 3,760 m) and Moray (about 3,500 m) are on the plateau above and are as high or higher than Cusco.
How many days do I need for the Sacred Valley?
One full day is enough for the main sites if you visit on the way to Machu Picchu. With two days and a night in the valley you can also include Pisac and go at a slower pace.
Does your Sacred Valley tour visit Pisac?
No. The Sacred Valley VIP day in our Peru 7 days, Peru 9 days and Peru and Bolivia 12-day packages visits Chinchero, Moray, the Maras salt mines, Urubamba for lunch and Ollantaytambo, then the train. Ask us before booking if Pisac is important to you.
Which sites does the Cusco tourist ticket cover in the Sacred Valley?
Circuit III, the Sacred Valley partial ticket, covers Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero and Moray, and is valid for two days for foreign visitors. The full ticket covers those plus the sites around Cusco for 10 days. Maras salt mines and Machu Picchu are paid separately.
Should I stay in the Sacred Valley or Cusco?
Sleeping in the valley, for example in Urubamba or Ollantaytambo, is easier on the body because it is lower, and it puts you close to the train. Cusco has more to do in the evenings. On our packages you sleep in Cusco and spend the valley night in Aguas Calientes, below Machu Picchu.
What is the best time to visit the Sacred Valley?
The dry season, May to September, gives the clearest weather and the whitest salt pools at Maras, but more visitors. The rainy months are greener and quieter. April, May, September and October are a good balance.
Can I see the Sacred Valley on the way back from Machu Picchu?
Partly. The train back arrives in Ollantaytambo in the afternoon or evening, which leaves little daylight. It is far better to visit the valley on the way out and catch the train at Ollantaytambo at the end of the day.
Official sources: Ministry of Culture of Peru · PeruRail: official train timetables between Cusco, Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu · Inca Rail: official train services between Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu · Ministry of Culture of Peru: official Machu Picchu and Inca Trail tickets · CDC Yellow Book: High Altitude Travel and Altitude Illness · COSITUC: the official Cusco Tourist Ticket (Boleto Turístico del Cusco)
