After 23 long hours by bus leaving Lima, we arrived in Cusco, a World Heritage Site and the most visited city in Peru. Cusco, in itself, is already a great attraction. It is also a starting point for those who want to visit the ruins of the Inca Empire in the Sacred Valley of the Urubamba River and continue on to Machu Picchu.
Cusco was founded around the 11th century and is located in the Andes, at an altitude of 3400 meters. It was the administrative and cultural capital of the Inca Empire, in its ancient layout, it was shaped like a puma, an animal that represents the present and the material world in which we live. In the surrounding area, there are several places that, in the past, were used as ritualistic, sacred centers or for agriculture. Even though it was taken and looted by the Spanish from 1532 onwards, many of these pre-Columbian structures, such as palaces and temples, survived.
See too: Where to stay in Cusco, Peru
How to buy entry to Machu Picchu
The efficiency of Inca constructions was again put to the test with the great earthquake that occurred in 1950, which destroyed a Catholic Church building and revealed the shape of an ancient Temple of the Sun beneath it. The structure has survived the ages, the Spanish and seismic activity.
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The Tourist Ticket for the Sacred Valley of the Incas, in Cusco
To take the tour of the Sacred Valley of Cusco, it is worth purchasing the Boleto Turístico. This ticket, sold at agencies or at the ticket offices of each space, gives access to 16 archaeological sites and is valid for 10 days. It is also possible to buy a partial ticket, which is only valid for one of the three circuits and only covers two days. The full Boleto costs 130 soles (R$ 145) and the partial 70 soles (R$ 80). We bought the full ticket because we wanted to visit Circuits I and Circuit III. (Circuit II included museums and we didn’t have time). There is also a special ticket for those who only want to visit the churches, which costs 50 soles.
The official Boleto sales body is at Avenida Sol, 103, Tourist Galleries. Once purchased, you still need to decide how you are going to get to the archaeological sites. Tour agencies offer a tour of the ruins closest to the urban area (plus the Plaza das Armas) that starts at 2pm. To visit three of the most distant ruins, agencies offer a full-day tour, but the best thing is to arrange a taxi driver and create your own itinerary. It was our choice – firstly because we wanted to go to a point that the tours didn’t cover. Secondly, because this allowed us to better organize the tours on both days (before and after Machu Picchu). And thirdly, because this way you can escape the crowds of agency tours, which usually visit places at the same times.
What is the tour of the Sacred Inca Valley in Cusco like?
The archaeological sites that are part of the Sacred Inca Valley are:
- Sacsayhuaman
- Kenko
- Tambomachay
- Writer
- Cave
- Maras (district)
- Ollantaytambo
- Chinchero
- Urubamba
We started the Sacred Valley tour early, at 8am, on the first day. Our taxi driver served as a guide during the morning tours. We did Sacsayhuamanan ancient fortress from which there is a great view of Cusco and its Puma shape; Qenqoceremonial and astronomical center; Puca Pucara, military construction on top of the mountain; It is Tambomachaya kind of bathhouse.
After lunch, in the afternoon, we headed to Writer, located 33km from Cusco. There are the ruins of an ancient city. As the space there is larger and fuller of things, we hired a guide on site to explain to us how the dynamics of that town worked during the Inca era. When we finished this tour, we headed to Ollantaytambo, our last stop of the day. The ruins are from another Inca settlement and are impressive. We left the ruins of Ollantaytambo straight to the train station and headed to Machu Picchu.
We visited the rest of the places included in the Bole Turístico on the day we returned from Machu Picchu. I don’t advise anyone to do this scheme because it was tiring, but we were really tight on time and followed this schedule. We visited another old town that has an incredible view of the Sacred Valley and also has Spanish buildings where Inca ruins used to be.
And to finish the circuit we head to Moray, a circular structure divided into terraces, which used to be an agricultural area, because each terrace creates a different weather condition (winds and heat). But it looks like a flying saucer parking lot, there’s no doubt about that!
Where to stay in the Sacred Valley of Cusco
Although Cusco is the most popular option among people visiting the Sacred Valley, both due to its tourist infrastructure and the ease of traveling around the region, staying in an authentic Andean village can be a very pleasant and interesting experience. Waking up to the bucolic landscape and tranquility of the mountains and seeing up close the lives of people who still preserve much of the culture, language and way of life of their ancestors is something that bustling Cusco can’t beat. There are several local accommodations in the towns of the Sacred Valley, but the ones with the greatest offer are Ollantaytambo and Urubamba, followed by Chinchero and Pisac. To get to any of them, just take a taxi when you disembark at Cusco Airport. I recommend leaving the airport and stopping by a taxi driver on Avenida, as taxis that stop at the terminal door are usually much more expensive.
Find hotels in the Sacred Valley of Cusco
If you prefer the more traditional option, be sure to search for hotels in Cusco here.
