The fantastic Sacred Valley Tour takes a full day to explore part of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. During the tour, you will enjoy an amazing mountain view of the Urubamba River, beautiful views of the Veronica Mountains, and green terraces. On this trip, you will be able to learn about agriculture, the textile industry, and the history of the Incas.
Tour Location: Cusco Region, Peru.
Type Tour: Day tour.
Tour Duration: All day.
Start/End Tour: Our guide will meet you in the lobby of your hotel and bring you back after.
Advice: Comfortable shoes, hat, sunglasses, warm cloth, water.
Highlights: Moray, Salt Mines of Maras, Ollantaytambo.
Overview
We will pick you up from your hotel around 8:00 am and start your journey with Chinchero. Chinchero is a small Indian village about 30 km from Cusco. You will see a beautiful view of the Sacred Valley of the Incas and the snow-capped peak of Salkantay dominating the western horizon. Chinchero is considered the mythical birthplace of the rainbow and is also known for its market.
The market is not as big as in Pisac and is open on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. But if your trip does not fall on one of these days, do not worry, because along the way you can stop at the daily textile center. There you will overview a fantastic demonstration about how to make beautiful alpaca wool sweaters using natural dyes.
Next, you will take the way to the Moray agricultural laboratory. The way is full of fantastic views and will take about 1 hour. You will drive near the snowy peaks of the Andes. Finally, you will reach the fascinating complex of the terraces of Moray. These terraces, which are dug deep into the earth in the form of bowls, were thought to be used to determine the optimal conditions for growing crops.
When you finish exploring Moray you will go to the Maras salt mines. This place has many pools used by the Incas, but in reality, they were made long before them. Until now, local residents extract salt there. More than 3,000 salt pools carved into the mountainside were filled daily with a small stream of water. If you want to see something really different from the ruins, this is your tour! The place is amazing and incredibly beautiful.
After that, you will go for lunch to an excellent local restaurant where you will enjoy delicious Andean cuisine. Lunch is not included in the private tour and if you prefer a different restaurant just let your guide know.
After lunch, you will continue the journey. You will drive along the Urubamba River towards the city of Ollantaytambo. There we will visit the ruins, which are an example of the construction of the Incas.
The Spanish were very surprised to find huge deposits of food for several years.