Peru: Machu Picchu, Cusco and the Sacred Valley

Arrive in Cusco, then down to Pisac and the valley

Cusco airport (CUZ) to Pisac, then down the Sacred Valley to Urubamba

• Lunch in Pisac and welcome dinner
• Nuit : Sacred Valley (Urubamba)
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is a slow sit-down meal in Pisac, at about 2,970 metres, with time to walk the market square, busiest on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. In the mid-afternoon, once the morning day tours from Cusco have gone, we drive up to the upper entrance of the Pisac ruins and walk the gentle upper sector, where temples of fitted stone circle a carved ritual rock above curved terraces. Then it is about 45 minutes down the valley to our hotel near Urubamba, home for two nights.

Soir

Welcome dinner is at the hotel or close by, and early to bed.

Compris

• Pick-up at Cusco airport (CUZ) with your guide
• Viewpoint stop above the Sacred Valley
• Sit-down lunch in Pisac and time at the market square
• Pisac archaeological site, upper sector, entry included
• Welcome dinner

Moray, the Maras salt pans and a free afternoon

Urubamba up to Moray, across to the Maras salt pans and back down to the valley

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Sacred Valley (Urubamba)
• Environ 2 h de route

Après-midi

We come down to the valley floor for a late sit-down lunch in Urubamba, and the afternoon is yours: the hotel garden, a nap, or a walk in town.

Compris

• Moray terraces with your guide, entry included
• The Maras salt pans, community entry fee included
• Sit-down lunch in Urubamba

Ollantaytambo, then the train to Aguas Calientes

Urubamba to Ollantaytambo, then the train down the Urubamba gorge to Aguas Calientes

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Aguas Calientes
• Environ 30 min de route

Après-midi

Below the ruins, families still live on the Inca street grid, with water channels running beside the lanes, and we walk it before a sit-down lunch in town. In the early afternoon the train runs about 1.5 to 1.75 hours down the Urubamba gorge, from dry hills into cloud forest.

Soir

Aguas Calientes is a small town wedged in the gorge below Machu Picchu; the late afternoon is free, and we have dinner together and an early night.

Compris

• Ollantaytambo archaeological site with your guide, entry included
• Walk through Ollantaytambo's Inca town
• Sit-down lunch in Ollantaytambo
• Panoramic-window train to Aguas Calientes
• Dinner in Aguas Calientes

Activités en option

• The hot springs in Aguas Calientes

Machu Picchu at opening, then back to Cusco

Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu, then the train to Ollantaytambo and the road to Cusco

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Cusco
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Après-midi

After lunch in Aguas Calientes the afternoon is free: the hot springs, the site museum or a café by the river.

Soir

A late-afternoon train runs back upstream to Ollantaytambo, about 1.5 to 1.75 hours, and our driver takes us about an hour and three quarters over the Chinchero plateau to Cusco, arriving in the evening. If the train runs late, the driver waits.

Compris

• Machu Picchu entry at 6 am with a licensed site guide
• Every bus ride between Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu
• Sit-down lunch in Aguas Calientes
• Panoramic-window train to Ollantaytambo, then our vehicle to Cusco

Activités en option

• Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain ticket (separate ticket, small daily numbers, booked with your trip)
• A second same-day Machu Picchu ticket on another circuit, if available; your guide confirms it locally and it is paid separately
• The hot springs in Aguas Calientes

Qorikancha, the Cathedral and home

Cusco: Qorikancha, the twelve-angled stone, San Blas and the Plaza de Armas, then Cusco airport (CUZ)

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

After breakfast we walk to Qorikancha, the Inca Temple of the Sun, where Dominican friars built their monastery on top of curved Inca walls of fitted stone. From there your guide leads a slow walk up to Hatun Rumiyoc street and its twelve-angled stone, into the lanes of San Blas, the artisans' quarter, and down to the Plaza de Armas. Inside the Cathedral, built over an Inca palace, look for the colonial painting of the Last Supper with a roast guinea pig on the table. Cusco's old centre has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983.

Après-midi

On a Sunday or public holiday Qorikancha opens only in the afternoon, so we start in San Blas, see the Cathedral when it opens at about 11 am, and add Qorikancha only if your flight allows. We are back at the hotel by about 12:30, and the hotel holds your bags until the transfer. The airport is about 5 km from the centre, around 20 minutes by road,. Most international flights leave from Lima, about 1 hour 20 minutes away, so book a Cusco departure after about 2:30 pm and allow at least four hours to connect in Lima.

Compris

• Qorikancha, the Temple of the Sun, entry included (afternoon only on Sundays and public holidays)
• Walk past the twelve-angled stone and through San Blas
• Cusco Cathedral, entry included
• Drop-off at Cusco airport (CUZ)

Activités en option

• Extra nights in Cusco