Private Sacred Valley Day: Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Moray & Maras

At 7.30am, we pick you up from your hotel and take you to the start of the tour. We travel from Cusco, past Saqsaywaman over the mountains towards the Sacred Valley. We descend 1500 feet to the valley floor, where we find ourselves by the sacred Urubamba River and the village of Pisac. In Pisac, we stop to visit a traditional market, where you can browse and buy some local souvenirs if desired. We will spend about 30 minutes here.

Then, we drive up to the ruins of Pisac. Here, we explore the extensive ruins whilst enjoying stunning views over the valley. You will be given a guided tour of the Citadel of Pisac, in which we will see temples, homes, altars, carvings, tunnels, caves and the famous Intihuatana, "The hitching post of the sun". We have about 90 minutes to explore the ruins.

For those who would prefer to spend more time in the market instead of visiting the ruins, advise your guide so he can organize a time and place to pick you up when returning through the market.

We continue on towards Urubamba, where we make a stop (45 minutes) for lunch(not include).

A 30 minute drive takes us to Ollantaytambo, which is surrounded by the sacred mountains. Here, we will spend about an hour. In Ollantaytambo, we get further exposure to Incan constructions, mainly the amazing temple of the sun, enormous blocks of rock perfectly carved and polished, stone water fountains, stairs and terraces. We also get to see the beauty of the local people in their traditional dress surrounded by the sacred mountains and Valley of Patacancha and Willoq.

Afterward, we’ll head to magnificent Moray, the Inca agricultural laboratory. It takes about 1.5 hours to get there, but we’ll be driving through spectacular Andean scenery, passing by yellow wheat fields, picturesque traditional villages, and snow-capped mountains.

Arriving at Moray, your guide will show you around the three amphitheater-like terraced structures. These terraces, which are carved in a circular series to create a bowl shape, are believed to have been used as a testing ground for various crops, to find the most optimal growing conditions. It’s an incredible sight and gives a real insight into the genius of the Inca Empire.

After exploring Moray we’ll head on to Maras, which is just two miles away. Here we’ll see the amazing salt evaporation ponds, which were used by the Incas and quite possibly by pre-Inca civilizations. More than 3,000 salt pools are carved into the mountainside, which catches highly salty water as it emerges from a spring in the mountain. The ponds catch this water, where it slowly evaporates, leaving just the salt behind. This is collected via a communal process and is most famously used to make sal de Maras, the famous pink table salt. It’s an incredible sight looking down across the salt ponds, which look like they are covered in snow or ice.

On our return, we make a quick visit to the famous church and archaeological site in Chincheros. We return to Cusco at about 6:30-7pm.