Sacred Valley Tour from Cusco

A Sacred Valley tour is one long day out of Cusco along the Urubamba river. Nearly every group tour now does the same loop: Chinchero’s weavers, the circular terraces of Moray and the Maras salt mines in the morning, a buffet lunch in Urubamba, then the fortress of Ollantaytambo and the ruins of Pisac in the afternoon, back in Cusco around 6 or 7 pm. The tours differ in price, in group size, and in one decision that matters more than any other: whether you come back to Cusco that night or get off in Ollantaytambo for the train to Machu Picchu.

The day at the top of this page is the one we would book. Inka Altitude’s tour covers all five sites with a bilingual guide and lunch, from $25 in current promotion (usually $36) per person, rated 4.8 from 3,987 reviews (checked October 2026), with free cancellation and an optional drop-off in Ollantaytambo at about 3 pm.

Check dates for the Sacred Valley day

What the day looks like

Pick-up is early, between about 5:45 and 6:15, from your hotel in the historic centre or a meeting point a few streets away. The first stop is Chinchero, about an hour out on the plateau at 3,750 m, where a weaving cooperative shows how alpaca wool is spun and dyed with plants. Then Moray, the concentric Inca terraces that Peru’s Ministry of Culture describes as an agricultural experimentation centre, and the Maras salt mines, thousands of small pans fed by a salty spring and still worked by local families.

Lunch is a buffet in Urubamba, down on the valley floor. In the afternoon you climb the 200-odd steps of the terraced fortress at Ollantaytambo, and then, on the long drive back, stop at Pisac, the ruins and terraces above the market town. The sites are far apart, so a good part of the day is spent in the van, with about 30 to 45 minutes at each stop. It is a full day rather than a deep one; the place pages say where it pays to slow down.

What it really costs

The tour price buys the van, the guide and lunch. Two entrance fees are extra, and both are paid in cash, in soles, on the day:

Tourist-ticket prices from COSITUC’s published tariff (cosituccusco.pe), read 26 October 2026; the salt-mine fee is charged at the gate by MaraSal, the company of the Maras and Pichingoto communities. Foreign adult prices; students and Peruvian residents pay less.

So budget the tour price plus S/90 for the classic day. Most guides sell the tourist ticket at the first stop, in Chinchero, but you cannot buy a single-site ticket for any of these four sites: the partial Circuit III ticket is the smallest you can buy. If you will also visit Sacsayhuamán or the Qorikancha museum in Cusco, the S/130 integral ticket covers everything and is the better buy. The tourist ticket guide explains the circuits.

The valley, place by place

• Moray and Maras is the half-day version: the terraces, the salt pans and the Chinchero weavers, back in Cusco by mid-afternoon, from $15 in current promotion (usually $16). The best choice if you have only a morning, or have done the valley floor already.
• Pisac has the most spectacular terraces of the day and the best-known craft market. The tour at the top of the Pisac page ends its day there.
• Ollantaytambo is where the train to Machu Picchu leaves. Tours that end there let you see the valley and sleep in Aguas Calientes the same night.
• Chinchero is the weaving village on the plateau: a colonial church on Inca walls, a Sunday market and the highest stop of the day.

Coming back to Cusco, or staying for the train?

If Machu Picchu is next, do not go back to Cusco. Book a Sacred Valley tour that drops you in Ollantaytambo in the afternoon and a train from about 4 pm: PeruRail’s May to December 2026 timetable has departures from Ollantaytambo through the afternoon and evening, the last at 21:00, and the ride to Aguas Calientes takes about an hour and a half. The train guide has the timetable, and the Ollantaytambo page compares the tours that end there.

If you are not heading on, the round trip from Cusco is simpler and cheaper. The valley floor is also lower than Cusco: Urubamba sits at about 2,870 m against 3,399 m in the city, which is why many people do this day early in their stay. The altitude guide has every stop in metres.

Where to stay

Most people do the valley as a day trip from Cusco, where the tours pick up. If you have two or three nights to spare, sleep in the valley instead: Urubamba is the centre, with hotels set in gardens and the easiest roads to Moray and Maras, and Ollantaytambo is the old Inca town beside the railway station, the base the night before an early Machu Picchu train.

Hotels in Urubamba Hotels in Ollantaytambo Hotels in central Cusco

The afternoon before your valley day, a free walking tour of Cusco is a good way in: the guides meet in the historic centre most days, booking is free and you pay what you think the tour was worth. See the free walking tours in Cusco. The where-to-stay guide weighs the three bases.

So which tour should you book?

Prices, ratings and review counts from GetYourGuide, checked October 2026. Operators price by season, so treat them as the shape of the market, not a quote.

• Want Pisac’s ruins with more time? The Sacred Valley day that ends at Pisac visits the same sites in the other order and finishes with an hour at Pisac. The Pisac page compares it.
• Rather ride than sit in a van? The quad bike tour to Moray and the salt mines crosses the plateau on four wheels, in about six hours.
• Staying in the valley already? The private Sacred Valley day from Urubamba or Ollantaytambo starts where you are.

How these facts were checked

The tourist-ticket prices, circuits and validity are from COSITUC’s tariff and circuit pages (cosituccusco.pe), read 26 October 2026. The salt-mine fee is the price charged at the gate in 2026 as published by several Cusco operators and guides; MaraSal does not publish a tariff online. Altitudes and the description of Moray are from the Ministry of Culture’s Cusco office (culturacusco.gob.pe), and Cusco and Urubamba from INEI. Train times are from PeruRail’s May to December 2026 timetable. Tour prices, ratings, review counts and itineraries are from GetYourGuide, checked October 2026. Fees and timetables change: check them again before you travel.