Ollantaytambo Tour: the Sacred Valley Ending at the Train

If Machu Picchu comes after the Sacred Valley, do not go back to Cusco: book a valley tour that ends in Ollantaytambo and take the train to Aguas Calientes the same evening. You see the valley on the way, you save a second early drive, and you arrive at the foot of Machu Picchu ready for the morning. The tour at the top of this page does exactly that, from $26 in current promotion (usually $37), rated 4.8 from 1,805 reviews (checked October 2026), and leaves you at the station or the main square at about 3:30 pm.

Check dates for the one-way day

Which train fits a 3:30 pm drop-off?

Book a train that leaves after 4 pm. On PeruRail’s May to December 2026 timetable the Ollantaytambo departures after that are the 19:04 (Expedition, about 1 h 41 min) and the 21:00 (Expedition or Vistadome, about 1 h 45 min). The 15:37 leaves too soon after the drop-off to be safe. Inca Rail runs its own trains from the same station, The Voyager, The 360, The Prime and The First Class, with a ride of about an hour and a half; its departure times are shown in its booking engine rather than a published table, so check them when you book. The train guide has PeruRail’s full table.

A gap of three or four hours is no hardship. Ollantaytambo is the best place in the valley to spend it: the streets of the old town still follow their Inca layout, the water channels still run beside them, and the cafés around the main square are used to people waiting for trains.

The fortress

Peru’s Ministry of Culture runs the site as the Ollantaytambo Archaeological Park, open from 07:00 to 16:30, averaging 2,860 m. The visit is a climb: about 200 steps up the terraces to the temple sector, where the Incas were still building in huge, closely fitted stone blocks. Entry is on the Boleto Turístico; the partial Circuit III ticket at S/70 covers Ollantaytambo with Pisac, Chinchero and Moray for two days (COSITUC, checked October 2026). On the tour you buy it at the first stop, in Chinchero.

Luggage, tickets and the night

• Pack light for the valley day. The group service takes one carry-on per person; the trains have their own luggage limits, so many travellers leave a big bag at their Cusco hotel and collect it on the way back.
• Machu Picchu entry is a separate ticket, sold by Peru’s Ministry of Culture for a timed slot and circuit. GetYourGuide also sells it: the Machu Picchu entry ticket with your choice of circuit 1, 2 or 3, from $45, sends the ticket by email; the bus up from Aguas Calientes, the train and a guide are not included.
• Sleep in Aguas Calientes, at about 2,040 m, for an early start at Machu Picchu, or in Ollantaytambo if your train is the next morning. The where-to-stay guide covers both.
• Road works at the station. PeruRail warned in April 2026 that access to the Ollantaytambo station would use a detour for about eight months during municipal road works; allow a few extra minutes.

Not heading to Machu Picchu yet? The full Sacred Valley day visits Ollantaytambo too, then carries on to Pisac and back to Cusco.

How these facts were checked

The Ollantaytambo park’s hours and altitude are from the Ministry of Culture’s Cusco office (culturacusco.gob.pe), the station altitude and Inca Rail’s services from incarail.com, and the train times and the April 2026 road-works notice from PeruRail (perurail.com, May to December 2026 timetable), all read 26 October 2026. The tourist-ticket prices are from COSITUC (cosituccusco.pe). Tour and ticket prices, ratings and itineraries are from GetYourGuide, checked October 2026. Train timetables change and services are sometimes suspended: confirm your train with the operator before you travel.