The Sacred Valley runs along the Urubamba between Pisac and Ollantaytambo, sitting at around 2,800 metres — about 600 m below Cusco, which is why most travellers now use the valley as their acclimatisation base. For the Inca it was the breadbasket of the empire and a line of royal estates.
The two big sites are Pisac (hilltop citadel with the Sunday market in the town below) and Ollantaytambo (royal estate on a terraced hillside, with the only unchanged Inca-era town grid in the valley). Both deserve a half-day each. Smaller sites worth adding: Moray (concentric agricultural terraces, probably a climate laboratory), the Maras salt pans (worked by hand since before the Inca), and Chinchero (colonial church on an Inca palace, with a weaving tradition still active).
The valley is also the base for adventure day trips — the Huchuy Qosqo trek, mountain biking from the Maras altiplano, rafting the Urubamba (Grade II–III).
Allow two to three days before Machu Picchu. Peruways runs single-day tours, two-day loops, and acclimatisation stays with transport, licensed guides and the Boleto Turístico included.
