Cusco and the Sacred Valley together make the two-anchor Peru trip. Cusco at 3,400 metres is the former Inca capital, with Qorikancha, Sacsayhuamán, San Pedro market and Plaza de Armas within walking distance of each other. The Sacred Valley opens to the north at a kinder 2,800-3,000 metres and runs 60 km down to Ollantaytambo.
In Cusco the layers are the point. Inca foundation walls under colonial arcades, Dominican convents on top of Inca temples, the Cusqueña school painting tradition still visible in the Cathedral and the Jesuit Compañía. Give it two nights for the altitude.
The Sacred Valley has the terraces still being farmed — Pisac for the hilltop fortress and Sunday market, Moray and Maras for the Inca agricultural experiments, Ollantaytambo for the unfinished Temple of the Sun and the train station to Machu Picchu.
Peruways runs the whole chain as one booking: Cusco walking tour, Sacred Valley day, train and bus down to Machu Picchu. Book at Peruways.
