Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley is one of the few places in Peru where the original Inca street grid is still in daily use. Adobe houses sit on the stone foundations the Inca laid before the Spanish arrived, and the fortress above the town — Pachacuti’s royal estate — sheltered the last Inca resistance in 1537.
The main site climbs 60 metres of terraced hillside to the Temple of the Sun, abandoned mid-build when the Spanish invaded. The six pink granite monoliths at the top were quarried 4 km across the valley and lifted up by ramps still visible on the opposite ridge.
PeruWays runs guided day trips from Cusco with licensed guides, hotel pickups, and a lunch stop in Urubamba. Pair the ruins with the Pinkuylluna granaries on the opposite ridge for a longer afternoon.
Ollantaytambo is also where most Machu Picchu trains leave from — the station is 10 minutes’ walk from the fortress — so the usual pairing is: Sacred Valley day, overnight in Ollantaytambo, morning train down the gorge. Book through Peruways.
