Ollantaytambo, in the Sacred Valley 60 km from Cusco, is the only Inca town in Peru still laid out on its original urban grid. Walk the cobblestone streets today and you’re walking the plan Pachacuti’s architects set out in the 15th century.
The main site is the fortress above the town — a dual military-ceremonial complex. The Temple of the Sun’s Wall of the Six Monoliths (six pink granite blocks weighing up to 50 tons each, quarried 6 km upstream and dragged across the Urubamba) is the headline. The temple was unfinished when the Spanish arrived in 1537; the stones never reached their final positions, which is why the walls stand open to the sky today.
Peruways’ day tours from Cusco cover both halves of the site plus the Pinkuylluna granaries built high into the opposite cliff. MINCETUR-licensed guides, modern Mercedes-Benz Sprinter transfers, and a lunch stop in the San Pedro market square — chicha, choclo con queso, cuy if you’re brave.
Full travel packages at Peruways. Ollantaytambo works as a day return from Cusco but is better as an overnight — it puts you on the first morning train to Machu Picchu.
