Start: Day 1 at 7:30 am in the Gate of the Cathdral in Cusco.
End: Day 2 around midnight in dontown Cusco.
Day 1: Cusco – Písac – Ollantaytambo – Aguas Calientes. We will meet in the meeting point in the morning to begin our trip by vehicle towards north of Cusco. We will make a stop at a lookout point to catch our first glimpse of the Sacred Valley, as well as to receive a presentation from our tour guide. Then, we will reach Písac, where we will visit the archaeological site with terraces used by the Quechua for cultivation. We will reach an altitude of 3,400 meters (11,154 ft.) or even 3,500 meters (11,483 ft.) if we have the energy to explore the highest part. After this, we will go back to the town where we will be able to visit the handicraft market. Next, we will drive on towards Ollantaytambo while skirting the Urubamba River. Once we are there*, we will visit the terraces and the Temple of the Sun ruins, and we will also have an exceptional view of the surrounding valleys. At the end of the day, we will take you to the train station to take the train to Aguas Calientes, from where you will then go to the hostel where you will spend the night.
*If you selected the optional service for a train upgrade to the Vistadome category, you will only receive a short explanation about the archaeological site and then you will have to go to the train station to take the train to Aguas Calientes.
Day 2: Aguas Calientes – Machu Picchu – Cusco.
We will get up very early in the morning to take the bus with our guide in the town center. The ride from Aguas Calientes to the entrance of the Machu Picchu citadel will take 25 minutes. Here, we will take a guided tour that lasts one hour, during which we will receive information about the place’s history, from its construction to the time it was rediscovered by Hiram Bingham. Then, we will say good-bye to the guide and the group to tour the citadel on our own, with enough time to get to explore the structures that we didn’t get to see with the guide, or to climb one of the mountains, Machu Picchu Mountain or Huayna Picchu, if you included one in your ticket. After this experience, we will go back to Aguas Calientes to be at the train station a half an hour before the scheduled departure on your ticket. You will arrive to Ollantaytambo, where transportation will be waiting for you to take you to downtown Cusco.