Photo: Wikimedia contributors · See sourceSacred Valley Driver-Led Loop
Link Chinchero, Moray, Maras, Ollantaytambo, Urubamba and Pisac over three acclimatized days from Cusco.
- Allow
- 3 days
- Route
- 210 km
- Drive time
- 3 hr 43 min
- Stops
- 7
The Sacred Valley is the essential roadbook because each stop changes the reading of the landscape. Chinchero brings living textile traditions and a high plateau, Moray cuts experimental terraces into the earth, Maras spreads salt pans across a ravine and Ollantaytambo preserves both an Inca town plan and the practical rail gateway to Machu Picchu.
The route returns through Urubamba and Pisac rather than forcing the citadel into a driving itinerary. Stay in the valley, reserve archaeological entries and use a professional driver so everyone can watch the road and altitude. Machu Picchu begins later with a separately booked train, bus and named circuit.
The road, in one glance
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Drawing the route…
The route earns
its distance
Each pin is selected as a place to do something—not merely proof that you passed through.
Photo: Wikimedia contributors · See sourceCusco
Acclimatize before departure; the former Inca capital is not a box to tick on arrival day.
Cusco or Cuzco is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range, and the Huatanay and Urubamba rivers. It is the capital and largest city of the eponymous Cusco Province and Cusco Department. It has historically been one of the largest cultural, economic and political centers of Peru.
Photo: Wikimedia contributors · See sourceChinchero
A high plateau town layers Inca terraces, a colonial church and living weaving traditions.
Chinchero District is one of seven districts of the Urubamba Province in Peru. The town of Chinchero is the capital of the district. It is the location for the proposed Chinchero International Airport, which would serve travelers to the Cusco Region.
Photo: Wikimedia contributors · See sourceMoray
Concentric agricultural terraces descend into natural depressions above the valley.
Moray (Quechua: Muray) is an archaeological site in Peru approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) northwest of Cuzco on a high plateau at about 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) and just west of the village of Maras. The site contains Inca ruins, mostly consisting of several terraced circular depressions, the largest of which is approximately 30 m (98 ft) deep.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor · See sourceMaras Salt Mines
Thousands of salt pans step down a narrow ravine fed by a mineral spring.
The Maras salt pans are thousands of small terraces fed by a naturally salty spring above the Sacred Valley. Local families still manage and harvest the pans through a cooperative system whose roots predate the Inca Empire.
Photo: Wikimedia contributors · See sourceOllantaytambo
An Inca town, great terraces and the principal rail handoff merit two nights.
Ollantaytambo (Quechua: Ullantaytampu) is a town and an Inca archaeological site in southern Peru some 72 km (45 mi) by road northwest of the city of Cusco. It is located at an altitude of 2,792 m (9,160 ft) above sea level in the district of Ollantaytambo, province of Urubamba, Cusco region. During the Inca Empire, Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley of the Incas was the royal estate of Emperor Pachacuti, after the mid-15th century.
Photo: Wikimedia contributors · See sourceUrubamba
A lived-in valley center provides food, lodging and a lower-altitude reset.
Urubamba (possibly from in the Quechua spelling Urupampa, flat land of spiders) is a small town in Peru, located near the Urubamba River under the snow-capped mountain Chicón. It is the capital of the district of the same name. Located one hour from Cusco, Urubamba is the largest town in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
Photo: Wikimedia contributors · See sourcePisac
Mountain terraces and a valley town close the eastern half of the circuit.
Písac or Pisac (possibly from Quechua for Nothoprocta, also spelled p'isaqa) is a Peruvian town in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It is situated on the Urubamba River. Pisac is best known for its Incan ruins and large market which attracts heavy tourist traffic from nearby Cusco.
Drive the conditions,
not the itinerary.
Use a reputable licensed driver-guide, travel in daylight and allow altitude rest. The roadbook ends in the valley; Machu Picchu access is a separate official train-and-ticket journey.
Checked against
the people who run it
Distances and driving times are planning estimates. Conditions, closures, ferries, permits and park rules can change, so check the linked official guidance before setting out.