In shortThe Sacred Valley Peru route follows the Urubamba between Cusco and Ollantaytambo, the town where Machu Picchu trains leave. Four ticketed sites sit along it: Chinchero at 3,750 m, Pisac at about 3,400 m, Moray at 3,480 m and Ollantaytambo at 2,360 m. One combined ticket covers all four, S/130 for 10 days or S/70 for the valley circuit. Driving the length of it, Cusco down to Ollantaytambo, is about 1 hour 30 minutes without stops.
2,360 mOllantaytambo altitude
1 h 30 minCusco to Ollantaytambo by road
S/70Sacred Valley circuit ticket
from $4492-day valley and citadel tour
How much lower the valley is than Cusco
The valley floor is the warm, thick-air part of this trip. Ollantaytambo, at the downstream end, sits at 2,360 m: a good kilometre below Cusco's 3,399 m and only twenty metres above the citadel's 2,340 m. If your first night in Cusco left you short of breath, move down and sleep in the valley instead. It helps the breathing, and it shortens the next morning's run to the train.
Three of the four ticketed sites are not low at all. Chinchero averages 3,750 m, Moray about 3,480 m, the Pisac park about 3,400 m. The classic circuit therefore spends much of its day above the city you came down to escape, so keep the plateau stops brief and save the walking for Ollantaytambo and the river floor.
April to October is the dry season, and the rail operator's own advice for Ollantaytambo and the valley points at those months, which happen to be the ones most people pick for the citadel anyway. In the rain months the stone stairways at Pisac and Ollantaytambo turn slick. Soft-soled shoes will do more for you there than any waterproof.
The stops in order, from the top of the valley to the rail head
The regional culture office lists two paved roads from Cusco to Ollantaytambo: 61 km through Chinchero and Urubamba, or 92 km through Pisac, Calca and Urubamba. Use one going out and the other coming back. That is the only way the upper and lower halves of the valley fit into the same daylight.
Running downstream, Pisac comes first, on the paved road towards Calca, with a further 9 km of switchbacks from the town square up to the archaeological park. The park covers 9,063 hectares, so you pick a section of it rather than walking the lot. Urubamba sits mid-valley on the Chinchero road. The Maras plateau and Moray stand above the right bank, and Ollantaytambo closes the valley where the railway begins.
Gates are what ruin loose plans here. Everything opens at 07:00 and the closing times differ: Pisac and Ollantaytambo shut at 16:30, Moray at 17:00, Chinchero at 18:00. Leave Cusco after lunch and you will manage a single stop before the gates close.
- Food, animals, alcohol and drugs are all barred from the regional archaeological parks
- Climbing on the walls, painting them and camping on site are prohibited
- Drones need prior authorisation from the Cusco culture office
- Commercial filming and photography require a permit
| Stop | Altitude | Opening hours | Distance by road |
|---|
| Chinchero | average 3,750 m | 07:00 to 18:00 | 30 km from Cusco via Urubamba road |
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| Pisac park | about 3,400 m | 07:00 to 16:30 | 33 km from Cusco, plus 9 km up from the town |
|---|
| Moray | about 3,480 m | 07:00 to 17:00 | Turnoff at km 65, then 7 km from Maras town |
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| Ollantaytambo | 2,360 m | 07:00 to 16:30 | 61 km via Chinchero, or 92 km via Pisac and Calca |
|---|
Maras, Moray and the salineras in one morning
Moray is the set of concentric terraced bowls above Maras. Those rings were a place to test crops: the Ministry of Culture reads the stepped levels as separate ecological tiers, used to push the limit of what could be farmed. The site is small, 31.70 hectares at about 3,480 m, and you get to it by leaving the Cusco to Urubamba highway at the km 65 turnoff and covering the 7 km past Maras town, with the gate working 07:00 to 17:00.
The Salineras de Maras are the salt pans worked on the slope below the same town, fed by a saline spring. No government page publishes their hours or their entry amount, and the culture office's Sacred Valley circuit covers Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero and Moray, with the salt terraces outside it. Carry cash in soles for the pans, expect to pay at the entrance, and check the price and the opening time locally on the day.
Taking the two together is the most efficient hour in the valley: the Maras turnoff puts them a short drive apart and both are quick to see. If something has to go from your route, keep this pair.
The combined pass the archaeological sites need
You do not buy a separate ticket at each ruin. Entry to Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero and Moray runs on the Cusco Tourist Ticket, either the full 10-day version or the partial Sacred Valley circuit, and the rail operator says the same about the Ollantaytambo ruins. Buy the full ticket if Saqsaywaman and the city museums are also on your list, and the partial one only if you are certain you will skip those circuits.
Rates come from the official tariff, and the student column carries conditions. The gate sorts the paperwork by age band: 10 to 17 year olds get the student rate on an identity document alone, while anyone from 18 to 25 has to produce a valid student card or an ISIC card.
On an organised valley day you normally pay the pass yourself, in soles cash, at the first ruins entrance rather than in advance. Nothing on this pass touches the citadel. The Machu Picchu entrance is a separate nominal ticket carrying your full name and ID number, sold only through the Ministry's official portal or an authorised counter, with payment due inside 15 minutes under the rules in force since September 2026.
- Full ticket (BTCI): S/130 for foreign visitors, valid 10 days across all three circuits
- Sacred Valley circuit alone: S/70 for foreign visitors, valid 2 days, covering Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero and Moray
- Same integral ticket priced at S/70 for Peruvian visitors and foreign students, S/40 for Peruvian students
- Pachacútec Monument in Cusco: a separate S/2 ticket for adult foreign visitors
Two ways to run a Sacred Valley tour itinerary
A Sacred Valley tour itinerary out of Cusco comes in two shapes, and the difference is whether you sleep in Cusco again that night. The day loop drives out on one of the two paved roads, takes the stops, and puts you back in a bed at 3,399 m, leaving the citadel for a separate day. That works, and it is the right call if your Machu Picchu date is already locked to a different week.
The one-way version uses the same kilometres better: valley stops through the morning, then the station at Ollantaytambo instead of the road back. The rail operator puts Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes at roughly 1 hour 45 minutes, boarding closes 30 minutes before departure, and the point of sale inside the station on Av. Ferrocarril opens 04:15 to 21:00 daily including holidays, with luggage stored there over the same hours at no charge. Times are indicative, so confirm yours when you book.
Pack for the train before you pack for the ruins. On PeruRail each passenger takes either one backpack, 8 kg and 100 cm of total dimensions at most, or one carry-on at up to 12 kg and 115 cm, and anything bigger goes into custody; the operators running the packaged day are stricter again, asking for 5 kg plus a small daypack. Go over on the Machu Picchu route and the excess is $15 for a carry-on, $25 for a checked bag.
Ending the valley day in Aguas Calientes is what buys you a good entry hour. A bed in town puts the 06:00 and 07:00 slots within reach: shuttles start running up at 5:30 a.m. and the climb is 8 km, roughly 13 hairpin bends, 20 to 25 minutes. One concessionaire works that road at a government-regulated fare of about US$24 return for foreign visitors, and the Consettur booth on Avenida Hermanos Ayar is where you buy it the afternoon before. A packaged single day out of Cusco runs the other way round: pickup around 05:20, about 15 hours door to door, and an entry hour between 11:00 and 14:00. Your ticket names one hour and the gate holds you to it, with 30 minutes of tolerance in low season and 45 in high season.
Valley on day one, citadel at opening on day two
This is the one-way version arranged for you: the valley stops with an English-speaking local guide, a private room in Aguas Calientes that night, then Circuit 2 priority allocation subject to Ministry availability the next morning. Two days, from $449, 4.8 ★ (1294 reviews), and the valley pass itself is handed over in soles cash at the ruins entrance.
★ 4.8/5 · 1,294 reviews
Where to sleep in the valley and what to cut
Ollantaytambo is the obvious base: 2,360 m, about 1 hour 30 minutes from Cusco by road, and the station sits in the town itself, so an awkward train hour costs you a five-minute walk instead of a pre-dawn drive. Urubamba lies mid-valley on the same paved road through Chinchero. Pisac at about 3,400 m and Chinchero at an average 3,750 m are too high to help you settle in, so see them in the daytime and come back down.
Craft market mornings in Pisac and Chinchero are not fixed on any official page, so ask at your hotel the evening before. If the stalls matter to you, be in the square early and climb to the park afterwards; the Pisac gate closes at 16:30.
When the clock is short, drop the Pisac climb first: 9 km up from the square and a 16:30 close make it the stop most likely to break a late start. Keep Moray with the salt pans. Keep Ollantaytambo too, whose short circuit is flat, takes about 35 minutes and has a ramp at the entrance for visitors with disabilities. Chinchero closes at 18:00, which makes it the one stop that still works late, and the reason the loop home usually runs back through it.
If Peru starts in Lima rather than Cusco, the valley is normally folded into a longer run. The 7-Day New Dawn in Machu Picchu: Lima, Cusco & Sacred Valley tour, 7 days from $1070 and rated 4.9 ★ (321 reviews), covers six nights with daily breakfast, ground transfers, entrance fees on the scheduled tours and the round-trip train on the Voyager service; the Lima to Cusco flights are arranged separately.
Questions people ask
Does the Cusco Tourist Ticket cover the Maras salt pans?
No. The official tariff lists the Sacred Valley circuit as covering Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero and Moray, and the salineras are not among them. Carry cash in soles for the pans, since no government page publishes their amount or their hours. Ask your driver or guide to confirm both on the day.
Can I see the valley and catch the Machu Picchu train on the same day?
Yes, and it is the better use of the drive. Work the stops in the morning and finish at Ollantaytambo, remembering that the Pisac and Ollantaytambo gates close at 16:30. The station ticket office and luggage store open 04:15 to 21:00 every day including holidays, and boarding closes 30 minutes before departure.
Will a night in the valley help with the altitude?
Sleeping at Ollantaytambo's 2,360 m puts you roughly a kilometre below Cusco at 3,399 m, and almost level with the citadel at 2,340 m. The daytime stops are another matter: Chinchero averages 3,750 m, Moray about 3,480 m and the Pisac park about 3,400 m, all above the city. Keep those short if you arrived yesterday.
Pisac or Ollantaytambo if I can only do one?
Ollantaytambo, for two practical reasons. Its short circuit is flat, takes about 35 minutes and has a ramp at the entrance, and it sits where the railway starts, so the visit costs you no extra driving. Pisac asks for 9 km of switchbacks above the town and a steeper walk, inside a park of 9,063 hectares that you can only sample.
Does the Machu Picchu entrance come with the valley ticket?
No, the two are unrelated. The citadel entrance is nominal, issued with your full name and ID document number, and sold only through the Ministry's official portal or an authorised counter; names and dates cannot be changed afterwards. The train fare does not include it either, according to the rail operator.
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