Four Reasons Not to Skip Peru’s Sacred Valley

1) Altitude Adjustment

For most of us, Machu Picchu’s altitude of 7900 feet presents a level of oxygen significantly different than our daily life. Few realize, however, that upon landing in Cusco, you are actually already at 11,000 feet. Whoa! So taking a few days in Cusco and then meandering through the glorious sights of the Sacred Valley make a lot of sense. Drink plenty of water, get some rest and take it easy as you explore ruins and meet Andean natives and by the time you board the train to Aquas Calientes town at Ollantaytambo (or start up the Inca Trail) you’ll be ready to enjoy the majesty of Machu Picchu to the fullest.

2) Glimpse Peru’s Flora and Fauna

The Sacred Valley of the Incas or the Urubamba Valley was cherished by the Incas because of its special geographical and climatic qualities. The diversity of microclimates allowed for the most significant area for maize production in the heartland of the Inca Empire as well as the farming of various crops like coca leaves, cereals, vegetables like potatoes and chile peppers, and fruit trees and ornamental plants. The ancient Incans terraced this area for farming beautifully to maximize their food production. The area is also home to a plethora of wildlife like deer, chinchillas, viscacha, foxes, Andean pigeons, and hummingbirds with the Vilcanota river home to delicious salmon and rainbow trout.

2) Ancient ruins

The Inca used the valley as a religious center and an agrarian laboratory to experiment with crops imported from the empire’s distant regions and altitudes. The Sacred Valley is thus regarded as “sacred” both because of the concentration of worshipping sites and for its importance in the development of economies of past and present indigenous populations. The Sacred Valley boasts a rich concentration of archeological sites. The fortress of Ollantaytambo and the ruins of Pisac, which both stand on terraced mountainsides overlooking Andean towns. Then there are the ruins at Chinchero, Maras, and Moray and a multitude of other sites that have only recently been excavated, with more waiting to be rescued from under the dust of centuries.

2) Meet Andean natives

Only 20 kilometers (12 mi) from Cusco the Sacred Valley stretches between the towns of Pisac and Ollantaytambo with elevations ranging between 2,790 meters (9,000 feet) on the valley floor to 5,000 meters (16,000 feet) at the highest peaks. Home to more than 65,000 permanent residents, or approximately 10 percent of Cusco’s total regional population. Indigenous Quechua communities in the Sacred Valley continue to be the guardians of centuries-old practices, for example, in the use of non-monetary forms of exchange or barter called trueque. In food, dress, music, dance, myths, and legends, they preserve the ancient rites and customs that provide a link between the deep history of the Sacred Valley and contemporary life in the Andes. If you take our Sacred Valley + Machu Picchu 2-day tour, we will visit a local community called Ccaccaccollo, where you will meet native people from the Andes, and have the chance to learn about textiles made of llamas, alpacas, and more.

Quick Facts of the Sacred Valley