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Cusco & Machu Picchu: 2-Day Sacred Valley Tour with Overnight

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.00 (18 reviews)

Free cancellation

1/5

Duration2d

GroupUp to 15

LanguagesEN · ES

PickupAt your hotel

Two Days, Four Archaeological Sites, One Night in the Mountains

You visit four major Inca sites across two days without arranging tickets, transport, or accommodation yourself. Day one covers the Sacred Valley's archaeological complexes and ends with an evening train ride to Machu Picchu town. Day two begins before dawn with a guided sunrise tour of Machu Picchu, then free time to explore the site and town before returning to Cusco by train. Book three months ahead for peak season travel.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Sacred Valley tour and train to Machupicchu

Transfer from hotel at 7 am
Visit Chinchero archaeological complex
Visit Moray archaeological complex
Visit Salineras archaeological complex
Visit Ollantaytambo archaeological complex
Buffet lunch in Urubamba
Train to Machupicchu town
Transfer to hotel in Machupicchu town
Briefing about Machupicchu tour
Overnight in Machupicchu town

Day 2 — Machupicchu guided tour and return to Cusco

Early transfer to bus station
Bus to Machupicchu entrance
Register and enter Machupicchu
2.5-hour guided tour of Machupicchu
Return by bus to Machupicchu town
Walk and lunch in Machupicchu town
Short walk around Machupicchu town
Train to Ollantaytambo
Transfer to hotel in Cusco

The Experience

"So we're taking the train tomorrow?" That's the question that keeps coming up the moment you book this 2-day Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu tour from Cusco. Yes — and it's the part that makes the whole thing work. Day one starts at 7am with hotel pickup, then a bus takes you through the Sacred Valley of the Incas to Chinchero, Moray, and the salt terraces at Salineras. Each site gets a guided walk, and the landscape between them is the kind of thing you don't quite believe until you're standing in it. Around midday there's a buffet lunch in Urubamba, then the tour ends at Ollantaytambo, where you board the train to Machu Picchu town. That train ride is the thing people mention first when they get back — it winds through cloud forest and river gorge for about three and a half hours, and there's no way to rush it or skip it, which is exactly why you see it properly.

You sleep in Machu Picchu town that night, which is the whole reason this tour exists. Most people hit the site mid-morning when the crowds are thick. This way you're on a bus heading up to the gates before sunrise on day two, and you get a 2.5-hour guided tour of the main sectors while the mist is still moving through the terraces. After that, you have the afternoon free — walk around the site again, eat lunch in town, take a short hike if you want. The return train leaves in late afternoon, and you're back in Cusco by evening. The Sacred Valley stops on day one and the early Machu Picchu access on day two are what separate this from the one-day rush, and both are included.

Logistics matter here. Machu Picchu tickets sell out months ahead during high season, so this tour requires booking at least three months in advance if you're going June through August, and one month if you're traveling in the shoulder seasons. The tour runs as a private guided experience in the Sacred Valley if there are at least two people in your group, or as a shared tour if you're traveling solo — the cost goes up for a single traveler, but the guide still speaks your language. Transport is handled: hotel pickup in Cusco, all buses, the train both ways, and the overnight accommodation in Machu Picchu town are included. Lunch on day one is part of it too.

What’s included

Your two days include hotel pickup in Cusco on day one, guided tours at Chinchero, Moray, Salineras, and Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley, a buffet lunch in Urubamba, roundtrip tourist train transport to and from Machu Picchu town, one night accommodation in Machu Picchu town, early-morning bus transport to Machu Picchu on day two, entry to both the Sacred Valley sites and Machu Picchu, and a 2.5-hour guided tour of Machu Picchu's main sectors at sunrise.

Good to know

Easy physical levelNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by Tours Perú Machu Picchu

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see Machu Picchu at sunrise without the one-day scramble from Cusco, and don't want to arrange tickets, trains, or overnight lodging yourself — the overnight stay in town is what makes the early access and afternoon free time possible.