5-Day Cusco, Machu Picchu & Sacred Valley Tour: All Included

Four archaeological sites and a mountain city, with a guide and a seat reserved at each one

A 5-day guided tour from Cusco takes you through the Inca heartland: the Temple of the Sun, the Sacred Valley ruins at Pisac and Ollantaytambo, the train ride to Machu Picchu with a 2.5-hour guided walk, and the geometric salt pools of Maras. Airport pickup, three-star hotels, breakfast and lunch each day, all entry tickets, and professional guides in English or Spanish are included. Machu Picchu tickets depend on availability through Peru's Ministry of Culture, and a full refund applies if none are available for your dates.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1: Airport pickup and city tour

• Airport pickup and transfer to hotel
• Rest and acclimatize in the morning
• 2:00pm pick up for city tour
• Visit Koricancha (Temple of the Sun)
• Travel to Sacsayhuaman
• Visit Sacsayhuaman archaeological site
• Visit Qenqo ritual center
• Visit PucaPucara military construction
• Visit Tambomachay Inca Bath
• Return to Cusco hotel

Day 2: Sacred Valley and Aguas Calientes

• 8:00am hotel pickup for Sacred Valley tour
• Visit Pisaq archaeological site
• Travel to Urubamba for buffet lunch
• Visit Ollantaytambo archaeological site
• Board train to Aguas Calientes
• Overnight in Aguas Calientes
• Evening guide briefing for Machu Picchu visit

Day 3: Machu Picchu visit and return

• Early bus to Machu Picchu
• Guided tour of Machu Picchu
• Free time in Aguas Calientes for lunch
• Train to Ollantaytambo
• Transfer from Ollantaytambo to Cusco hotel

Day 4: Maras and Moray tour

• 8:00am hotel pickup
• Visit town of Maras
• Guided tour of Moray agricultural site
• Visit Maras salt mines
• Shopping at salt mines
• Return to Cusco

Day 5: Departure and optional tour

• Free morning to relax
• Optional Peruvian gastronomy and pisco sour tour
• Transfer to airport or bus station

The experience

The tour starts with airport pickup and a free morning to rest at altitude. At 2pm on day one, a guide meets you at your hotel for the city tour: 45 minutes inside Koricancha (the Temple of the Sun), then a drive to Sacsayhuaman, Qenqo, Puca Pucara and Tambomachay. Four more Inca sites in the hills above Cusco, each one a different kind of structure (fortress, ritual center, military post, water temple). You're back at the hotel by 7pm.

Day two is the Sacred Valley. A pickup at 8am takes you 90 minutes to Pisac, where a guide walks you through the terraces and temple for an hour. Lunch is a buffet of Andean food in Urubamba, the valley's main town. Then 30 minutes to Ollantaytambo, another hour-long guided tour of the Temple of the Sun and the Princess Baths carved into the mountainside. By evening you're on the train to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu, where you sleep in a three-star hotel.

Day three is the reason most people book this tour. Very early, a bus takes you up to Machu Picchu. A guide leads a 2.5-hour walk through the ruins (the temples, the agricultural terraces, the precision stonework), then you have free time in Aguas Calientes for lunch before the train back to Ollantaytambo and a drive back to Cusco, arriving at your hotel in the evening.

Day four focuses on two smaller sites most tours skip. Moray is a circular depression ringed with agricultural terraces, considered a testing ground for Inca farming. A 40-minute guided tour explains the geometry. Then 30 minutes by vehicle to the Maras salt pools: thousands of small terraced ponds where salt water from a spring is channeled and evaporated, a technique unchanged for centuries. A one-hour guided tour includes time to buy bags of salt or small souvenirs. You're back in Cusco by 3pm. On day five, a transfer takes you to the airport or bus station whenever your departure is scheduled.

What’s included

• Airport pickup on day one and transfer to the airport on day five.
• three-star hotel accommodation in Cusco (nights 1, 4, 5) and Aguas Calientes (night 2).
• breakfast every morning and lunch on days 2, 3 and 4.
• entry tickets for Koricancha, Sacsayhuaman, Pisac and Ollantaytambo.
• train tickets from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes and back.
• bus tickets from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu and return.
• guided tours with a professional guide in English or Spanish at each site.
• air-conditioned vehicle transport throughout.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery day10 departure times: the first at 05:30, the last at 12:30

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated yesterday

Good to know

Easy physical levelNot for pregnant travelers

Operated by Chullos Travel Peru

Is this one for you?Book this tour if you want the main Inca sites and Machu Picchu covered in one trip with a guide who speaks your language: the fixed itinerary and included transport mean you don't arrange the logistics yourself, and the five days give you time at each stop instead of rushing through them.

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Top questions

What languages is the guide in?

Live guide in English and Spanish.

What exactly is inside Machu Picchu that the guide shows you?

The 2.5-hour guided tour covers the main temples, the agricultural terraces that step down the mountainside, the precision-cut stonework, and the layout of the city itself. The guide explains the Inca construction and the purpose of each section, then you have free time to walk on your own.

Do I need to be fit to do this tour?

The tour is suitable for all physical fitness levels. Machu Picchu involves walking on uneven terrain and stone steps, but the pace is guided and you set your own speed during the free time after the formal tour.

What's included in the meals?

Breakfast is included every morning at your hotel. Lunch is included on days two, three and four: a buffet of typical Andean food in the Sacred Valley on day two, and you arrange your own lunch in Aguas Calientes on day three during your free time after Machu Picchu.

How do I get from the train station to Machu Picchu?

On day three, a bus ticket from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu and back is included in the tour price. The bus takes about 25 minutes each way up the mountain road to the entrance.

What if Machu Picchu tickets aren't available for my dates?

Machu Picchu tickets are subject to availability and sold only by Peru's Ministry of Culture. The tour operator purchases them according to available circuits (circuits 1 and 2 are standard, other circuits may cost extra). If no tickets are available at all for your travel dates, you receive a full refund of the entire tour package.