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Cusco: Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu 2-Day Guided Tour

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1/11

Duration2d

GroupUp to 10

LanguagesEN · ES

PickupAt your hotel

Two days, three Inca sites, one local guide who knows the story

You spend day one moving through the Sacred Valley's main Inca sites — alpaca farm, Pisaq, Ollantaytambo — with a local guide explaining the culture and history as you go, then train to Aguas Calientes for the night. Day two is a full guided tour of Machu Picchu itself, with the option to add the Huayna Picchu hike, before training back and driving to Cusco. Everything is arranged: transport, entry fees, meals, hotel, and guide.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Sacred Valley tour and train to Aguas Calientes

Pick up from hotel at 8am
Visit Awanacancha Alpaca farm
See traditional Inca animals and weaving
Drive to Sacred Valley Lookout Point
Visit Pisaq Inca Archaeological site
Drive to Urubamba for lunch
Visit Ollantaytambo Inca site
Take train to Aguas Calientes
Stay overnight in 3-star hotel

Day 2 — Machu Picchu tour and return to Cusco

Early breakfast in Aguas Calientes
Bus to Machu Picchu site
Guided tour of Machu Picchu Citadel
Optional Huayna Picchu hike
Return to Aguas Calientes
Lunch in Aguas Calientes
Train to Ollantaytambo
Drive back to Cusco hotel

The Experience

The pickup happens at 8am from your Cusco hotel, and you're already moving toward the mountains before most of the city wakes up. Your guide meets you with the day mapped out: first stop is the Awanacancha alpaca farm, where you'll see llamas, alpacas, and the traditional weaving that's been happening in these valleys for centuries. It's not a museum — people are actually working the looms, and if you want to buy alpaca wool, it's there. Then you drive up to El Mirador del Valle Sagrado, the lookout point where the whole Sacred Valley spreads below you, and you can see why the Incas built here.

From there it's on to Pisaq, the Inca site perched on top of the mountain. Your guide walks you through the terraces and temples, and because you've already spent the morning learning about how the Incas lived and worked, the ruins make more sense — you're not just looking at old stones. After Pisaq, you drive down into Urubamba for lunch, then head to Ollantaytambo, where the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the 10 Niches are still standing after five centuries. By late afternoon, you're on the train to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu. You sleep in a 3-star hotel there, which means you're already in position for the next morning.

Day two starts early — breakfast at the hotel, then a 25-minute bus ride up through the cloud forest to Machu Picchu itself. Your guide gives you a full 2-hour tour of the citadel, and because you've spent the last day learning the context, you're not just hearing facts about terraces and temples; you're understanding how this place fit into the Inca world. If you've booked the Huayna Picchu hike separately ($75, needs advance booking), you do that after the guided tour — it's a steep climb but the views from the top are the kind you remember. Lunch is in Aguas Calientes, then you catch the train back to Ollantaytambo, where your driver picks you up and takes you back to Cusco, dropping you at your hotel by evening.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup in Cusco at 8am, private transport to the Awanacancha alpaca farm and through the Sacred Valley, entry fees to Pisaq and Ollantaytambo, lunch in Urubamba and dinner in Aguas Calientes on day one, a night in a 3-star hotel, an early breakfast on day two, the 25-minute bus ride to Machu Picchu, a full 2-hour guided tour with a local English-speaking guide, round-trip train tickets (Expeditions Tourist Class) between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes, and return transport to your Cusco hotel by evening on day two.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfant seats availablePublic transport nearby

Operated by Alpaca Expeditions

Is this one for you?This works well if you want to see Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley's main Inca sites without arranging separate transport, guides, or entry tickets — the two-day structure gives you time to understand the context before you reach the most famous site, and the local guide makes the difference between seeing ruins and understanding why they matter.