7 Days in Peru- Day 1: The Sacred Valley, Ollantaytambo
Visit the Sacred Valley in Peru and see Incan ruins throughout the Cusco area. A full travel guide with travel tips for visiting Ollantaytambo, Peru.
Ollantaytambo Peru Travel Tips
Trip to Peru Day 1
Location: The Sacred Valley, Ollantaytambo Ruins
Cost: Get a Boleto Turistico at the gate, which will run you about $43 U.S. Dollars (130 Peruvian Soles). It is a one-time expense that will get you into most locations in The Sacred Valley, not including Machu Picchu.
Time: Plan 30-45 minutes by taxi to get there, about an hour by bus from Urubama, and at least 2-3 hours to see the ruins. You may want 2-3 hours to eat and to explore the cutest town in Peru with some of the friendliest people, and there are additional hikes to take to see water structures, fortresses, agricultural huts, etc. We spent half a day traveling there and seeing the ruins, and stayed the evening for dinner and exploring the town with some lovely British friends we made while touring. A total of 5-8 hours will be plenty, and this is something you could put on an itinerary for an entire day.
Tips: It is a decent trek up and you’ll be on rock formations, shoes good for walking with traction are recommended. It’s also hot at the top of the ruins and windy and cool at the bottom. Bring a light jacket or cardigan and plenty of water. We were greeted at the entrance by a guide who charged us 20 soles a piece for an English tour. Definitely worth it- unless you already know everything there is to know about the place.
Sample Timing for a Day in Ollantaytambo Peru
Incan Ruins
If you only have time to see one place in The Sacred Valley outside of Cusco, make it Ollantaytambo. It’s a place that served as an Incan Temple, a farming land, and a residential community.
But also, a place used as a war shelter and defense, a place for Incan rulers to retreat when the Spanish took over the country, a place to tell when the winter and summer solstice planting seasons occurred, and a religious place for sacrifices and worship.
It’s also an incredible structure that has survived earthquakes, wars, and the Spanish and still stands as an engineering marvel of stones cut to perfection on the top of a mountain.
Seriously, every angle yields quite the view.
And the incredible-sized stones rolled up the mountain gave us the utmost respect for the Incan people. All of Ollantaytambo Peru will do that!
Behind us is the tiered agricultural structure- where a different crop was planted on each tier. Ingenious gardening and pollinating solutions were created. Far more advanced than any other place in the world during the time of this civilization.
You really can’t beat the modern civilians casually passing through the ruins with their livestock.
All the ruins in Peru’s Sacred Valley are amazing! However, I have to admit, we started it off right with our favorite ones in Ollantaytambo Peru.
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That looks amazing! Your photos are stunning!
looks amazing there!
Your pictures are amazing! Peru has never been on our radar, but will def have to look more into it!
Peru is on my list of places to check off the list of visited! You definitely captured exactly what I envision it to be. Beautiful.
Thrifting Diva
Peru looks amazing!
How beautiful! I'm envious!
OMG Wanderlust and adding this to the must list!!! Peru!!!
It looks so amazing there! I love reading about your adventures.
Wow, what beautiful photos! Looks like a great trip!
This is so cool! My husband stopped by here when he was in Peru. I can't believe how well the stones fit together !
STUNNING! These photos are great!
This is so intimidatingly beautiful. I can't believe the effort put into building all of that minus any of the help that we have such as cranes and diggers.
Katie <3
Oh my gosh those ruins look amazing! Beautiful photos!
Wow! You went to Peru! That is awesome 🙂 These ruins look amazing.
Wow, what a cool experience! That's what life is all about! Beautiful photos!
Wow, these pictures are amazing! I can't wait to travel again.
How wonderful! Someday I plan to travel!
I've never thought of going to Peru from your awesome photos it looks amazing.
It looks absolutely amazing. I don't know if I will ever get there but I would love to after seeing these pictures!
I love this!! 🙂 We loved our experience going to Peru. I can't remember if we went here or not.. all the ruins started looking very similar. haha Can't wait to see all the other days. 🙂
So spectacular AND historical! <3 Lovely photos! 🙂
I want to see ruins so badly. I love the photos!
Beautiful photos!! Looks like a great trip
WOW what a once in a lifetime opportunity! I love reading travel posts they inspire me to see the world! Was walking along the ruins really physical or was it fairly easy?
How beautiful!! I love it and this reminds me that I really need to travel!
What incredible pictures!! Trip of a lifetime– Congrats!!
Gorgeous Photos! I also love the outfit you're traveling in, so cute!