We had to rearrange our itinerary a bit due to our extended time in Lima, so we ended up doing a couple of day trips from Cusco before we saw much of the city itself.

Arriving in Cusco

The long bus ride from Arequipa on our Peru Hop bus was made more tolerable by our downstairs seats. While we were waiting for the bus (at an ungodly early hour) some other passengers gave us a tip that these were better than the seats upstairs. We managed to grab the last few downstairs seats and enjoyed the extra space they provided. After just a couple of short stops (including a surprisingly decent buffet lunch), we got in to Cusco after dark. Peru Hop provided a taxi to our hotel, which was a nice touch. We found a cheap restaurant nearby to quickly eat before falling into bed, exhausted.

The next day was mostly taken up with administrative tasks, including work on the insurance claim resulting from our incident in Lima. We did get out for a while to check out the Plaza de Armas and get an incredibly cheap lunch at the San Pedro Market. At 5 soles (less than USD 1.50) each for soup, main course and a drink this was the cheapest meal we’d found so far on our trip.

Day Trips from Cusco – Southeast Valley Tour

The next day we did the first of our day trips from Cusco. This was a guided tour of the valley south of Cusco. This area is less visited than the Sacred Valley, but has some interesting sights. We first heard about it from one of Heide’s tennis coaches in Houston. He is from Peru, and told us that when in Cusco we had to see the church in Andahuylillas, known as “The Sistine Chapel of the Andes” for its murals, gold leaf altar and decorated ceiling.

In our pre-trip research we found a tour that included Andahuylillas from a company with good reviews online. After breakfast at our hotel, our guide picked us up and we were off on the day’s adventure.

Tipon

The first stop was the Inca site of Tipon. This place has the usual terraces, but also features a complex system of canals and decorative waterfalls.

It’s thought that Tipon was a site where ceremonies took placed, based on the stonework and decorative features.

One of the advantages of a guided tour is that you have someone to take pictures of the whole family.

Pikillacta

Our next stop was Pikillacta. This is the largest pre-Inca site in the region. It takes a bit of imagination to picture the city in its heyday, as a lot of it consists of piles of rubble and broken walls.

A feature that is intact is the system of passageways incorporating city walls that protected the city and controlled access.

The city was located in a strategic position overlooking a valley with access to water.

There are also parts of the site where a more focused excavation has occurred. These are thought to be the areas where the priests and rulers lived.

It was interesting to see a pre-Inca site and see how different it was from the Incan ruins that are so prevalent in Peru.

Andahuylillas

The last stop on the first of our day trips from Cusco was Andahuylillas. The village itself is fairly small and unassuming. As we approached the church, our first clue that this place was something special was the line of souvenir stalls outside it.

As we approached the church itself there were some external decorations that hinted at what we would see inside.

Before we went inside our guide lined us up for the obligatory family photo outside the church.

We had been looking forward to seeing this place since before we left on our trip, and we weren’t disappointed. The interior murals, decoration and altar were all a step up from any church we had seen so far in our travels (and by this stage we had seen quite a few). Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to take photographs inside, but you can check out this link to get an idea of what we saw.

Overall, this was a good tour, and we’d definitely recommend Exclusive Inka Tour if you’re interested in any of the day trips from Cusco they offer.

Day Trips from Cusco – Sacred Valley

The second of our day trips from Cusco was a “taxi tour”. This is where you hire a taxi to take you to a number of sites which you then visit by yourself. The taxi driver waits for a set period of time for you at each place. The driver doesn’t act as a tour guide, but you can hire a guide at each of the sites if you need one. We did a taxi tour that took us from our accommodation in Cusco to our hotel in Ollantaytambo. This would be our base for our visit to Machu Picchu.

Chincheros

Our first stop was the town of Chincheros. This is an interesting mix of Inca and Spanish colonial style. The town sits at an even higher altitude than Cusco, and we had to climb a hill to get to the main square. It was quite a workout for us first thing in the morning.

In typical colonial style, the Spanish built their church on top of an Inca palace. It overlooks the square where artisans sell their wares. We weren’t there on Sunday, which is the busiest market day. However, there was still a good selection of crafts, especially woven goods, at good prices. Although we were tempted, with our limited luggage space we decided against making any purchases.

There is a large open area next to the main square with great views of nearby mountains.

After our scheduled half an hour here, we made our way back down the stairs to move on to our next location.

Maras Salt Mines

Our next stop was to see the more than two thousand salt evaporation pools at Maras. Our driver stopped at the top of the valley so we could look down and get an overview.

After driving down into the valley and paying our entrance fee, we made our way past the multitude of souvenir stalls for a closer look at the salt pools.

On our way back to the car we stopped to buy some salt, and some salt-infused chocolate. These were inexpensive, albeit temporary souvenirs of our visit to this interesting place. Unfortunately, visitors can no longer walk out among the salt pools, but the Maras Salt Mines are still well worth a visit.

Moray

The most spectacular site we visited on this tour was the Inca site of Moray, famous for its circular terraces.

As we looked down into the terraces we saw a group who were looking to adsorb some mystical energy by making a circle of their own.

We made our way down the pathway into the terraces for a closer look, and a view looking up from the “bowl” that the terraces sit in.

There is a second “bowl” that is a bit less restored than the one you see when you first arrive. It’s interesting to see the areas that are in the process of being restored.

As we made our way out of the site it was interesting to see the patterns formed by the stone staircases between each terrace.

Our taxi driver took a family portrait for us. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as good a photographer as our guide from the previous day’s tour.

Arriving in Ollantaytambo

We had one more bonus stop before arriving at our hotel in Ollantaytambo. We pulled over for a quick stop to check out the Skylodge. These are accommodation pods that are accessed by climbing a ferrata route of iron rungs up the cliff face. When your stay is over, you zip-line back to the valley floor. Unfortunately, they were out of our budget, otherwise I’m sure we would have been up for the challenge of staying here …

We finally arrived at our hotel in Ollantaytambo after a full day’s sightseeing. As we checked in to our room we could see a glimpse of some more Inca ruins, but these would have to wait for another day. After a stroll around the historic cobblestone streets to find some dinner, we fell into our beds, resting up for the next day’s adventure – Machu Picchu.

Although a lot of people come to Cusco to see Machu Picchu and maybe some of the city itself, it’s definitely worth it to allow a bit more time to do some day trips from Cusco. The tours we did were interesting in their own right, and also gave us context for the things we saw later at Machu Picchu.

If fully guided tours are out of your budget, then consider a “taxi tour” – we booked online with Taxidatum, but you could also arrange it directly with a taxi driver if you meet one you like, or your accommodation may be able to organize it for you.