Cusco 2-Day Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu Tour Review

Okay, so you’re maybe thinking about seeing Machu Picchu? It’s likely a bucket-list kinda trip, is that right? There are different options, yet that “From Cusco 2 Days Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu Via the Scenic Route” option? It could just be the right thing if you want amazing views with a limited time. It squeezes a lot in a quick span, so I’ll go over my experience and maybe it’ll help you choose if that sounds like something up your alley. Very quickly, here’s the long and short of it: totally amazing, but getting some info first might make it even better.

Why Pick the Scenic Route Tour?

Quick trips usually turn into seeing the best views as soon as possible. But, this trip sells itself on not just checking Machu Picchu off your travel list, it makes the trip fun as well. So you can just go straight from Cusco to Aguas Calientes by train? Sure, but then you’d not have gotten the charming Sacred Valley views and stops along the way. With this scenic route thing you actually make several stops such as Pisac and Ollantaytambo that are interesting and pretty in their own special way. These stops? They actually add insight to the culture of the place and give you good views that just driving past on a train won’t show you. It appears you can go directly, yet if you actually love landscape, you may enjoy having time looking around along the way.

Day 1: Into the Sacred Valley

So, day one starts pretty early, because, of course it does. Getting from Cusco to the Sacred Valley it ends up taking the better part of the whole day, it appears. A usual start is with Pisac, a spot known rather well for its market and hilltop ruins. So the market is definitely tourist-focused now, you can buy a lot of hand-made crafts that look amazing. I liked looking around with all the colors. After the market, there’s like an ancient Incan spot way above that. Exploring around up there can be tiring, it may involve some climbing, yet the expansive views are certainly the reward. After Pisac, the bus, or whatever, drives on to Ollantaytambo. Now this spot is another ancient place that it seems had an interesting past. The spot once served as like, a fortress and religious center, or so they say. Now it’s more just big stones, very high up that some say aliens made.

Overnight in Aguas Calientes

Basically, after checking out Ollantaytambo, you finally head to Aguas Calientes. It seems this city at the bottom of Machu Picchu serves a pretty standard purpose – it’s basically a launchpad for trips up the mountain, anyway. Very many trains connect the Sacred Valley with Aguas Calientes, as it’s very scenic getting around the mountains. After you show up, you likely head directly to the lodging picked out for you, very often, the hotels here, are more functional than great, or so it seemed in my case. In the evening, just walking around is pretty alright because of restaurants, stores, and seeing fellow travellers planning for their trips too. Getting good sleep becomes important too, due to what happens the next day, clearly.

Day 2: Machu Picchu, the Grand Finale

The big day actually comes real early. Basically, the buses heading up to Machu Picchu end up starting way before sunrise, you know. Many want to get up as soon as they open in order to see the sunrise, or be the first to move about the location when not as very many people showed up. So the bus trip goes uphill on some switchbacks, then arriving there. It would be nice to get there early, that’s the trick, you understand? Walking around the ruins, you’ll view just great building with a mountain range all around. That said, it can take some walking up steep areas, it looks like, or other walking along walls. So the tour part often goes for two or three hours, depending. Then you can keep visiting on your own to find that exact cool view or cool building. You actually leave from Machu Picchu that same afternoon so you may arrive in Cusco pretty late.

Tour Guides: How Important Are They?

The tour guides made that difference, that they might be. Finding the right group of guides turns out very important if you go on an organized tour, arguably. Tour guides may be interesting individuals who like discussing local customs, or some others who just go through their lines by rote, apparently. So you may like to research a bit or read individual reports that others leave behind to view when people liked specific tour operators. Being knowledgeable about past local individuals may also really add to viewing buildings to look at, very much. If the guides are very friendly, feel free to discuss everything with those individuals, alright? So guides who connect on a basic level appear the most enjoyable in all aspects.

What Should You Pack?

Thinking on what stuff to add turns very crucial for that travel through Peru, okay. So the weather shifts up and down constantly and can get pretty hot during sunny parts and cool fast after. If you wear different clothes you should do fine enough for going through the various locations. It really becomes necessary to wear comfy shoes due to visiting those various locations on foot constantly. Sunscreen should also be on your person, actually, if you prefer being outdoors with the sun always hitting your area constantly, that. So water plus little snack foods or fruit appear really critical when thinking about trekking outdoors throughout that tour thing. Oh and keep a small pack with the absolute bare minimum of necessities since some regions ban anything excessive while going up those big climbs!

Is This Tour Right for You?

Picking tours relies entirely around the person selecting everything for their own needs, it would seem. Think on what time might exist for any trip to consider what tour actually suits all requirements, actually. So if you basically want only see the most important areas quickly, like, taking a tour skipping all extraneous stuff may be ideal. On the flip side if someone seriously appreciates viewing new things across scenic roads at some speed then it may be cool for some folks even given the speed of that two day excursion. To figure that factor there, it becomes essential reading travel reports that others make to gauge average views on seeing various buildings and also reading how others manage seeing locations rapidly throughout journeys or activities.

Okay, that “From Cusco 2 Days Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu Via the Scenic Route” actually gets so much in two days! So you go up into the mountains and then down on railroads to basically walk and explore and view that Machu Picchu location that others talk much about all time! Just see if seeing locations extremely soon suits how folks wish going traveling generally when weighing whether that exact specific planned outing matches someone travelling goals.