How to get to and around Sacred Valley?
 

Hi,

When we first land in Cusco, we'd like to go to the Sacred Valley right away. We'll be staying in Ollanta for 2 nights.

1) How easy is it to catch a taxi from Cusco airport to Ollanta when we first land? Anything to watch out for?

2) Once in Ollanta, how easy is it to call a taxi or catch a bus to go to other villages (Pisac) or ruins?

Thanks!

I am also interested in those questions. Also what is the cost of a taxi from cusco to Ollanta and how much does a taxi tour of the nearby villages and ruins cost?

I, too, have the same questions... Can any Peru experts help out on these couple of questions by JC98?

Try tripadvisor or Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree.

I posted this on trip advisor and have not received a reply; so I came over here hoping to find out the same; I heard there were hords of taxis at the Cusco airport, but it was better to get a recommendation. Anyone out there who can recommend a driver?
Thanks, Cc

If you go down a few postings to my trip report (Karen and Julie...) you'll see a driver (guide) I recommend, Percy Salas. He's great. He picked us up at the airport and transferred us to Ollanta. I've got the total breakdown of all his costs in my report (don't remember off the top of my head).
As I recall, there were also taxis available at the airport.
In Ollanta, it's extremely easy to get a taxi if you go to the train station when the train from Agua Caliente arrives. There are tons of drivers then, looking to take people back to Cusco. We had Percy waiting for us.
I'm pretty sure your hotel in Ollanta could also arrange a taxi for you if you don't have someone in advance.
If you want a great guide, I'd highly recommend Percy. If you just want a taxi, it would prob be cheaper, but most of them don't speak English.
Good luck!
Karen

I too highly recommend Percy Salas Alfaro (the same driver for Karen and Julie).

We were in Cusco,SV, MP for 8 nights, plus first night at Lima Airport (Ramada?). Feb 29-March9, 2008.

Percy picked us up at the airport in Cusco. His daughter picked up my luggage two days later. All I can say, is it would have been a bigger headache had it not been for Percy (and his daughter) taking care of that.

Percy was a delight! Very personable, and I am sure that he enriched our experience above and beyond what we would have experienced on our own. He offered several options for our day tours, was always very prompt, and also so gracious about last minute changes. He could have made any number of arrangements for us, including the one day hike to MP. We even spent more time with him than initially planned -- as he took us around the outskirts of Cusco (many ruins) the day after we returned from our two nights in Aguas Caliente. He also picked us up at our hotel on our last day in Cusco, taking us to the airport. I hope that he gets lots of calls from this site -- he's not expensive, seems well known and respected around Cusco.

BTW, we are 47 and 52, and very independent. We usually rent our own car. It was a pleasure having a guide, though I do recommend that you "schedule" some time to "stroll" and explore Ollanta town and backstreets on your own.

A terrific drive to Hullioc was highlight, as was the Chinchero market instead of Pisac. We just learned alot by going to Chinchero because things are done the old way there. The Chinchero market is a visual sight, a real diorama of old world trading. Pisac I understand shouldn't be missed for "shopping." But I got to do that in Hullioc -- where I was the ONLY shopper... Hhhmmm.

Percy's email is [email protected]. I think he's in the process of moving into a new house, so for now he has to go to an internet cafe to check email. I think he charged $50 half day/ $100 for full day. My boyfriend also tipped him.

Good luck on your planning.

4everywhere - so glad you used Percy! We thought he was just great. Didn't get to meet his daughter, but we did hear about her. Our experiences regarding his promptness, flexibility and so on were pretty much the same as yours. He's a gem.

One other thing I meant to mention. By the time we finished our Sacred Valley touring, I'd already bought quite a few souvenirs. He let me keep them in his trunk while we went to Machu Picchu overnight. It was really nice not to have to lug the extra stuff and to know it was safe.

Thanks, althom1122, for your response.

Question: Did Percy also buy the boleto turisto cards for you? I read that they're required for visiting the ruins in the Sacred Valley. But they must be purchased in Cusco. How did you get into the sights in the Sacred Valley? Can you pay per admission fee for each site w/o the boleto turisto?

Thanks! Just want to let you know again that your trip report is immensely useful for our trip planning!

If you're considering using a gude, I can recommend David Choque.
[email protected]
I found him thru this board and we were pleased with him and his services. He's very personable and knowledgeable, speaks excellent English and he greatly enhanced our trip. David picked us up at Cusco Aiprort and drove us to Pisac for our night there. He returned the next day and toured the Pisac ruins with us and then drove us to Ollanta pointing out very sites along the way. We used him throughout our time in the SV and Cusco.
I think you can get a taxis farily easily at both the airport in Cusco and in Ollantaytambo. Your hotel should be able to help you in Ollantaytambo. And as someone stated, there are lots of them at the train station when the trains pull in. There were also lots of cabs outside the Cusco airport. If you want to save money, skip the guide and just grab a taxi.

See my trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35116524

(pictures there too)

I had no problem getting cabs. There are tons in Cusco and you can wave them down and negotiate a rate to Ollanta (I found the rate to be around 80 soles). Look for cabs with licenses (taxi license stickers in the top of the windscreen on the passenger side).

Leaving ollanta you might have more problems finding a cab (its a small town), but near the train station you would probably find one. Failing that, you could go to any restaurant on the main square and they would call one for you no problem.

From cusco we had a guy take us around the whole day (pisac, ruins, etc) and found it to be a good experience and worth the $.

Jeff

I'm pretty sure you can buy the boleto turisto at any of the sites requiring it. I'm almost positive we bought ours at the ruins at Ollantaytambo.

And yes, I agree if you want to save money, just get a taxi at the airport. I'm pretty sure you could do that. We really liked having Percy there with our names on a sign. Seeing that friendly face and having someone who spoke English was great - and made the transfer (and stop at Chinchero) much more fun and enjoyable than if we'd just been in a taxi with a Spanish-speaking driver. We talked the whole way! :-)

Thanks, all, for your very helpful responses!