Your top picks for Sacred Valley
 

Hello! We are traveling to Peru in June and really only have one full day to tour the Sacred Valley. We are hiring a private driver/guide, but were wondering what your day of SV 'greatest hits' would include? The main question is whether Pisac is worth it...It is a Thursday, and we will be in Cusco for Inti Raymi and are doing the Inca trek so my feeling is that we will have seen lots of markets and ruins already. Is it still worth it to hit Pisac? Thanks!

the ruins in Pisac are fantastic -- definteily worth seeing the ruins. U could skip the market...

Are the Pisac ruins better than the ollanta ruins? I have a feeling we'll only want to do one, and we want to go to Ollanta anyway...

I think much better. While i loved the village of Ollantaytambo, I wasn't impressed with the ruins there. I have read that many people say Pisac ruins are second to MP in the SV. Sure was my opinion.

So better to see Pisac and Ollantaytambo and skip Maras and Salinas then? Or do you think we could do all of that in one day?

You can easily visit Salinas on the way going or coming because they are on the edge of SV. Moray, on the other, hand is quite some distance from SV.

If your going between Ollanta and Cusco, it's very easy to see Chinchero, Moray/Maras and Salineras in the same day. None of them take very long. We left Ollantaytambo at 11 and arrived Cusco around 3pm, and there was a lot of shopping time in there too.

Pisac is closer to Cusco. You may be ruined and marketed out, but I liked the Sunday Market and the ruins quite a lot. I don't know how the Thursday market compares. Have the driver take you to the top of the ruins and walk down into town.

I liked the Ollanta town and especially Inka town sector better than Pisac, but I think the Pisac ruins are better. However you'll be buying a 70 Soles ticket to get into either one, and it gets you into both, plus Chinchero.

We were in Pisac mid week and the market had 90% of what is up on Sunday. Only difference is there were less tourists walking around. If you are into markets then u might enjoy it, otherwise, its really not worth taking the little time u have to explore it.

I pretty much a agree with the suggestions so far. We stayed in Urumbamba and worked in Olly for a month last year and loved it.

I actually preferred Pisac ruins to MP but as other have said Sunday is a bit of a bun fight in the market and the prices are extortionate (although some of the jewellery is v.good).
Ollantaytambo is great. Very picturesque, relatively quiet and some good restaurants. Try Hearts Cafe where we worked. Their NGO supports the kids in the mountains and the food is good and cooked to European food hygeine standards. If your feeling adventurous, you can rent ahorse and ride to teh Maras salt mines.

Chinchero is nice particularly at sunset (there is a very famous church there with the most amazing decoration).

Good luck on the Inca Trail. I hope you are getting in plenty of pre trek training!!

Would this be a possible itinerary for the day? We will be starting/finishing in Cusco, and it is on a Thursday.

Pisac ruins, maybe a little market
Ollanta ruins and lunch
Maras and Salineras
Chinchero

Are we trying to fit in too much? Neither my husband nor I are the type to spend a super long time at either ruins site, especially since we know we'll see a lot of that on our trek. Our guide suggested the Alpaca farm, but isn't that just outside Cusco? If so, I think we'll save that and do it one of our days in Cusco. Possibly as an easy activity the day after our trek :-)

I think its doable but it would be too much for me to do in one day. I would feel rushed and not able to enjoy each thing I was doing. U can only do the Pisac ruins so fast cause you're walking along ledges in some parts. I think the ruins in Ollantaytambo can be done more quickly. Although we did feel the altitiude in both places which slowed us down a bit...u know, stops to catch your breath.

I would cut out the market in Pisac since you'll see other markets and maybe skip the ruins in Ollantaytambo. U could have lunch there, walk around the village and decide on the spot if you want to fit them in. We did them relatively quickly.

Thanks for the feedback. Would it help if we cut out either Maras or Salineras? Which would you cut out?

I don't think cutting out one of those will make much difference at all. Salineras is a bit closer to the main road, and I liked it better, but I doubt that Moray/Maras will add more than an hour total. You can use maps.google.cl to get a to-scale idea of the detour (many of the printed maps I saw are distorted).

If you leave early enough from Cusco you will be able to see all of those sights in time to reach Ollantaytambo for lunch.

You could always skip the walk down into town from Pisac if you run out of time, and just see the main part of ruins at the top. Although I did enjoy the hike. Pisac is also closer to Cusco, if you have half a day you could do it as a round trip from there.

Photos of Ollantaytambo, Salineras, Moray, Chinchero

http://picasaweb.google.com/kiwifann...eat=directlink

Pisac
http://picasaweb.google.com/kiwifann...eat=directlink

As to crellston's comment about the Pisac market prices, I think it may depend on your shopping skills. I didn't have any problem with what I paid, relative to other places.

I should have been clearer, you can see Chinchero, Salinas and Moray and reach Ollantaytambo for lunch.

Your routing should be over the high road (from Cusco to Chinchero to Olly) and then on the way back the low road via Urubamba to Pisac is a different way. Or vice versa.

Can you use SV as your route to Machu Picchu? You need to pass through Ollantaytambo to get to MP in any regard.