Urubamba, Peru travel guide: The Valle Sagrado (Sacred Valley) is the 60km stretch of the Urubamba River valley between Pisac in the east and Ollantaytambo in…
The Valle Sagrado (Sacred Valley) is the 60km stretch of the Urubamba River valley between Pisac in the east and Ollantaytambo in the west, lying between 2,700 and 3,100 metres above sea level — significantly lower than Cusco (3,400m), which makes it warmer, more fertile, and gentler on arriving visitors. The Inca Empire used the valley as its primary agricultural zone, producing maize and other crops in elaborate terraced systems that modified the river valley floor and hillsides. The valley contains three of the most significant Inca archaeological complexes in Peru: Pisac (fortress and ritual terracing above the valley), Ollantaytambo (the best-preserved Inca town still inhabited, and the only Inca fortress where the Spanish were defeated), and Moray (circular agricultural terracing that functions as a thermal microclimate laboratory). The primary town, Urubamba, has become the nomad and comfortable-base alternative to Cusco — lower altitude, quieter, and with the valley's markets and Inca sites as day activities. Ollantaytambo is also the departure point for all trains to Machu Picchu (2 hours closer to the citadel than Cusco).
Crowd: moderate · Noise: quiet · Best time: Tuesday, Thursday, or Sunday — the Pisac market days, when the plaza fills with artisan vendors and the Inca ruins above the town are accessible from 7am. The ruins themselves are best before 10am; the market is busiest from 9am to noon.
inca, ruins, market, terracing, artisans
Crowd: moderate · Noise: quiet · Best time: Early morning — the fortress opens at 7am and the living Inca town streets below are quietest before 9am, when day-trip buses arrive from Cusco and the Machu Picchu train queue begins at the station.
inca, fortress, town, train-station, history
Crowd: low · Noise: quiet · Best time: Morning, any day — the Moray circular terraces are spectacular in early morning side-light that emphasises the concentric rings. The Maras salt pans (Salinas de Maras, 5km away) catch warm afternoon light that turns the salt pools gold and pink from 3pm onward.
inca, circular-terraces, salt-pans, archaeology, photography
In May 1536, Hernando Pizarro — brother of Francisco — led a Spanish cavalry force from Cusco to storm Ollantaytambo, where Manco Inca had retreated with his forces after abandoning Cusco during the great siege. The Inca strategy was exact: archers on the high terraces above the fortress drew the cavalry onto the valley floor, where the Inca had diverted the Urubamba and its tributaries to flood the ground. The cavalry horses could not operate in the chest-high water and mud; the arrow fire from above was devastating. Pizarro withdrew. It was the only tactical defeat the Spanish suffered in the direct conquest of the Inca Empire. Manco Inca could not hold Ollantaytambo permanently — Spanish reinforcements arrived from Lima and he retreated into the jungle at Vilcabamba. But for one night in May 1536, the fortress worked exactly as it was designed to.
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