With the Magic of Cusco tour (4 day Machu Picchu tour), you’ll learn more about this mix of two different cultures, which evidence can be found in the Inca capital and surrounding areas as well as City Tour and The Sacred Valley of the Incas. Visit Pisac and Ollantaytambo and the traditional Pisac Market. However, no mixed culture can be seen in the impressive citadel of Machu Picchu where you can enjoy just pure Incan style.
During Cusco excursions, you will experience the top best destinations of the capital of the Incas. Guided tour in the Cusco Cathedral and Coricancha church. Explore and walk around the Sacsayhuaman, the last inca temple dedicated to the Sun and to the lightning god. Then visit the Qenqo, Pukapukara, and the Tambomachay.
There are many Cusco tour packages offered by all tour companies, but Tierras Vivas created the Magic of Cusco tour for all travelers who want to visit Peru in a short time. This 4 day Cusco tour package has enough time to know Cusco, Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. Come and enjoy the Magic of Cusco with us
Cusco or Qosqo (in the native Quechua language) was considered the capital of the Inca Empire! The Incas also called it the “navel of the world”. Its constructions were based on perfectly fitted stones. When Spanish conquistadors arrived in 1532, they brought with them a new culture and colonial architectural style that replaced most of the amazing Incan constructions. But no worries, you can still find some Inca buildings and streets when you walk around Cusco City.
Sustainable Tourism: At Tierras Vivas, we are happy to promote and practice sustainable tourism by being eco-friendly and supporting local communities
Service Level: Comfortable accommodations, meals, private transport, comfortable tourist-class, activities and professional guided tour in English or Spanish.
Physical Rating: Easy walking and hiking suitable for most fitness levels. Not too challenging
Age requirement: 2+ / All travelers under age 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Type of Trip: Independent trips are either entire trips you take privately to a group tour. Local staff are available on 24/7
4 Day Machu Picchu Operator: Tierras Vivas Travel
Crew: A Tierras Vivas Representative and profesional bilingual Tour Guides in Cusco, Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu.
Accommodation: 3 Nights in a 3* hotel.
Meals: 3x breakfast, 1x buffet lunch (Please allow USD 20 for meals not included).
Transportation: Tourist bus, a train round trip, private transportation by van.
Day 01: Cusco City Tour
Day 02: Sacred Valley of the Incas / Train to Machu Picchu
Day 03: Machu Picchu
Day 04: Departure Day
Site to Visit: Cusco | Sacsayhuaman | Quenqo | Pukapukara | Tambomachay | Pisac Market | Pisac | Ollantaytambo | Aguas Calientes town | Machu Picchu
Arrival to Cusco. Please leave the Cusco´s airport arrival hall, a Tierras Vivas Representative awaits you in front of it holding a sheet with your name. Then he/she transfers you to your hotel. The rest of the morning is free so you can relax, have some coca tea (a natural tea of coca leaves and the best tool against altitude sickness) or just walk around the city´s centre and visit some Colonial churches and ancient streets.
In the afternoon, your Tour Guide picks you up from your hotel and takes you onto the tour of Cusco City starting with a visit of the Cathedral located on the main square (Plaza de Armas). Then, you visit Qoricancha – the golden temple of the Incas that was once the main temple of the Incan Empire and it was dedicated to the god of Sun! After that, we continue by our bus outside of the city visiting the huge Incan fortress of Sacsayhuaman. There are some magnificent Inca´s walls made up of huge and impressive stones weighing up to 130 tons. The stones fit together with an absolute peferction! Three of these walls run parallel to over 360 m. There are 21 bastions in the fortress.
Later on, we continue to a nearby Incan labyrinth and a ceremonial site – Qenqo. After our Tour Guide has explained us about this enigmatic site, we board our bus to continue to the red fortress of Puca Pucara. Our last stop is in Tambomachay – a water temple of the Incas.
Finally, we are taken back to our hotel in Cusco to overnight
Picture: Cusco’s main cathedral
Your Tour Guide picks you up from the hotel in the morning to takes us into the Sacred Valley of the Incas that was an important source of food to the Incas. The Sacred Valley is a lush agricultural region that keeps supplying the Cusco City with lots of its production. We visit the majestic ruins of Pisaq as well as its current famous handicraft market. Then, we stop in Urubamba, considered to be the capital of the valley, to have a buffet lunch offering Andean cuisine. Afterwards, we continue to the picturesque town of Ollantaytambo with its Incan fortress. The town and the fortress are strategically situated overlooking the beautiful Urubamba River Valley. The fortress is known as the best surviving example of Inca´s urban planning and engineering! It is admired for its huge steep terraces guarding the fortress as well as for being one of the few places where Spaniards lost a major battle during their conquest.
In the afternoon, we take a train to Aguas Calientes. We spend the night in this small town before heading for Machu Picchu.
Picture: Ollantaytambo fortress
In the morning, we get ready for the long-awaited trip to Machu Picchu!! First off, we get on a shuttle bus that let us just in front of the entrance to this historic and spiritual centre of the Incas. There, we enter and start our guided tour, during which our Tour Guide introduces us to its history and describes us each part of the “Lost City of the Incas”.
Afterwards, we are given an opportunity to hike the peak of Huayna Picchu to observe the Incan citadel from another perspective (Extra price).
In the afternoon, we return by train to Ollantaytambo (alternatively to Poroy), from where we are taken by van back to Cusco.
Machu Picchu is both, the best and the least known site of the Incas as it is not mentioned in any Spanish conquistador´s chronicle so that contemporary archaeologists can not do anything more than just speculate on its functions. Local Quechuan farmers had known about Machu Picchu for centuries before an 11-year-old boy showed the American historian Hiram Bingham (who was in search of Vilcabamba) this site on the 24th of July 1911. At that time, all the rest of the world became aware of its existence. However, the site was covered with thick vegetation so Hiram Bingham along with his team returned and within the years of 1912 and 1915 cleared its surface. Over the years, plenty of work has been done on excavating and studying the site. Despite these efforts, many unanswered questions have remain.
Picture: Terraces in Machu Picchu
Today is the last day in Cusco so we transfer you back to the Cusco’s airport. Nevertheless, you can still extend your trip. To do so, please check our tailor made section or choose another of our tours.
Please note: a return flight to Lima can be arranged upon request.
Cusco was the capital of the Incas and is a very interesting destination for tourism, in the tour we offer you will learn about the culture of the Incas and their legacy, the towns of Cusco and Valle with their customs. Of course we will not miss Machu Picchu, its impressive architecture, its energy and the incredible natural environment that will make your trip an unforgettable experience. You will also feel the affection of our people who receive their visitors with joy.
Machu Picchu is an Inca city surrounded by temples, platforms and water channels, built on top of a mountain. Its construction was built with large blocks of stone joined together, without the use of amalgam. At the moment it is considered cultural patrimony of the humanity when being recognized like important political center, religious and administrative of the Incaic time. Machu Picchu Peru.
Cusco Machu Picchu Peru 6 Days/ 5 nights
The Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu are two places almost mandatory to visit in Cusco, it is one of the best ways to travel and know the Inca culture.
In itself the Sacred Valley has a beauty characterized by nature and the villages that develop along the Vilcanota river, which allow to enjoy beautiful views along the route. If we add to that the archaeological sites of Pisac, Ollantaytambo with its grandiose stone buildings in almost inaccessible places, it amazes all visitors for all the historical richness that can be appreciated. Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu.
