Sacred Valley

Everything You Need to Know

The Sacred Valley of the Incas — the Urubamba Valley — stretches between Cusco and Machu Picchu in a fertile corridor carved by the Urubamba River and flanked by snow-dusted Andean peaks exceeding 18,000 feet. For the Inca, this was the empire's breadbasket, its terraced hillsides producing the maize and potatoes that sustained millions. Today, those same terraces at Moray — concentric stone circles that functioned as an agricultural laboratory — still descend into the earth like a natural amphitheater, each tier creating a distinct microclimate.

The valley's towns are living extensions of Inca heritage. Ollantaytambo's cobblestone streets follow the original Inca grid plan, and water still flows through stone channels carved five centuries ago. The massive fortress above the town features six monolithic rose-colored stones transported from a quarry across the valley — a feat of engineering that remains unexplained to modern scholars. In Pisac, Sunday's market fills the colonial plaza with textiles, pottery, and produce, while the terraced ruins above the town offer panoramic valley views in solitude.

The Sacred Valley is also the heartland of Andean spiritual tradition. Q'ero shamans — descendants of the Inca — still perform despacho offerings to Pachamama (Mother Earth) using coca leaves, seeds, and alpaca fat. Visitors can participate in plant-medicine ceremonies, sweat lodge rituals, and multi-day pilgrimages to sacred mountain apus. The valley invites not just sightseeing but a genuine encounter with one of the world's oldest living spiritual traditions.