Cusco or Ollantaytambo?

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What is the best place to stay before your visit to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of the Incas?


As we have already mentioned in recent articles from our blog, Machu Picchu was the main reason that led us to travel to Peru. However, at all we wanted our trip to be limited to Machu Picchu, which, though alone worth a trip would be a waste not to take advantage of to explore other attractions of this wonderful country.

Unfortunately, due to budget issues and also due to lack of time, several attractions in Peru had to stay for a second visit to the country but something that we could not miss to make the most of was the Sacred Valley of the Incas

The Sacred Valley of the Incas is located along the Urubamba River, in a sort of triangle formed between Cusco, Pisac and Ollantaytambo, and was considered sacred to the Incas. This valley, surrounded by mountains, has a marvelous scenery and its vast fertile lands have boosted the growth of the populations that have settled there throughout history, especially the Incas.


And the Sacred Valley is definitely something you can not miss if you plan to go to Machu Picchu. As we have also mentioned in previous articles, organizing your trip to Machu Picchu leads to certain planning and there are always several factors to consider.

One of the factors to take into account is the need to plan how you intend to go to Machu Picchu, because as you will easily discover, there is no direct road linking Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, so you will feel the need to plan how to get there.

There is more than one option to do this, which can be done by the Inca Trail, walking for 4 days, you can also take a public transport to the hydroelectric and then walk about 2 hours on foot to Aguas Calientes or, you can make the entire journey on foot between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes.

However, the vast majority of people arriving in Machu Picchu do so by using the train connecting Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, Aguas Calientes is the town that is next to Machu Picchu, and where you can take the bus that takes you on a fast ascent about 20 minutes to the entrance of Machu Picchu or, instead of the bus, you can choose to make this journey by walking. This was our option, to carry out the train journey between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes by train.

Arrival by plane to Cusco


Like us, the vast majority of people arrive in Cusco by plane from Lima but rarely go directly to Machu Picchu, reserving a few days to explore Cusco and the Sacred Valley of the Mayas, something we also did, having booked 5 days between our arrival trip to Cusco and departure to Lima. Having scheduled the plane trip to Cusco and planned to stay 5 days to explore the Sacred Valley and visit Machu Picchu, we needed to plan our itinerary.

Cusco or Ollantaytambo?


When we marked our plane trip, we began to plan something that, I must say, the vast majority of people do, that is, to find a place to sleep in the first 2, 3 days, in the city of Cusco, to allow us to know the city and, use it as a base to explore the Sacred Valley.

And the truth is that staying in the city of Cusco was something that really excited us because it is undoubtedly a wonderful city, and we really loved to discover it. We stayed there for 2 nights and, we are very glad we did it, and we recommend you to do it. Please, don't pass the chance to meet Cusco, what we really feel, after our trip, is that maybe Cusco isn't the best place to stay when you arrive at the Sacred Valley. Let's talk a little more about that.


The question we posed was, would it be ideal to stay in Cusco when arriving in the Sacred Valley or, there would be another better option. And that was when we came to the idea of ​​staying in Ollantaytambo and, after our trip, we are obliged to say that this was a great option, so we come to explain the reasons for our choice.

Altitude Sickness


One of the biggest concerns we had when embarking on this trip was related to the symptoms associated with Altitude Sickness, because we had never in our life were at more than 2000 meters. When landing in Cusco we would be about 3400 meters high, coming directly from Lima, which is located a few meters high from the sea level and, traveling with a child of 7 years, we were afraid of the consequences of this change of height, especially in our son (you can learn more about how to prevent and deal with the effects of altitude sickness on children and adults by reading our article here).

One of the best strategies to deal with altitude sickness is to stay at an intermediate height, to avoid big changes in a short time and, if possible, stay one or two days at a lower altitude, something that Ollantaytambo corresponds perfectly because is about 2800 meters, 600 less than Cusco, which turns out to be a big difference with regard to the consequences for our body.

Great base for exploring the Sacred Valley of the Incas


Another reason that captivated us so much to stay first in Ollantaytambo was due to the fact that it is a great base for exploring the Sacred Valley. Ollantaytambo is in the heart of the Sacred Valley and it is easy to get a collective or even private excursion and also get good prices for a taxi that takes you to explore the other attractions of the Sacred Valley. With ease you can visit one day the main attractions and, you can do as we: leave the first day only to visit Ollantaytambo in a slow an quiet pace because it is really wonderful. The second day we went to explore the rest of the Sacred Valley (except Cusco and the attractions nearby), then with your body completely accustomed to the altitude, we went to visit Machu Picchu, which is about 2400 meters high. Only then we went to Cusco, we reserve the last few days before catching the returning plain to Lima to explore Cusco with calm and, to face more easily its 3400 meters of height.

Great base to visit Machu Picchu


Another of the issues that led us to choose to stay in Ollantaytambo is that it is closer to Machu Picchu. Many people use Cusco as a base to visit Machu Picchu on a day trip, that is, they depart from Cusco early in the morning, visit Machu Picchu and return on the same day. Probably staying in Aguas Calientes makes life very easy for those who want to get to know Machu Picchu, but after exploring Aguas Calientes, we do not really feel like it was a place we want to stay, especially when there are places as historic and magical as Ollantaytambo, in contrast to Aguas Calientes, which has no history and is entirely aimed at commerce and tourism.


So instead of making the round trip from Cusco to Machu Picchu on the same day, that would be very, very tiring, we choose the option to do it from Ollantaytambo, because it  saves at least more than one hour of travel in each direction, making the day much less tiring than when this trip starts from Cusco.

Cheapest Prices


Something we noticed was that in Ollantaytambo we got very good prices, both at the level of lodging and at the level of meals, we felt it be cheaper than in Cusco, although the differences were not huge and to force some negotiation, something always necessary when traveling in Peru.

Ollantaytambo is wonderful!


Despite the above reasons, the main recommendation to book a few days in Ollantaytambo is because it is a wonderful, beautiful land, the most beautiful that there is in the Sacred Valley of the Incas and, which we guarantee deserves much more time than a quick visit realized in a tourist excursion.

In fact, it is when the tourist groups finish their visits, that to stroll through this small village gains more charm and, turns out to be a perfect door for the entrance in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

Conclusion


The purpose of this article is not to give the opinion that Ollantaytambo is better than Cusco. In fact, Cusco is magnificent and we stayed two whole days and we loved it, do not forget to stay in Cusco when you make your trip to Machu Picchu. However, what we refer to is that Ollantaytambo undoubtedly deserves more length of stay than is usually given when only a quick visit is made on a tourist tour.


In fact, we even consider that it is the ideal port to start exploring the Sacred Valley of the Incas. After landing at Cusco airport, a quick trip of just over an hour and a half will leave you in a privileged base to explore the Sacred Valley and have the added advantage of lessening the effects of altitude sickness which, in the case of our family, were nonexistent.

 We hope that these ideas will help you to prepare for your trip to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of the Incas. If you still do not have a place to stay on your trip, we always do our reservations with booking, they are our partners and its with them that we get the best deals. You can look for the best deals by clicking here, it will not cost you any money and, it helps us to support our blog.

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We would also like to invite you to leave your opinion and questions, in case you have already visited Machu Picchu, let us know what you think is the best time of the day to visit. Thanks for your visit to our Non Stop Family Travel Blog, come back often and, if you liked our article, do not forget to share it with your friends.

 If you are planning your visit to Peru, here is a list of some of our destination-related posts that are sure to be very helpful in organizing your itinerary:

- 10 reasons why you should visit Lima
- 20 things you should know when planning your trip to Machu Picchu 
- What is the Sacred Valley of the Incas? What to see in the Sacred Valley, Peru
- How to avoid the crowds in Machu Picchu
- How to visit the Rainbow Mountain in Peru? Things to know when planning your trip

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4 comentários

  1. dan6 de junho de 2019 às 03:34

    Wow, very fascinating! I was in Peru last March for two months. I stayed in Lima for two weeks and we took a short trip to Ica. I didn't get to see Machu Picchu but did see some Nazca Lines! I'll probably be going back next year and I cant wait!

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  2. Non Stop Family6 de junho de 2019 às 07:56

    2 Months?!? So cool. We were just 9 days, so we didn’t had the chance to visit Nazca Lines, it was far from Lima and we didn’t had the time to go but, it’s one of the things we want to do in the future. Peru has so many to offer. We started planning with Machu Picchu has the main goal but, there’s so much things, we needed more time in Peru. Now, we need to go back  And we miss the Peruvian food so much!!

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  3. dan6 de junho de 2019 às 08:22

    Two months...I meant two week! But I wish it was two months. My girlfriend was born in Peru and came here when she was 14, but her parents still live in Lima so I went to see her family. I'll be going back many times I am sure, I'll have you read up on your blogs as my guide!

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  4. Non Stop Family Travel Blog7 de junho de 2019 às 07:15

    Thank you s much for your words and, let me just give one advice. Next time you visit Lima, take a day trip to Caral, it’s not far from Lima, 3 hours’ drive and, it’s one of the secret treasures that Peru has to offer.

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