Chinchero is a small Andean Indian village located high up on the windswept plains of Anta at 3765m about 30km from Cusco. There are beautiful views overlooking the Sacred Valley of the Incas, with the Cordillera Vilcabamba and the snow-capped peak of Salkantay dominating the western horizon. Chinchero is believed to be the mythical birthplace of the rainbow. Its major claim to tourism is its colourful Sunday market which is much less tourist-orientated than the market at Pisac. The village mainly comprises mud brick (adobe) houses, and locals still go about their business in traditional dress. The village may have been an important town in Inca times. The most striking remnant of this period is the massive stone wall in the main plaza which has ten trapezoidal niches. The construction of the wall and many other ruins and agricultural terraces (which are still in use) are attributed to Inca Tupac Yupanqui who possibly used Chinchero as a kind of country resort. In the main plaza an adobe colonial church, dating from the early seventeenth century, has been built upon the foundations of an Inca temple or palace. The ceiling and walls are covered in beautiful floral and religious designs. The church is open on Sundays for mass.

A tour of the Sacred Valley is an essential part of your exploration of the Inca Heartland in Peru. Indeed there are many ruins to visit and mountainsides to trek, but one intriguing sight that should not go unnoticed are the ancient salt pans, known as Salineras de Maras. Strategically dug into the mountainside, thousands of shallow pools filled with salt water eventually evaporate and leave behind the crystallized salt, a process that has been practised for more than 500 years. It’s believed that the salt pans were originally constructed by the Wari civilisation, which predates the Inca. However, the Inca saw the economic opportunity in harvesting the salt of Maras and expanded the salt pans further up the mountainside. The salt is mined through the evaporation of the brine that is channelled into the pans. When the water evaporates, members of the local communities carefully scrape the salt crystals from the earthen surfaces. When all of the crystals are removed, the pan is filled with the salt water again⁠—a process that has been practised since before the time of the Inca. The local community has exclusive mining rights to the salt pans near Maras. Today there are over 6,000 salt pans near Maras, and each one is no more than 13 square feet and less than 1 foot deep. Each pan is owned and mined by a local family of the Maras community, and the salt is collected and sold in local shops or nearby towns. The salt pans are also an interesting attraction for people visiting the Sacred Valley. Travellers can explore the salt pans on a guided tour and see captivating vistas and access points of the site for 10 soles (about $3) entrance fee. Afterwards, you can buy some of the Andean salt as a souvenir.

Everywhere you look in Cusco you can see how advanced the Incas were in their agricultural techniques, such as the terracing system and irrigation using aqueducts. In Moray, for example, they used circular terraces that demonstrate the high level of culture the Inca civilisation achieved. Moray is 4.5 miles from the town of Maras and 39 miles from Cusco. The main feature that impresses travellers is its system of circular agricultural terraces, which are up to 330 feet deep. They are build using retaining walls connected by an irrigation system. Moray can be considered a crop lab– they used the terraces to create micro-climates and grow various products.

A busy and unadorned urban centre, Urubamba is a transport hub surrounded by bucolic foothills and snowy peaks. The advantages of its lower altitude and relative proximity to Machu Picchu make it popular with both high-end hotels and package tours. While there is little of historical interest, nice countryside and great weather make it a convenient base from which to explore the attractions nearby.

Ollantaytambo is one of our favourite towns in the Sacred Valley. It is located approximately 60 kms. from Cusco and is one of the best surviving examples of Incan architecture. ‘Ollanta’ as it is known by locals has a tiny population of just over 2000 and its narrow cobblestone streets have been continuously inhabited for over 700 years. This is quite literally the end of the road in the Sacred Valley and is the last stop before you get the train to Machu Picchu.