Machu Picchu deserves its fame. It also, on a busy morning, feels like a train station with a view. The revelation of the Peruvian Andes waits on the trails around it — the terraced hillsides of the Sacred Valley, where farmers still work fields the Inca laid out, and where you can walk for an hour without meeting another traveller.
Machu Picchu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognised for both its cultural and natural significance since 1983. [1]
Acclimatise first — this is not optional
Cusco sits at roughly 3,400 metres. Fly in and start trekking the same day and altitude sickness will find you. Give yourself two or three easy days in the valley, which is lower and gentler, before you climb. Drink coca tea, walk slowly, and let your body catch up with your ambition.
The walks worth doing
- Pisac — Inca terraces stacked above a Sunday market that is still a real market, not a performance.
- Maras & Moray — salt pans and concentric agricultural terraces, best linked on foot or by bike.
- Ollantaytambo — a living Inca town and the gateway to the Machu Picchu train.
- The Lares route — a lower-key alternative to the Inca Trail, through weaving villages and high passes.
The ruins tell you what the Inca built. The trails tell you how their descendants still live.
— Diego Rojas
Travelling with respect
These are living communities, not open-air museums. Ask before photographing people, buy directly from weavers, and hire local guides. For more trips in this spirit, see our adventure collection.
Where to Eat
Four Sacred Valley tables, from a world-ranked altitude-tasting-menu destination to unbeatable-value Ollantaytambo classics.
