Peru · 5 days · Easy to moderate
5-Day Machu Picchu & Sacred Valley
The shortest itinerary that does Machu Picchu properly instead of sprinting at it. Cusco sits at 3,400 m, so the first days stay low-effort and the altitude has time to stop being a problem before the Sacred Valley and the train.
Short answer
5-Day Machu Picchu & Sacred Valley is a 5-day, 4-night Peru itinerary starting in Cusco and finishing in Cusco, for private. It is quoted on request, because the price moves with dates, party size and hotel category. International flights are not included. Every day of it is published below, and we rebuild it around your dates at no extra cost.
Highlights
- Cusco: the Cathedral, Qoricancha built over by the Spanish, Qenqo and the cyclopean stonework at Sacsayhuamán
- Moray — the concentric Inca terraces used as an agricultural laboratory
- The Maras salt pans: more than three thousand wells still worked by hand
- Machu Picchu by Voyager or Expedition train, with a guided tour on site
How this trip moves
4 nights, 1 place to unpack
The thing most itineraries hide is how much of your holiday is spent getting somewhere. Here it is up front.
Where you sleep
- Cusco 4 nights
The shape of it
- 1 The day you get there
- You sleep here
- Road
- Train
Day by day
- Day 1
Lima to Cusco, and the city
Morning flight from Lima to Cusco, an hour and twenty minutes (flight not included). Met at the airport and taken to the hotel, with coca tea at check-in — which is not a gimmick at 3,400 m. Afternoon in the city: the Cathedral, the Temple of the Sun at Qoricancha, Qenqo, and Sacsayhuamán above the town.
- Change of base
- None — you stay where you slept
- Meals
- Not included
- You sleep at
- Cusco
- Day 2
Chinchero, Moray and the Maras salt pans
A morning with the weavers of Chinchero, where the dyeing and backstrap weaving are still done the old way, then Moray’s circular terraces and the salt pans at Maras — thousands of shallow pools worked by families who inherited them.
- Change of base
- None — you stay where you slept
- Meals
- Breakfast
- You sleep at
- Cusco
- Day 3
The Sacred Valley
Down the valley through Pisac and Ollantaytambo, the two great terraced sites, with time at the market and lunch on the way. If you would rather not come back to Cusco, we can hold a hotel in the valley instead — tell us and we will build it that way.
- Change of base
- Road
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch
- You sleep at
- Cusco
- Day 4
Machu Picchu
Train to Aguas Calientes and the bus up the switchbacks. A guided circuit of the site, then time on your own before the train back.
- Change of base
- Train
- Meals
- Breakfast
- You sleep at
- Cusco
- Day 5
Cusco airport
Private transfer for your onward flight.
- Change of base
- Train
- Meals
- Breakfast
- You sleep at
- — last day, you fly home
What is included
- Four nights in the selected hotel category with breakfast
- Meals as listed: 4 breakfasts, 2 set lunches
- Private ground transport and private airport transfers
- Certified English/Spanish-speaking guide
- All entrance fees, including Machu Picchu
- Voyager or Expedition train to Machu Picchu
- Personal assistance throughout
What is not included
- International and domestic flights
- Meals not listed
- Travel insurance
- Tips
Per person in double occupancy. Final price depends on your dates, party size and hotel category — high season and single occupancy carry supplements. Full breakdown →
When to do this trip
April to October is the dry season. January and February are the wettest months and the Inca Trail closes in February.
Good to know before you book
- Group size
- Private
- Starts
- Cusco
- Ends
- Cusco
- Pace
- Easy to moderate
- Passport
- Valid at least six months beyond your arrival date. Entry requirements →
- Insurance
- Not included and not optional in our view. Medical evacuation from the islands or the rainforest is expensive.
- What moves the price
- Hotel category, private versus shared guiding, your dates, and party size — a solo traveller pays the room, not half of it. Tell us your party and dates and we will price it properly.
- If we have to change something
- Weather, park regulations and flight schedules occasionally force a swap. We tell you before you travel, not on the day, and we replace like with like.
Who this trip is not for
We would rather lose the booking than sell you the wrong week. These are the reasons people come back from this itinerary disappointed, and all of them are predictable before you pay.
Anyone who lands in Cusco and starts immediately
Cusco is at 3,400 m. This itinerary sleeps lower in the Sacred Valley first, deliberately. Trips that skip that step are the ones where someone spends a day in a hotel room with a headache.
Anyone expecting Machu Picchu alone
Entry is by timed circuit with a daily cap, and every circuit has other people on it. The empty photograph you have seen was taken at a time you cannot book.
Anyone with very limited mobility
Machu Picchu is uneven stone stairs at altitude. Some circuits are gentler than others and we will pick one, but none of them are flat.
If any of those describe you, tell us — there is almost always a version that fits, and it is usually not more expensive.
Questions about this itinerary
How long is the 5-Day Machu Picchu & Sacred Valley?
5 days and 4 nights, starting in Cusco and ending in Cusco.
How difficult is it?
Easy to moderate. Group size: Private.
When is the best time to do this trip?
April to October is the dry season. January and February are the wettest months and the Inca Trail closes in February.
What extra costs should I budget for?
Per person in double occupancy. Final price depends on your dates, party size and hotel category — high season and single occupancy carry supplements.
If this one is not quite it
