A Full Day in the Sacred Valley: Ollantaytambo, Moray & Maras from Urubamba
Thinking of spending a day in Peru's Sacred Valley? Here's exactly what to expect — site by site, hour by hour — when you start from Urubamba instead of Cusco.
Diego Valle
5/14/20263 min read
Most Sacred Valley tours leave from Cusco at 7am, spend 90 minutes driving each way, and rush you through three sites before dark. This isn't that kind of day.
Starting from Urubamba or Ollantaytambo means you're already in the Valley. No early morning drive from the city. No wasted hours in a van. Just more time where it actually matters.
Here's what a full day looks like when you do it right.
Morning — Urubamba Market (optional, 30 minutes)
Before heading out, some groups like a quick stop at the local market in Urubamba. Not the tourist market — the real one, where local families buy their produce, herbs, and textiles. It sets the tone for the day and gives you a sense of daily life in the Valley before you dive into the archaeology.
Completely optional. If you'd rather head straight to the first site, we go.
Mid-morning — Ollantaytambo (90 minutes)
Ollantaytambo is one of the most remarkable places in Peru — and most visitors spend too little time here because they're rushing to fit everything in.
This was a living Inca town. The cobblestone streets, the water channels running through the village, the massive ceremonial terraces above — all of it built by the Incas and still inhabited today. Walking through Ollantaytambo isn't visiting ruins. It's walking through a town that has been continuously occupied for over 700 years.
The fortress above the town is where the Inca Manco successfully defeated a Spanish cavalry charge in 1537 — one of the few military victories against the conquistadors. Standing on those terraces, looking down at the valley, that history feels very real.
90 minutes here is the minimum. If your group wants more time, we stay.
Late morning — Drive to Moray (50 minutes)
The drive between Ollantaytambo and Moray takes you through some of the most beautiful landscape in the Sacred Valley — green fields, snow-capped peaks, small villages. Worth having your camera out.
Midday — Moray (1 hour)
Nothing quite prepares you for Moray. You're driving through open farmland and then suddenly — circular terraces descending 30 meters into the earth, perfectly concentric, like something from another world.
The Incas built this as an agricultural research center. The circular design creates different microclimates at each level — temperature differences of up to 15 degrees Celsius between the top and bottom terraces. They were essentially running controlled experiments on crops across different climate conditions, 500 years before modern agricultural science.
Most visitors spend 20-30 minutes here. I always recommend at least an hour — walk down into the terraces, not just around the rim. The perspective from inside is completely different.
Early afternoon — Maras Salt Pans (1 hour)
The drive from Moray to Maras takes about 20 minutes. What you find there is one of the most visually striking landscapes in Peru.
Over 3,000 individual salt pools, hand-carved into a mountain slope, fed by a single underground saltwater spring. Local families have been working these pools using the same technique for centuries — some of the same families whose ancestors worked them under the Inca empire.
The light in the afternoon turns the pools different shades of white, pink, and amber. Photographers never want to leave.
Unlike most sites in the Valley, the entrance fee at Maras goes directly to the local community — the families who maintain the pools. Worth knowing.
Late afternoon — Return to your hotel
Drop-off directly at your hotel in Urubamba or Ollantaytambo. No return drive to Cusco. You're home in the Valley, wherever that is for you.
A few practical things to know:
Entrance fees are paid separately at each site. Moray requires the boleto turístico (~S/.70). Maras charges ~S/.20 directly to the community. I'll guide you through both.
Altitude in the Sacred Valley ranges from 2,800 to 3,500 meters. Drink water, move slowly at first, and don't underestimate the sun. I always have water in the car.
The itinerary above is a guide, not a script. Want to add Chinchero? Skip the market and spend more time at Ollantaytambo? Start later so you can have a slow breakfast? We adjust. Every group is different.
