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Bucket list experience:

Last updated: 10 November, 2022
Expert travel writer: Alex Robinson

These beautifully preserved Inca ruins straddle a high mountain ridge affording wonderful views over the Andes and the Sacred Valley.

The intricate Inca stonework – pieced together without cutting implements or mortar – is some of the best you’ll see. Pisac is one of the few places with an intact Inca Intihuatana altar – used for plotting the movement of the stars and for the veneration of the sun.

Pisac’s ruins can be reached easily by cab from Cusco, or you can opt for a breathy, spectacular day hike up the mountain from Pisac village below.

Don’t miss

Pisac is one of the few Inca ruins to preserve a sacred Intihuatana altar – most were destroyed by the Spanish, a ritual stone used for measuring the stars and veneration.

While you’re there

Picas village has a lively, colourful market every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday morning. It’s the ideal place to pick up souvenirs, including fine knitwear. If you don’t make it then, visit the shop on the plaza which is owned by a weavers’ collective – all the money goes to them rather than a middleman.

Also try and visit the local baker, who breaks bread in a huge clay oven, pulling it out with a giant wooden spatula.

Price from: £40
Minimum age: Any
Age suitable: 18+
When: All year around

Getting there & doing it

Pisac village is 45 minutes’ drive from Cusco, with good bus and cheap taxi connections. The CU-964 road runs to within 200m of the ruins themselves, so you don’t need to walk far to see them.

The hike up from the village of Pisac to the ruins on the mountaintop is well-signposted and takes around 2 hours one way. It’s a superb walk that winds through temples and ruins, but a stiff hike up; the best option is to get a cab up and hike down (around 1.5 hours-3 hours depending on how long you spend admiring the exceptional views).

If you wish to walk up and taxi back, be sure to organise a pick-up time with a cab driver. Catching a cab at the ruins themselves can be expensive. Numerous tour companies in Cusco offer day visits – either by car or including the hike.

Allow a few hours to explore the village of Pisac itself – which has some lovely craft shops and cafes and a lively market.

When to do it

The best days to go are obviously on market days: Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday mornings. Aim to be at the ruins mid-afternoon – when the light is golden: this is a great spot for pictures.

April to October is the dry season, when the sky is blue and temperatures can drop to below freezing at night. During the rest of the year intense rain is interspersed with sunshine and the ruins can be covered in wispy cloud – so expect to get wet on a hike up.

Our writer’s picks of the best places to stay near this experience, closest first

Belmond Palacio Nazarenas

Cusco, Cusco Region, Peru

A luxuriously-restored convent with a glittering baroque chapel, filled with Cusqueno artworks and home to one of Cusco’s top restaurants.

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El Retablo

Cusco, Cusco Region, Peru

A tranquil, family-run guesthouse sits in up-and-coming, arty San Blas neighbourhood, with views of central Cusco at every street corner.

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Hotel Monasterio

Cusco, Cusco Region, Peru

A grand, luxury hotel housed in a restored 16th-century monastery and filled with priceless colonial art. Restful and meditative, yet just a few blocks from Cusco’s historic heart. 

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Inkaterra La Casona

Cusco, Cusco Region, Peru

Luxurious rooms in a beautifully-restored 16th Century Spanish-colonial mansion where Simon Bolivar once stayed.

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Destination guides including or relevant to this experience

Peru

Peru

A land of spectacular deserts, high mountains and rainforests that teem with wildlife, Peru is also home to an array of dramatically situated pre-Colombian ruins, including Machu Picchu.

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Our writer’s recommendations of other bucket list experiences our writer says you must do in this destination, closest first

Sacsayhuaman

Cusco, Cusco Region, Peru

A vast, fortified Inca sun temple that perches over Cusco, housing boulders and masonry astonishingly jigsaw-pieced together, without cement or metal tools.

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Cusco, Cusco Region, Peru

The Inca empire’s most elaborate sun temple, covered in gold and silver, is now a colonial church housing stunning Inca stonework.

Best for ages: 18+ | £2

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Festival of the Sun

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Colourful parades and ancient Inca ceremonies are re-enacted at this world-famous winter solstice festival.

Best for ages: 8+ | Free | 5 hours

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A day in Cusco

Cusco, Cusco Region, Peru

The heart of the old Inca empire has a wealth of Inca ruins, Spanish treasures and historic architecture to explore.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free | 1 day

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Other worthwhile experiences near this experience if you have time or interest..

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This, the shortest and easiest of alternative Inca trails, takes three days from Cusco and offers wonderful mountain views, little-visited Inca sites and a final day at Machu Picchu itself.

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This little village in the Sacred Valley near Cusco is a centre for traditional indigenous weaving in Peru. It has a lively market and ancient Inca agricultural terraces.

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