Day 1 : Maras, Moray, Ollantaytambo, and Train to Machu Picchu
Your tour starts with morning pickup at your hotel in Cusco/Sacred Valley. With your private guide, take the off-the-beaten path to Maras, a typical Andean village. Walk the streets and feel back in time as you admire the buildings, culture and people who still wear the same traditional clothing. Then, go to the wonderful terraces of Moray, which were used as an Incan laboratory to acclimatize crops. Enjoy lunch at a local house nearby before heading to the salt terraces of Maras to see and learn about an ancient pre-Incan method of producing salt. After this, you will go to Ollantaytambo, one of the last Incan refuges during Spanish colonization. Here, you will step back in time as many of the houses and buildings continue to stand from the times of the Incan empire and display original architecture. You will be able to enter one of these houses to observe the building and the way in which people used to live.
Later, you can visit the incredible ruins of Ollantaytambo, its temples and terraces. Learn from your guide how these sites continue to be well-preserved since the Spanish conquest and provide an interesting insight to how towns were designed during the Incan period. After exploring all that Sacred Valley has to offer, you will be transferred to the Ollantaytambo train station where your private guide will accompany you to take the 1.5-hour half train(Vistadome train) journey to Aguas Calientes admiring wonderful scenery. At the town, you will rest and spend the night.
Day 2 : Machu Picchu "Wonder of the World" and Back to Cusco
Day 2 begins early in the morning as you meet your guide at the hotel and are taken to Machu Picchu,‘The Lost City of the Incas.’ Your private tour will show you this spectacular sacred Incan site and you will learn about the history and visit the majestic Temples of the Sun and the Condor. Walk around the site and see the aqueducts and houses, while learning some interesting facts about the Incan Sacred Terraces. After your guided tour, you will have plenty of time to explore this truly magnificent site on your own.
You can take some short treks, including the one to the Sun Gate where you'll get an impressive view overlooking Machu Picchu and Wayna Picchu. You could also visit the Incan Bridge, a secret entrance for the Incan Army. If you are feeling more adventurous, you can't miss the famous mountain climb to the summit of Wayna Picchu, which can be scheduled at either 7 am or 10 am. There is a limit on the number of people who can climb each day so you will need to book it with in advance. You will return to Aguas Calientes in the afternoon to catch your train back to Ollantaytambo. Once there, you'll be transferred back to your hotel in Cusco/Sacred Valley.