Cusco and the Sacred Valley might be one of the most touristic areas of Peru, there are still plenty of options off-the-beaten path that make your experience more local and personal. Our alternative Sacred Valley tours will take you to places that most tourists won’t visit and allow you to see this region through the eyes of the local indigenous people. You will share a meal and stories with them and you can even stay the night at their house. Our tours offer responsible and respectful personal interaction with locals, participation in traditional customs and handiwork, and the consumption of healthy, home-cooked meals prepared in ceramic, wood-burning stoves using only locally grown and/or locally caught ingredients. The alternative Sacred Valley tours aim to foster pride in local traditions and letting the native teach the traveler their knowledge that has been passed down through countless generations.
Pick-up from Sacred Valley hotels. Pick-up from and drop-off at Cusco hotels for an additional fee of 60 USD (to the total, not per person)
8:30am (To be confirmed for specific day of tour)
Your guide will pick you up from your hotel in the Sacred Valley (surcharge of 60 USD for pick-up and drop-off in Cusco). You will first go to the local “Market of Small Producers” for a light breakfast Andean style. The first visit of the day is to the Sacred Ruins of Urco with its many myths and legends. This tour is a combination of culture and nature, so after learning more about the local myths and legends, you’ll go on a small hike up to the stunning waterfalls of the community of Arin.
The tour also focuses on respectful encounters with local people. You’ll visit a Chicheria, where you’ll try an ancestral Andean beverage and you’ll enjoy a freshly cooked lunch made with local ingredients in the home of an Andean family, where you can also learn more about their lifestyle.
In the afternoon, you’ll visit the Incan Caves, a mythical ceremonial site with ancient stone carvings. After an interesting day with many new experiences, you’ll be dropped off at your hotel.
Your visit benefits the local community in different ways. First of all, it provides an income to several community members (cook, Chicheria). In addition to financial benefits, the interest and attention of people who came from all over the world to learn more about their culture, increases the pride of the local people in their communities and traditions. That way, the admiration and interest of visitors from across the world reinforces their engagement to conserve their traditions as well as their natural environment.
