Stop in Chinchero on your way from Cusco into the Sacred Valley: you can watch alpaca wool spun, dyed with native plants and woven, then walk down the Inca terraces below the church.
View on globeNinety seconds on Chinchero
A morning is enough for the market, the colonial church and a walk down through the terraces below. Reaching the bottom of the site, about 43 hectares in all, takes longer.
Buses and colectivos, the shared minibuses, leave from a stop on Pavitos Street in Cusco and take 40 to 50 minutes. A private taxi is the other option, with the fare agreed before setting off; it changes with the season.
May to October, the dry season, is the best time for walking in the highlands. Rain falls from November to April.
Spanish is the official language of Peru and the one to use at the stalls and the ticket gate. Quechua, the language of the Incas, is spoken across the highlands around Cusco, often as a first language.
Yes. Peru's currency is the sol, code PEN, and most market vendors do not take cards, so carry soles out from Cusco.
Cusco, CUZ. The airport handles mainly domestic flights, with a few international connections. Chinchero is a 40 to 50 minute bus ride from the stop on Pavitos Street in the city.
Chinchero sits at about 3,760 metres, higher than Cusco, so give yourself time to acclimatise in the city before you come. Aim to reach the Plaza de Armas in the morning, when produce, herbs, handicrafts and textiles cover the square: Sunday is the busiest day, with smaller markets on Tuesday and Thursday. Bargain at the stalls, but keep it friendly.
Step into the church on the plaza first: it is free and usually open in the mornings, with frescos across the ceiling. Below it, the Inca walls and terraces of the archaeological site spread over about 43 hectares, so plan on a long walk. Entry is on the Cusco tourist ticket, the boleto turístico; the gate shuts at five in the afternoon.
Between the market and the ruins, walk into one of the town's dozens of textile centres, where weavers show the spinning of the wool and its dyeing with native plants. Several of the weaving cooperatives run short workshops if you would rather try than watch; each has its own geometric designs, so compare a few before you buy.
Buses between Cusco and Urubamba pass through Chinchero in both directions, so you can carry on down into the valley after the morning here. Sacred Valley bus tours from Cusco make Chinchero their first stop, then go on through Urubamba and Pisac and back to Cusco, four to five hours in all. Urubamba, the largest valley town, has a bus depot and taxis for the next leg.
Easy to pass by from the plaza, Chinchero's parish church stands on the foundations of an Inca royal palace.
View more →Inca walls and farming terraces below the plaza church, on the Cusco tourist ticket. The market fills the plaza on Sundays, with smaller ones on Tuesday and Thursday.
Every Peru town, place and dispatch, on one map.
The largest town in the Sacred Valley lies on the Urubamba river, 48 km from Cusco and about an hour away by road.
Give the whole of 24 June to it and save your strength for the afternoon at Sacsayhuamán, where the full ceremony plays out.
Last updated