Archaeological Park Ollantaytambo, Cusco Region, Peru

5.0 (5.554 reviews) Friday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Spent 2-3 hours Ranking #1 in Cusco Region Historic Sites • Ancient Ruins

Spectacular ruins

Well worth visiting the spectacular ruins here as a day trip from Cusco. I caught a colectivo early morning from C. Pavitas in Cusco city centre (10 Soles, 1.5 hr journey). Guides offer their services as you go into the archaeological park but are not pushy. I declined as I had previously obtained maps and articles about the site, and always prefer to explore at my own pace. After nosing around the site for an hour or two, I walked over to the other side of town and climbed up to the Inca granaries on the other side of the valley. Across the Inca Bridge on the other side of the river there is a pleasant hiking trail which gives nice photo ops back across to the town and the ruins. Early /mid afternoon, colectivo drivers hawk for trade in the main squares of the town centre for rides back to Cusco, so the return journey is no problem. A great way to spend a day.

Address

, Ollantaytambo, Peru, Postal Code: 08676.

Working hours

Monday : 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday : 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday : 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday : 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday : 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday : 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday : 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Current local date and time now

Friday, May 03, 2024, 11:14

User Ratings

5.0 based on (5.554 reviews)

Excellent
78%
Good
21%
Satisfactory
1%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%

Reviews

  • 5jeff h 5:00 PM Mar 22, 2022
    Must see site in sacred valley
    The site is right in the sacred valley. Inca people were good engineers, building the whole structure by sourcing stones nearby. Big walls were built by stacking big rocks seamlessly. Highly recommend to hire a guide. Our guide, Joni, is a local and she’s knowledgeable and proud of her root, culture and community.
  • 5CPSH 5:00 PM Oct 2, 2022
    Worth your time, for sure!
    We chose to spend our first morning in Ollantaytambo visiting the fortress ruins. Since we had already purchased the Boleto Turistico, we were able to enter and start looking around. If you don't have the Tourist Ticket in hand, you can purchase one at the entrance gate. There are also guides waiting near the entrance to offer a guided tour of the ruins. We opted to just wander without a guide. We may have missed some significant information, but we enjoyed going at our own pace. Allow a couple of hours here to see it all. The climb up to the sacred temple area was hard - we had to stop several times on the way up to catch our breath. However, this was our first day at 9000 feet so we had not had time to acclimate yet. We managed fairly well, but just be aware that it is a steep climb. It's worth it though! Aside from the perfect Inca construction in the temple area, we really enjoyed the fountain area of the ruins. These Inca-built fountains are still bubbling with water from the mountain streams that the Incas channeled into the fortress. Go earlier in the morning before 11ish to avoid the crowds. We had the place almost to ourselves in some areas. Very few visitors when we were there around 9:00 that morning. Later in the day when we hiked the to the Granary, we could see that the fortress was swarming with visitors. The day-trippers had made it there from Cusco and the place was quite busy. So glad we were staying in Ollantaytambo and could enjoy our uncrowded visit.

See also

More Things to do in Cusco Region