Valle Sur: The Empire's Least-Traveled Route
Valle Sur: The Empire's Least-Traveled Route
While most visitors cluster in the Sacred Valley, Valle Sur holds one of the most sophisticated hydraulic engineering works of the Inca world, along with the remains of a civilization that predated the empire itself: the Wari. Here, silence replaces crowds, and each site can be explored in near solitude.
Executive Summary
- Duration: Half-day (4-5 hours), morning or afternoon shift
- Difficulty: Low-Moderate (walking on terraced terrain, suitable for most travelers)
- Max Altitude: 3,200 – 3,560 m / 10,499 – 11,680 ft
- Highlights: Tipón's hydraulic terraces · Pikillacta, a pre-Inca citadel (Wari culture) · Andahuaylillas Church ("Sistine Chapel of the Americas") · Routes with minimal tourist traffic
Detailed Itinerary
01
DAY
Overview
• Meeting point / pickup: From your hotel in Cusco.
• Tipón: A complex of agricultural terraces fed by a canal system that still runs without leaks or failures, over 500 years after it was built. The Incas mastered the physics of water flow here with a precision that still impresses modern engineers.
• Pikillacta: A citadel of the Wari culture (predating the Inca empire), built in adobe over a stone foundation. Its straight streets and planned layout contrast sharply with organic Inca architecture, evidence of a distinct urban society that dominated the region centuries earlier.
• Andahuaylillas: A small colonial town whose Church of San Pedro Apóstol hides gilded murals, an original baroque organ, and a painted ceiling inside — earning it the nickname "Sistine Chapel of the Americas." The contrast between its modest facade and dazzling interior catches every visitor off guard.
• Return: Transfer back to Cusco.
PLAN YOUR ADVENTURE
Inclusions & Exclusions
What's Included
- Round-trip tourist transport
- Bilingual professional guide
- Tourist Ticket (partial, site-dependent) for Tipón and Pikillacta
- Entrance fee to the Andahuaylillas church
What's Not Included
- Tips (optional)
- Meals
- Travel insurance
Why Choose This Tour with AndeanDiscovery.pe?
Valle Sur is usually left off standard itineraries — and that's exactly its advantage. While Sacsayhuamán or Pisac receive hundreds of visitors per hour, here you'll walk through Tipón or Pikillacta barely crossing paths with another group. Our guides are specifically trained in Wari culture — a subject many generalist operators oversimplify or skip entirely — so you'll understand not just "what" these sites are, but "who" built them, centuries before the Inca empire existed.