Country: Peru
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Salinas de Maras Salt Pools
About two miles from Moray, the salt mines of Maras spill down the mountainside in more than 3,000 salt pools, filled daily by a stream of water. The village was a salt-producing center thought to date back to pre-Incan times, and the site is a genuine change of scenery after the ruins.
Read MoreMoray Inca Agricultural Terraces
Moray is a set of three famous amphitheater-like terraces carved deep into the earth in the shape of a bowl. The Incas are believed to have used them as agricultural laboratories, working out the optimal conditions for growing crops. The site invites a slow look rather than a quick photo.
Read MoreOllantaytambo Ruins and Inca Town
Ollantaytambo holds some of the best-preserved Inca architecture in the entire Sacred Valley. The visit roams the town's winding alleys and vast plazas and takes in the marvelous llama-shaped ruin above the rooftops.
Read MorePisac Market and Inca Fortress
Pisac is a village known for its traditional market and for the immense Inca fortress watching over it from the hillside. The visit gives time for both — the market in the village below and the fortress and terraces above — before the road continues deeper into the valley.
Read MoreCusco City Tour: San Pedro Market, Qoricancha and Sacsayhuamán
The day begins indoors at the San Pedro Market, where locals shop daily for produce and groceries among many food stalls and vendors — the endless selection of fresh fruit smoothies is the treat worth finding. From there the route reaches Qoricancha, the most important temple of the Inca Empire, the Sun Temple, whose detailed, intact architecture holds smaller temples dedicated to the moon, the rainbow, the stars, lightning and thunder. The tour then walks to Sacsayhuamán, an important religious site of immense stones that the Spanish considered a military fortress because of its location and construction, before returning to the hotel to rest.
Read MoreSuggested Exploration of Cusco: Cathedral, Puca Pucara and San Blas
Cusco was designed as a walking city, and the suggested afternoon runs through its narrow stone alleyways and the Plaza de Armas, where the Cathedral — the most imposing monument on the square and a repository of colonial art — took almost 100 years to build (1560–1654). Farther out, Puca Pucara is an architectural complex of alleged military use, with plazas, baths, aqueducts, walls and towers, believed to have housed the Inca emperor's entourage while he stayed at the elaborate estate and baths of Tambomachay nearby. Back in town, the old bohemian quarter of San Blas pairs white walls and blue doors with its creative artisan community, and the evening closes at a local Peruvian table — crackling pork, pickled vegetables, earthen-oven bread, roasted vegetables and sweet donuts are the source's suggestions.
Read MoreTaquile Island Visit
Taquile remained mostly isolated from the outside world until the 1950s, and the Taquileños follow a distinctly communal way of life: decisions are made together, there are no cars and very little electricity. The island is famous for its weavings — men traditionally spin the thread while women design and weave each piece — and the visit spends time learning about those lives and traditions, with wide views of Lake Titicaca from the shores.
Read MoreBoat Excursion to the Uros Floating Islands
The full-day Lake Titicaca outing begins on the water at one of the floating Uros islands, home to people believed to be among the first ethnic groups to populate the Andean region. The islands are man-made, built from the totora reeds that grow abundantly around the lake, and the visit focuses on everyday life and traditions as they are lived today.
Read MoreChivay Market Visit
After lunch there is time to browse Chivay's local market, where the canyon's produce and crafts change hands. It is a short, human stop between the morning's viewpoint and the afternoon's long road.
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