Booking fee
The booking fee includes the costs of booking your tickets such as charges for payment processing. It also covers the provision of our customer care center for processing your order, and all charges imposed by our suppliers.
* This tour requires at least one of the following per booking: Adult, Senior
This is a day trip to some of the impressive sites outside of Cusco City. Andahuaylillas is a small village famous for its church, Iglesia de San Pedro, known as the "Sistine Chapel of the Americas". Piquillacta is a well-preserved archaeological site from the Wari period, a pre-Inca culture. Tipon is an impressive example of Inca ingenuity and agricultural innovation.
Transport
Bi-lingual Guide (English & Spanish)
Entrance ticket to Andahuaylillas Church (S/. 15 per person)
Cusco Tourist ticket integral: S/. 130 per person or partial: S/. 70 per person
Departure Point
Traveler pickup is offered
We will be picking you up from your hotel within the historic centre of Cusco. Please Note: This service doesn't include pick up in private residencies, example; Airbnb or hotels that are outside the historic centre.
Tipon, Cusco, Peru Located on the outskirts of Cusco, the often overlooked archaeological site of Tipón is arguably the best demonstration of Inca engineering skills in existence. The site comprises a network of agricultural terraces, some of which are still used today, and stonemasonry similar to that of Machu Picchu—but without the crowds.
Although archaeologists are still puzzling over the exact function of Tipón, the majority agree on its spiritual significance. Considered more of a ritual garden, Tipón’s terraces are said to be built to channel natural energy, and the site, which also features fountains and water channels, is reputed to be a place where Inca people worshipped water.
30 minutes
Pikillaqta, Cusco, Peru Pikillaqta, the flea town. Located on the Quispicanchis Province, with an altitude of 3350 meters above the sea level, is an archaeological site with many structures that were used for almost 2000 years
The name of the city comes from 2 Quechua words, Piki, which means flea, and llaqta, which means town, although this is not the first and original name of the town, even nobody knows how was called by the Incas. According to the XVth century, said that they heard names like Muyuna or Mohina, which means bend.
The first people who inhabited this site was the Wari culture, an empire that last around 400 years, until the Incas came and destroyed his city and reorganized to the benefit of the Tahuantinsuyo Empire.
Presents over 600 buildings, between canchas (which are fields open wide) and Tambos (storages), and many places where the people lived on the Inca times. Like is traditional in Wari and the Incas, cultures that were influenced each other, the design of the entire complex is geometric, containing over 10thousand persons living there.
Many sites were designated to function as a religious, administrative and political and even defensive against intruders. The walls that surround the complex were painting with plaster, and because of that, the whole complex could be a white town.
One of the most important discoveries on this site is that in the year of 1927, Justo Román Aparicio, a native of the town, made excavations on the complex, and found 40 little sculptures made of turquoise, and these pieces are exhibited on the Archaeological Museum of Cusco.
The town has no water; the only source of water is a 1km away from the city, the Wakarpay Lagoon. One folklorist woman called Alfonsina Barrionuevo mentioned that around the lack of water, there’s a Myth that involved a beautiful princess called Qori Tika ( golden flower) who decided help his people by said that the one who can bring water to his town, is going to marry her.
One brave prince appears, Paukar, who live in the heights, carry the aqueduct over the mountain, but couldn’t bring the water. The other man, Tuyasta, who lived on the low side of the mountain, also couldn’t bring the liquid element; and the third one, Sunqo Rumi he was successful, because he could bring water by built 2 aqueducts, and married with the beautiful Qori Tika. Until these days you can see 2 lines that represent the mentioned aqueducts. 60 minutes
Andahuaylillas, Andahuaylillas, Peru Andahuaylillas’ town is located in Quispicanchi, province of Cusco, at 36 km from the city of Cusco, 45 min by bus. It’s also known as the South Valley of Cusco, this area has a great potential of attractions, for its cultural legacy as well as its material richness; besides of being part of the Andean Baroque Path thanks to its amazing chapel, considered as the Sistine Chapel of America.
The weather has temperature swings from 0 to 21 °C, for we recommend bringing sunscreen as well as jackets and clothings for the rain. 60 minutes
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
This experience is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason. If you cancel or ask for an amendment, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
bhakala
06 May 2022
The spots were amazing and the driver and guide were very nice. 2 issues - the church is not open Sunday the day of our tour (perhaps they should have reversed the visit order) and Spanish and English was promoted. While the guide did his best, his English was limited. To offset it, he spent most of his time between areas with our group sharing what he could.
donnymcferssun
22 Jan 2020
Gem of an experience, we were very excited to visit these lesser known sites off the city of Cusco and this was a very good and positive experience. Fredy from Minka is a very special person and a good guide with good knowledge and explaining skills.
LUGO-FAMILIA
02 Dec 2019
FUIMOS EN FAMILIA PARA HACER tour VALLE SUR, EL GUÍA estuvo impresionante, fue una experiencia increíble hacer este tour en familia, disfrutamos mucho, fue un tour completo es muy bonito, cumplieron con todo lo estipulado.
HACER VALLE SUR valió la pena, me gusto mucho conocer la otra parte de la ciudad de CUSCO y me sorprendí los muchos centros arqueológicos que tiene.
saludos a nuestro guía que fue un experto y conocedor y muy orgulloso de su origen
This tour in
Peru
is organized by
Minka Peru Expeditions
We always double-check the availability with our local partners for each booking. Even though this is usually a swift process, it can take up to 24 hours. Once this process is completed you will receive your voucher or ticket by email. If our local partner is not able to confirm your booking we will offer you the best possible alternative. If the new date and/or time doesn’t fit your itinerary, we will reimburse the full amount paid.
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