Few places can compete with the beauty and wealth of this
valley: it was not for nothing that it was given its name;
the valley’s sacred character has survived the passing of
time and its magic continues to seduce its visitors today.
The Sacred Valley has become one of the most important
tourist centers of the country. Besides including an
unmistakablehistoric
wealth, the region of the Urubamba offers plenty of pastimes
for the tourist: walks, thermal baths, rafting or kayaking
by the river, paragliding or hang gliding, horse riding,
mountaineering, etc. In recent years programs of
participatory tourism have been developed, inviting for
example, a traveler to work in the terraces, collect salt
from the salt mine or to carry out activities in the
Ecoaldeas Kallpawasy (House of Energy) and Rikchana wasy
(House of the Awake). Besides all of this, the Sacred
Valley harbors three of the most important craft markets of
Cusco: Písac, Chinchero and Ollantaytambo. (Old and
imposing Inca cities.)