Ollantaytambo Last Minute Travel

Ollantaytambo is a Cusco Machu-Picchu train stop.

Ollantaytambo is in Peru's well known Sacred Valley. Its ruins are located while riding the Cusco Machu Picchu train ride. It's important to know that if you make a last minute decision to stop over at Ollantaytambo, you must take the early morning Machu Pichu tour package, so that our train ride provides sufficient time to, plan your stay with the Machu Picchu afternoon train schedule.

Some visitors do spend the night and discover the under-appreciated ruins, a growing range of outdoor activities, newly opened cafes and a destination hotel that are turning the sleepy village into more than a one-track town.

Ollantaytambo was inhabited for more than 700 years. Ollantaytambo is one of the few settlements that 16th-century Spanish conquistadors had trouble ransacking, thanks to its magnificently preserved Incan fortress. Admission is about $13 USD; a $141 sole ticket includes access to 15 other archaeological sites in the area.

The steep footpath up Pinkuylluna, a hill that overlooks the town, leads to the ruins of food storage buildings and Tunupa, a rock visage named for an Aymara deity that watches over the village. The dizzying climb deters many visitors, leaving the site refreshingly free of crowds.

Beyond the village lies Pumamarca, an ancient settlement dramatically perched high on a mountainside. The comparatively slapdash architecture indicates that it was founded late in the Incan empire, though there’s one prominent structure that has refined stonework reminiscent of the dwellings at Machu Picchu. A full-day trek on horseback to the site can be booked through Hotel Pakaritampu for $50.

Those looking for a more adventurous local trip, via mountain bike. Will Janecek, known as KB, a Minnesotan who moved to Peru in 2003. After a van ride up to the Veronica Glacier, at more than 14,000 feet, bikers descend 5,000 feet on smooth tar road, passing llamas, traditional Andean stone dwellings and rarely visited Incan sites on the way. The trip is $49 USD.

Back on the main town square, Hearts Cafe is a combination restaurant and outreach organization, founded in 2007 by Sonia Newhouse, a nutritionist from Britain, to employ out-of-work locals; all proceeds go to development projects in the area. Hearts serves everything from full English breakfasts to typical Peruvian dinners, including quinoa soup and stewed chicken and rice. (A dinner for two costs 32 soles.) There are also a wide variety of teas and excellent espresso.

A recent addition to the town’s still-nascent night-life scene is Tapas Bar Cactus, around the corner from Hearts. A tiny bar opened by Arturo Usandivares and his Scottish-born wife, Louise Norton, in 2007, it has a short food menu but a full range of cocktails, on offer until the astoundingly late (at least for the Sacred Valley) hour of 2 a.m.

The Hotel Pakaritampu, conveniently set between the main square and the rail station, is a lovely spot to anchor your trip. Its 39 rooms and one suite are scattered among four rustic buildings surrounded by impeccably groomed gardens. A telescope on the lawn provides evening entertainment on clear nights. Doubles from about 400 soles.