Pisac can make a fantastic day trip from Cusco. Rather than joining a group tour, you can take a cheap colectivo to the town of Pisac and explore the Inca ruins at the Pisac Archeological Park yourself. After days and days of guided tours around the Cusco region, it can be nice to go at your own pace.
Here’s everything you need to know about taking a day trip to Pisac.
How to Get to the Pisac Archeological Park
In general, you’ll be hiking around the Pisac Archeological Park, but before you can hike, you first have to get from the town of Pisac to the archeological park. You have two options.
By Taxi
This is what I recommend, even though it’s the more expensive option. When you arrive in Pisac via colectivo, there will be a line of people offering you taxis. Take a taxi to the upper entrance of the Pisac Archeological Park and start your visit from here.
Yes, a taxi is more expensive and will likely cost you 30 to 40 soles, but coming from someone who did the hike, I think a taxi is a better option. You can conserve your energy for exploring the ruins, rather than using all of that energy hiking up a mountain just to reach the ruins.
By Hiking
The other option is to hike to the Pisac Archeological Park. You can walk along the road to the upper entrance, but I think if you’re determined to hike into the park, then you use the lower entrance. From Plaza de la Constitution, follow the street leading from the northwest corner of the square. It will be an uphill walk, but you’ll shortly reach the lower entrance for the park.
From the lower entrance, it’s a two hour uphill walk to the upper entrance. I hiked it (most of it, I didn’t go all the way to the upper entrance), but it can be exhausting. The benefit is that if you’re here earlier in the day, you can get some of the ruins completely to yourself. However, I think it’s going to be a more enjoyable visit if you start at the upper entrance and hike through the park back down to town.
Hiking Around Pisac Archeological Park
As I mentioned, I hiked up into the Pisac Archeological Park from the lower entrance, but I don’t recommend it. Instead, save your legs and start at the upper entrance, even though it involves taking a taxi. From here, you’ll explore Inca ruins as you make your way back down to town.
If you start at the upper entrance, you’ll pass by buildings and other structures. I’ll admit that I didn’t visit with a guide and there aren’t many informational signs throughout the park, so the buildings didn’t mean a lot to me. If you’re really interested in Inca history, I’d highly recommend hiring a guide to take you around the complex. The guides at all of the Inca sites are incredibly knowledgeable and can help bring the sites to life.
Pisac is huge, at over 65 hectares, so there’s a lot to see. Yes, there’s the buildings and structures, but as you descend to the town of Pisac, you’ll also pass by some of the famous terraces. While the Incas built plenty of structures, I think many people, including myself, associate them with the large terraces that were used for farming. You’ll walk through these terraces as you exit toward town.
The exact route you take is up to you. Unlike on a visit to Machu Picchu, you are able to go at your own pace and take your own route. Since I hiked in from the lower entrance, there were a few times that I found myself going against the flow of traffic. While at Machu Picchu, this is not allowed, here it’s totally fine and you can explore however you want. I really appreciated this.
Entrance Fees for Pisac Archeology Park
You’ll need a ticket to visit Pisac and you have two options, both of which are part of the Cusco Tourist Ticket. If you are just visiting Pisac, you can pick up a ticket for 70 soles. This ticket includes sites in the Sacred Valley. Specifically, it includes Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Moray, and Chinchero.
If you plan to visit more sites in and around Cusco, it’s worth investigating the tourist ticket options more closely. For example, if you plan to visit Pisac and Saqsaywaman in Cusco, it’s worth picking up the full ticket for 130 soles. You’ll get access to both of these sites, as well as 14 other sites.
Note that you need to do your research about where to purchase your ticket. Many of the sites, particularly in Cusco, do not sell the tourist ticket at their main entrance. The easiest place is right next to the Museo de Arte Popular in Cusco. You can pick up the full tourist ticket or any of the variations right from the office.
How Long Do You Need in Pisac?
For the Pisac Archeological Park, I’d recommend budgeting between 3 to 4 hours. That may seem like a lot, but it takes time to walk through the park, even if you start at the upper entrance and hike to the lower entrance.
I spent about 3 hours at the archeological park. That was the time I spent hiking up and back down. Note that I did hike all the way to the upper entrance on my visit.
In addition to time at the park, I’d budget another hour or two in the town of Pisac itself. This gives you enough time to get lunch and to wander some of the markets before heading back to Cusco.
Since you’ll also have 45 minutes to 1 hour in the colectivo each way, it’s best to budget one full day for Pisac.
Do You Need a Guide for Pisac?
There are numerous companies offering guided tours to Pisac from Cusco. Again, once you reach Pisac, you’ll likely find guides offering their services. I think it really depends on the person.
By the time I visited Pisac, I needed a break from guided tours. Even though I likely would have gotten more out of my visit with a guide, I enjoyed just walking around the ruins. Remember, this isn’t like Machu Picchu and you don’t have to follow a set route.
How to Get to Pisac from Cusco
Colectivos depart from Cusco regularly. You’ll want to go here on Google Maps. Note that when you arrive, you’ll want to make sure that you get in the right van because collectives to several destinations depart from here. However, if you’re a gringo, they are likely going to assume that you are going to Pisac. At the time of writing, the colectivo costs just 6 soles one way (7 soles on Sundays and Holidays) and takes 45 minutes to an hour.
To return to Cusco from Pisac, you can look for the “Colectivos to Cusco” location on Google Maps.
There is no set schedule for the colectivos and they just leave when they are full. The good news is that when I visited, the colectivos filled up pretty quickly. I waited about ten minutes in Cusco (departing around 8:30 am on a Saturday) and just five minutes in Pisac (departing around 2:00 pm on a Saturday).
More in Pisac
The highlight of Pisac is its archeological park. While there is more to Pisac besides the park, most visitors focus solely on this. Of course you’ll also find plenty of restaurants, but there’s also a ton of shopping opportunities. There are so many stalls selling everything you could possibly want for a souvenir.
Final Thoughts
So many of the day trips from Cusco make more sense to do with a guided tour, but I think that Pisac is one of the easiest to do on your own. Take an expensive colectivo, explore the Inca ruins, grab some lunch, and head back to Cusco. It’s an easy and fun day trip to build into your itinerary.
