At 3,762 m Chinchero sits higher than Cusco, on the plateau between the city and the Sacred Valley — which is why most tours stop here first, before dropping into the warmer air below. Inca tradition holds it was the country estate of Túpac Yupanqui, Pachacuti’s son, and enormous terraces and polished walls survive from that period.
On top of the Inca foundations the Spanish built an adobe church, its interior covered floor to ceiling in 17th-century Cusco School painting. Outside, the square fills on Sundays with a market that is still partly barter, and a cluster of weaving cooperatives demonstrate the natural dyes — cochineal beetles crushed for red, plants boiled for yellow and green — that make Chinchero textiles collectable.
Top things to do at Chinchero
See the church interior
The colonial church stands on an Inca ceremonial platform and is painted throughout. Photography is normally not permitted inside.
Walk the Inca terraces
Below the plaza, broad agricultural terraces run down the hillside with an old Inca road crossing them towards the valley.
Watch a dyeing demonstration
The cooperatives show the full process from raw fleece to finished cloth, including the cochineal that turns from grey to scarlet in the palm of your hand.
Come on a Sunday
The Sunday market is the biggest and the most local of the week, spilling out of the square and down the surrounding lanes.
How to get to Chinchero
- From Ollantaytambo: about 55 minutes by car up onto the plateau.
- From Cusco: about 50 minutes — Chinchero is normally the first stop on a Sacred Valley day tour.
- By colectivo: frequent shared vans run from Cusco’s Grau area and drop you on the main road.
Insider tips
- Entry to the archaeological complex and church is on the Cusco Tourist Ticket.
- It is high and exposed, and mornings are properly cold. Layers matter here more than anywhere else in the valley.
- Buy textiles at the cooperatives rather than roadside stalls — you can see who made the piece and how.
- Cusco’s new international airport is being built beside the town, so expect construction traffic on the approach roads.
Best tours & tickets for Chinchero
These top-rated experiences are the easiest way to see Chinchero without organising a thing:
