Immerse yourself in authentic Quechua textile traditions, ancestral farming, a farm-to-table lunch, and the Sacred Valley's most vibrant artisan market.
Discover the authentic essence of Quechua culture on our exclusive Amaru Community and Pisac (Pisaq) Market Private Tour. While our top-rated Cusco cooking classes teach you how to prepare gourmet Peruvian dishes in our studio, this full-day Sacred Valley journey is thoughtfully designed for travelers seeking a deeper, hands-on connection with Andean ingredients, sustainable agriculture, and ancestral weavers right at their mountain source.
Escaping the standard tourist trail, you will spend your morning welcomed by the indigenous families of the Amaru highland community—learning how native superfoods are grown and how master weavers transform raw alpaca wool using natural mountain dyes—followed by a heartwarming farm-to-table traditional lunch. In the afternoon, we descend to the colonial town of Pisac to savor a wood-fired empanada from a 200-year-old clay oven and explore the world-famous Pisac Artisan Market.
Your journey begins at 8:30 AM when your private driver and English-speaking guide pick you up directly from your hotel in Cusco for a scenic drive into the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Ascending into the peaceful mountain village of Amaru (3,800 m / 12,467 ft), you will be greeted with traditional music and fresh flowers by local community members. Together, we walk through their high-altitude farmlands (chakras) to learn about pre-Inca crop rotation, traditional foot-plow farming, medicinal Andean herbs like muña, and the cultivation of ratusan of varieties of native potatoes, oca, and quinoa.
Next, step into the courtyard of Amaru's master weavers for an interactive textile demonstration. You will participate in every stage of the ancestral weaving process: shearing and washing raw alpaca wool using natural Andean root soap (saqta), hand-spinning yarn on a traditional pushka spindle, and boiling native flowers, leaves, minerals, and cochineal insects in clay pots to create brilliant, fade-resistant natural dyes. Watch as the artisans weave intricate belts (chumpis) and blankets on traditional backstrap looms, encoding ancient Andean cosmology into every thread.
Following our cultural immersion, we gather with our host families to share a wholesome, home-cooked traditional Andean lunch. Prepared with organic native tubers, quinoa, fresh vegetables, and aromatic herbs harvested directly from the community's fields, this meal is a genuine expression of Quechua hospitality and culinary heritage. (Note: If you would like to upgrade this lunch to an underground earth-oven ritual, check out our Amaru Community & Pachamanca Ceremony Tour).
In the afternoon, we descend to the charming colonial town of Pisac (2,972 m / 9,750 ft) on the banks of the Urubamba River. First, we pause at a historic 200-year-old wood-fired clay oven to savor a warm, freshly baked traditional Pisac empanada paired with aromatic Peruvian coffee or herbal tea. Finally, we stroll through the vibrant cobblestone plazas of the Pisac Artisan Market—the most famous market in the Sacred Valley—where you can browse fine handcrafted silver jewelry, painted ceramics, and Andean textiles before returning comfortably to your Cusco hotel by 4:30 PM.
Everything you need to know about our Sacred Valley cultural, weaving, and market experience.
Yes! The famous Pisac Artisan Market operates every single day of the week, making this tour great on any day of your trip. While Sundays feature the largest gathering of highland mayors in traditional dress, visiting on weekdays offers a more relaxed, crowd-free experience where you can chat directly with local silversmiths, ceramicists, and weavers.
Both full-day private tours include round-trip transport from Cusco, the agricultural walk and ancestral weaving demonstration in the Amaru community, and the afternoon visit to Pisac Market with a wood-fired empanada tasting. The difference is the lunch experience: this $159 tour includes a delicious home-cooked, farm-to-table Andean lunch inside the community, while our $186 Pachamanca Experience features the hands-on underground earth-oven ceremony.
Absolutely! Andean highland cuisine is naturally rich in organic plant-based superfoods such as quinoa, native potatoes, oca, corn, fava beans, and fresh herbs. Please mention any dietary restrictions or allergies when booking, and our community hosts will gladly prepare a customized vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free meal.
Yes, if you wish! After witnessing how the women of Amaru shear, hand-spin, naturally dye, and weave their textiles on backstrap looms, you have the option to purchase 100% genuine, handmade alpaca belts, table runners, shawls, and blankets directly from the artisans who made them—with 100% of your purchase going straight to their families.
Pisac town sits in the Sacred Valley at a comfortable 2,972 meters (9,750 ft)—significantly lower than Cusco—while the rural mountain community of Amaru sits above the valley at approximately 3,800 meters (12,467 ft). Because you travel in a private vehicle and walk at an easy, unhurried pace while drinking warm muña herbal tea, the altitude is very comfortable.
