Although it’s not common, many people arrive in Cusco without knowing what to do when they are in the city. Normally they arrive with organized tours or get tour packages right there, but there are always some free days in which we can go out to explore the city and surroundings and make the best use of our time.
We must remember that the entire city is full of history so the best we can do is take advantage of it! That is why I’ll make a list of the main activities that you can do if you have a couple of extra days in the wonderful city of Cusco. Whether you are interested in museums, historical/archaeological sites or going for a walk while learning about the culture and history of the city, you will have an option that may interest you.
Walking Tour
I personally consider that this is the best way to get to know the city and its history since you will be able to obtain direct information from people who live in Cusco and who have dedicated their lives to studying it, making this their profession as tour guides. I recommend doing it with the “Blue Team” which is, in turn, a tourism agency called Bloody Bueno Peru – Travel Company. This is the agency of a brother that life gave me, his name is Marco “Tupac” aka Charapa. I had the pleasure of working with him many years ago doing the same thing back in 2011 and I was able to help them again by doing consulting for his company in 2022, but I will talk about that in another article dedicated to the company.
With all this, I want to let you know that I totally recommend Bloody Bueno, whether you want to do one of their walking tours (3 times a day: 10 am, 1 pm and 3:30 pm DAILY!) or if you need help organizing one of their tours, they are definitely the best option in Cusco, so if you are in the square look for the “Blue Team”.
City Tour
If you have limited time or prefer an activity that can show you several places in a single day with a guide, then the City Tour is a good option for you. The tour has two schedules and lasts half a day (approximately 5 hours). Various places such as Koricancha, Saqsayhuaman, Qenqo, Pucapucara and Tambomachay are visited. It is important to know that to enter all these archaeological centres you will need a tourist ticket (Boleto Turístico*) that has a different price depending on how many days you want to visit the attractions; this ticket is purchased separately.
Saqsayhuaman
This impressive fortress built with stones weighing up to 200 tons is located near the main square, on top of the mountain next to the city. If you prefer to tour Cusco on your own and you already have your tourist ticket*, you can go visit it yourself. You can go on foot (if you like to climb hills) or you can take a taxi from the centre (6-8 PEN). In case you want to get a guide, they are available at the entrance and generally have a fixed fee.
Museums
For people who like to visit museums, Cusco has several options, some more impressive than others, but all of them will be able to provide you with valuable and different information regarding various areas such as techniques used in construction, metal alloys and goldsmith work, fabrics, time colonial among others. I personally recommend the Pre-Columbian Art Museum and the Inca Museum, but as I mentioned before, they all have something interesting to offer and you can enter them as part of the tourist ticket*
Neighborhood of San Blas and White Christ
Regardless of where we are, it’s hard to resist a sunrise or sunset with a great view. This is something that can be found in the San Blas neighbourhood or if you go a little further up the mountain until you reach the white Christ statue, both are incredible places to have views of the city of Cusco. It is worth mentioning that San Blas is a neighbourhood full of artists, restaurants and beautiful landscapes (it is a very photogenic neighbourhood), which makes it very attractive and an unmissable place if you are in Cusco.
Whether at the top of the mountain in the White Christ, in one of the various viewpoints in the San Blas neighbourhood, or perhaps enjoying dinner or drinks in one of the restaurants, I highly recommend taking the time to visit this area. Something I like to do when I’m in the city is going up around 4:30 pm to a restaurant called Limbus Restobar, grab a table on the balcony and enjoy a couple of drinks while I watch the sun go down behind the mountains and the city fills with lights and life as it gets dark, so if you can afford it, enjoy it too!
Just remember that to get to the San Blas neighbourhood you need to climb a hill, since it is located above the square and the rest of the city.
Markets
If we talk about markets, the star is the San Pedro market, located a few blocks from the main square and famous for its varieties of fruits, vegetables, potatoes and different things that can be found such as cocoa, local herbs (such as San Pedro cactus, hence the name). They also have a souvenir area and a food area that has a wide variety at a very comfortable price, but if we are going to mention food, I cannot fail to mention the juice area, where from 4 PEN, you can find incredible juices and with fruits that perhaps you have never seen or heard of.
The San Blas market is smaller in size, but it is a very good place to have breakfast or buy fresh fruits and vegetables. Something very interesting is that the ladies who sell their products or “moms” as they are also known, will make you feel welcome and welcomed in a very short time, so it is more than recommended. On the other hand, we have the Wanchaq market, which is very large and is more focused on direct sales and wholesale and retail, it also has a food court and is located a little further from the square.
Finally, I must mention what is perhaps my favourite market, although this also includes the trade that takes place in its surrounding streets, it is the Cascaparo market, it is located a few blocks to the right of the San Pedro market and is an explosion of flavours and colours due to the number of products you can find inside and outside. While living in the city I loved going to interact with people while shopping and found that the prices were even lower than other markets, so if this sounds like fun to you, I highly recommend you go on that adventure!
Souvenirs
Something very common to do is that, when you go to visit a new place/country, you buy some souvenirs for your friends and family or to keep at home. Cusco is full of places that offer souvenirs and also an experience when it comes to entering these old houses where these small shops are located next to each other, in other cases, they can be found in streets surrounding the square and these They can vary in price depending on the type of store and the products they offer. It is very common that you can buy an “alpaca” shirt for 55 PEN and walking a little further, you can find the same shirt for 35 PEN. What I can recommend is a particular store called Asunta and they are open every day until 11 pm, I recommend this place because I know that they are wholesalers and therefore can offer a lower price if you are interested I will leave you the link here so you can locate the store and visit it to see the variety of products that you can get. With this, I am not trying to force anyone to go, just that in my personal experience, I think it was the cheapest place I found.
Restaurants
Cusco, being a city very visited by local and foreign tourists, has an immense gastronomic offer. For this, we must mention that since 2012, Peru has been named the best culinary destination in the world at the World Travel Awards and Cusco cannot be left behind. From small local restaurants where you can eat from 5 PEN to gastronomic experiences of more than 200 USD, you can always find a place with good quality food, soon I will do an article with my personal recommendations when it comes to restaurants in the city, but among them are some names such as Morena, Calle del Medio, Kusi, Mercado San Pedro, Local, Ceviche, Organika among others.
To finish, I must mention that there are many more things that can be done in Cusco and that were not included in this article, but I will make another one with more recommendations of places to go and some places like the sacred valley, the eucalyptus forest, sector X among others. The only thing I try to show are alternatives that can be used by everyone, the important thing is that they can enjoy Cusco.
*Tourist ticket (Boleto Turístico)
It is needed to be able to enter various archaeological sites, museums and others. It costs 70 PEN for one day and 130 PEN for 10 days and includes admission to more archaeological centres (including the Sacred Valley). You can find more information here.
