How many days does the city itself need?

One, if you use it well: the old town is walkable in an afternoon and the city tour of the four ruins is half a day. What matters is that this spare day is not your arrival day, because the first hours at altitude are not productive ones.

Can you walk around the centre at night?

Yes — the old town is busy and there is a tourist police presence. The precautions are those of any city: an app taxi or one called by your hotel rather than one off the street, your bag in front of you in crowds, and nothing valuable on show.

Are the free walking tours worth it?

As an introduction, yes, and they run on tips. Worth knowing: almost all of them finish in an office selling tours, and a free-tour guide does not necessarily hold the certification a paid tour requires. Use them to get your bearings, not to decide who takes you to Machu Picchu.

What can you do without buying the Tourist Ticket?

Quite a lot: everything on the free list above. The Ticket is needed for the four ruins above the city, the old town museums and the Valley sites. If your plan is simply to walk the city, you do not need it.

What time of day suits each thing?

The market, mid-morning. The museums, in the afternoon. San Blas at dusk, when the light hits the roof tiles. The four ruins above the city, early, before the afternoon city tour coaches arrive.

Guide · Cusco

What to do in Cusco itself

Every one of our itineraries leaves the afternoon you arrive without a tour, and there is almost always a spare day between two programmes as well. It is the stretch of the trip nobody plans, and the one where altitude decides more than you would think.

The day you arrive

There is one rule: no exertion and no climbing. At 3,400 m your body is working even while you sit still. Everything below is at city level and can be done slowly.

The Plaza de Armas and the two churches

It is flat, there is nothing to climb and there is somewhere to sit. Seeing the Cathedral and the Compañía from outside costs nothing; going into the Cathedral does, with the religious circuit ticket.

Hatunrumiyoc street

The Inca wall with the twelve-angled stone is right there on the pavement, two blocks from the square. It is free, it takes ten minutes, and it is the best possible introduction to why those walls are still standing.

San Pedro market

Going in costs nothing. This is where the city does its shopping: fruit that does not exist elsewhere, juices, the food aisles and the herb stalls. Go mid-morning, when it is fully working and you can still walk through it.

A museum in the old town

A roof, a chair and no effort, which is exactly what the first day calls for. Several of the old town museums are already inside the Cusco Tourist Ticket, so if you are buying it for the tours anyway, day one is when it pays best.

And what not to do

Walking up to Sacsayhuamán or the Cristo Blanco. The climb is short but steep, and at 3,400 m it feels twice as long.
The welcome pisco sour. Alcohol in the first 24 hours is what goes down worst at altitude.
A heavy lunch. At altitude digestion competes for oxygen and it ends in nausea that gets mistaken for soroche.
A long afternoon nap. It leaves you awake through your first night, which is the one worth sleeping.
Booking a tour for the same afternoon you land, however freely it is offered to you at the airport.

There is more on this in Altitude sickness in Cusco.

By how much time you have

Time	Plan	Worth knowing
A couple of hours	Plaza de Armas, Hatunrumiyoc and the short climb to San Blas	All on foot from the centre. San Blas is uphill: go up slowly and come down another street.
A morning	San Pedro market and a museum in the old town	The market gets going early. It pairs well with a Tourist Ticket museum afterwards.
An afternoon	Qorikancha and Avenida El Sol	Note: the temple inside the Santo Domingo convent is paid separately; the site museum is in the Ticket.
A full day	The four ruins above the city: Sacsayhuamán, Q’enqo, Puka Pukara and Tambomachay	This is the classic city tour and it needs Circuit I of the Tourist Ticket. Not for arrival day.
An evening	The dance performance at the Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo	It is included in the Tourist Ticket. One of the few things you have already paid for and almost nobody uses.
A rainy day	The old town museums, one after another	Between January and March it rains hard in the afternoon. This is the day to spend Circuit II.

Almost everything paid in this table is inside the Cusco Tourist Ticket, which is bought separately. That page sets out which one suits the tours you are doing.

What costs nothing

The Plaza de Armas and the forecourts of the Cathedral and the Compañía
The wall and the twelve-angled stone on Hatunrumiyoc street
San Pedro market and the San Blas market
The San Blas neighbourhood and its streets
The San Cristóbal viewpoint, climbing up from the square
The Cristo Blanco, which sits outside the archaeological park and needs no ticket
Avenida El Sol and the Inca walls of Loreto street

What to eat

Deliberately without restaurant names: places open and close, and a list of names ages badly. These are the dishes, which are what stays.

At the market

The morning chicken broth, the juices in the fruit aisle and the bread from the bakery section. It is among the cheapest food in Cusco and it is where the city eats.

Chicharrón and lechón

Fried pork with hominy corn, onion and mint. It is weekend food and midday food, not dinner, and at altitude it is better treated as the meal of the day rather than one more starter.

Adobo, on Sunday mornings

Pork marinated in chicha, cooked overnight and served early. It is a local Sunday habit; if you are in Cusco on a Sunday, that is the breakfast to have.

Soups before main courses

Chairo, quinoa soup, chupe. With the poor appetite you get at altitude in the first few days — which is entirely normal — they go down far better than a large main.

Cuy and alpaca

Both have been on local tables for centuries. Cuy is ordered ahead in many places because it is cooked whole; alpaca is lean, mild meat, closer to beef than most people expect.

Chicha morada and herbal tea

Chicha morada is made from purple corn and contains no alcohol, unlike chicha de jora. Coca or muña tea is what your hotel will hand you on arrival.

Frequently asked questions

How many days does the city itself need?: One, if you use it well: the old town is walkable in an afternoon and the city tour of the four ruins is half a day. What matters is that this spare day is not your arrival day, because the first hours at altitude are not productive ones.
Can you walk around the centre at night?: Yes — the old town is busy and there is a tourist police presence. The precautions are those of any city: an app taxi or one called by your hotel rather than one off the street, your bag in front of you in crowds, and nothing valuable on show.
Are the free walking tours worth it?: As an introduction, yes, and they run on tips. Worth knowing: almost all of them finish in an office selling tours, and a free-tour guide does not necessarily hold the certification a paid tour requires. Use them to get your bearings, not to decide who takes you to Machu Picchu.
What can you do without buying the Tourist Ticket?: Quite a lot: everything on the free list above. The Ticket is needed for the four ruins above the city, the old town museums and the Valley sites. If your plan is simply to walk the city, you do not need it.
What time of day suits each thing?: The market, mid-morning. The museums, in the afternoon. San Blas at dusk, when the light hits the roof tiles. The four ruins above the city, early, before the afternoon city tour coaches arrive.

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