If you think that Cusco is only Machu Picchu, other archaeological rests, and one or another attraction more, you are very wrong. Cusco became Peru’s tourist capital due to its various tourist offer, from the famous Machu Picchu, passing by Inca archaeological sites, and colonial temples, to natural marvels, like rainbow mountains, and beautiful glacial lagoons, among others. Culture, adventure sports, nightlife in its charms alleys and much more you will find there! Join us, to unveil, together with the Eco Home View team, the best things to do in Cusco and get the most out of your stay in this magical city.
Add these 15 best things to do in Cusco to your travel list and enjoy
- Rainbow Mountain
- Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
- Inti Raymi festival
- Cusco cathedral
- Humantay lake
- San Pedro market
- 12-angles stone
- Cusco viewpoints
- Sapantiana aqueduct
- Coricancha temple
- The historic center of Cusco
- Sacsayhuaman
- The Sacred Valley
- Taste gastronomy of Cusco
- Cusco coffee & chocolate
1. Rainbow mountain
The rainbow mountain has become the second most-visited attraction in all of Peru, just after Machu Picchu, in recent years. If we analyze a Cusco tourist map and surroundings, we’ll realize that this mountain, which seems to be taken from the most psychedelic painting by Edvard Munch, is located 112 km southeast of the city. Its vintage colors, one over another, cover the mountain from side to side, making a giant painting of colors and nature. Just amazing! Many travel agencies offer a full-day tour of this mountain over 5,200 m.a.s.l.
2. Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
Visit Machu Picchu is noted in any list of best things to do in Cusco. However, using the most important ancestral footpath to get there, as the ancient Incas did, is having the complete experience. The Inca Trail was used since immemorial times by the Incas to get to the citadel and today, visitors can tour it, seeing the same beautiful jungle eyebrow landscapes, amazing fauna and flora, and the beautiful rivulets that the Incas once saw on their way to the Machu Picchu citadel. To complete the Inca Trail, you’ll need 4 days and 3 nights, but the reward will be unmatched, Machu Picchu. Pay attention, a travel agency is needed to run the tour, it cannot be done alone.
3. Inti Raymi festival
Imagine visit Cusco at the time of the Incas, that is, traveling to the past, well, if you visit the imperial city in June, you will become a time traveler. An outdoor theatrical representation of the most important Inca festival every June 24 is developed in the charm streets of Cusco center, besides three important places, the convent of Sant Domingo (Old Inca sun temple), the main square (called Huacaypata), and Sacsayhuaman Inca fortress. The Inti Raymi or Sun festival is the festivity dedicated to the Inca Sun god and is represented by many Cusco dancers, actors, and common people dressed in the Inca styles, dancing and acting like the Incas. A unique spectacle for foreign people and visitors!
4. Cusco cathedral
Listed as the most beautiful cathedral in Peru, this beautiful building with baroque interior columns is the maximum representation of the Andean baroque. Its façade is comparable to that of Seville and houses the largest collection of Escuela Cusqueña (Cusco School), a pictorial style with a European and Andean religious theme, unique in the world. In addition, the Cusco Cathedral has sculptures of saints and saints dating from the 16th Andean colonial era and a main altar made of pure silver, incredible!
5. Humantay lake
Lake Humantay is a clear example that Cusco is much more than history and culture, it is also nature. This lake, located at more than 5,400 meters above sea level and 125 kilometers northwest of Cusco, was previously a glacial lake on the skin of Humantay (smaller snow-capped Salkantay) that gradually thawed until it became a crystalline mirror that reflects the beautiful Andean sky. The starting point to visit this lagoon is the same as to start the trekking to Nevado Salkantay. Beauty, nature, and peace you will find when visiting it.
6. San Pedro market
Among markets in Cusco, San Pedro is the most important and traditional in the imperial city. Jose Maria Arguedas, a famous Peruvian writer, said: “To get to know a city well, one must visit its local market” and he is right. The market takes its name from the small square that it houses and from the church that is next to it. Handicrafts area with unique clay-based products (with an Inca theme), a grocery area, and a butcher shop where you will see lambs, cows, and guinea pigs dead and open in the middle, and next to it, the food area. Quite a spectacle for those who want to learn more about the idiosyncrasy of the Peruvian.
7. 12-angles stone
This enigmatic stone is located two blocks northeast of Cusco main square and has twelve angles perfectly carved. Therefore, for many scholars, the stone is a great example of the high knowledge in engineering, construction, and architecture that the Incas possessed. Sculpting a rock with 12 angles that fit perfectly in an Inca wall, without any jointing substance or mortar, it’s just amazing. Also, at least most of the time, an actor dressing in Inca sovereign clothes is standing on the side of the stone, willing to take a photo or selfie with the visitor.
8. Cusco viewpoints
The imperial city is a juxtaposition of Spanish colonial and Inca architecture, big Inca carved stone walls blending with old churches in Cusco, domes of Spanish baroque churches jutting out over a sea of Andean tiles. Whether in the morning, at noon or night, in rain or clear skies, the photos you will take of Cusco will always be perfect. And what better than taking the perfect postcard of the ancient Inca capital from a viewpoint, in Cusco, there are many, such as the San Blas viewpoint, the San Cristobal viewpoint, traditional neighborhoods located on hills that surround the historic center of the city. The Cristo Blanco viewpoint (a white statue of Christ located on the edge of a cliff) is also a great option.
9. Sapantiana aqueduct
The beautiful Sapantiana aqueduct is the new attraction included in any Cusco travel tips blog. This colonial aqueduct was built between XVII and XVIII centuries, under orders from the Cusco council and the Jesuit order to provide water from Pujru river to the colonial city of that time. Nowadays, it’s can see a colonial wall with arcs of 5 levels belonging to this ancient aqueduct. Up to 1950 the Pujru river through its stands, today there is only a small stream left. Also, Sapan means Unique and Tiana means Seat (in the Quechua language), the name is due to an ancient Huaca (Inca cult center) of the same name located in the same place many years ago. Now, this beautiful aqueduct is the perfect background for your photos and postcards of Cusco.
10. Coricancha temple
The Coricancha was the main religious center in the capital of the Incas. Cori means gold and Cancha means temple, according to descriptions of the Spanish chroniclers of the time, the temple walls were covered by gold and silver sheets, besides having little gold sculptures situated in the gardens of the temple and a giant gold disc of the sun. In this enclosure, Inti Raymi and other important festivals were held. Upon the arrival of the Spanish in 1533, they destroyed the temple and built over the ruins the convent of Santo Domingo. The mix of Spanish and Inca architectural styles in this temple is a beautiful example of the harmony of architectural styles. Inside, you can appreciate wonderful paintings of Escuela Cusqueña and great Inca walls.
11. The historic center of Cusco
Cusco is safe to travel by its historic center. In this area, visitors can find many police officers on every corner, security cams, financial centers, money exchanges, drugstores, and other facilities. The majority of them are located on its main street Sun Avenue (El Sol). Returning to the item, in the Cusco historic center, charm narrow alleys will wait for you with their iconic yellowish public lights by night and Inca stone walls perfectly carved. All the alleys are cobbled and host bars, pubs, discos, handicraft stores, hotels, and restaurants. Getting lost in its streets full of magic and history is one of the best things to do in Cusco.
12. Sacsayhuaman
Inca walls with big carved stones that perfectly fit each other, and form zig-zag lines (similar to rays) one after another. Some scholars affirm that this place could be a religious center destinated to the Illapa god (Ray). Others affirm that this could be an Inca fortress, due to its location, north of Cusco city and protect the city against aggressive Chankas (a rebel town of Apurimac zone) The only sure thing is that, today this is an archaeological site in Cusco that remains intact in 50% of its original structure (which is already a lot) and Sacsayhuaman is called. Definitely, its visit is one of the best things to do in Cusco!
13. The Sacred Valley
The zone of the Sacred Valley 75 kilometers north of Cusco is the third most visited place after Machu Picchu and rainbow mountain. But, why? because it hosts amazing Inca archaeological sites like Pisac, an ancient Inca town located at the summit of the same name mountain with the biggest Andean cemetery in all of South America. Ollantaytambo, the last fortress occupied by the Incas in their flight to the Jungle, after the Spanish invasion of Cusco. Chinchero, a colonial town where Andean terraces and a charming church (houses an important collection of paintings belonging to the Escuela Cusqueña) will welcome you. Also, in this same area, you will find impressive Salt mines used since Inca times called Maras. And Moray, which are circular terraces that jut into the ground and which served as an important Inca agricultural research center. If you want to do one of the best things to do in Cusco, a visit to the Sacred Valley is a must!
14. Taste gastronomy of Cusco
Cusco gastronomy is one of the things that coming been revalued by haute cuisine restaurants. Dishes like Cuy al Horno (baked guinea pig), the Chiriuchu (Cold dish consisting of boiled chicken and lamb meats, cecina, boiled sausage, baked guinea pig, and toasted corn and cheese. All accompanied by a corn tortilla), el Capchi de Setas (broad bean stew, milk and cheese, accompanied by boiled potatoes and zetas. The latter is a fungus that only grows in the Andes from November to April, the rainy season, in the place where lightning struck) coming been added to the menus and options of most restaurants of hotels in Cusco and other restaurants located around the main square like Pachapapa, Uchu, Chicha, Calle del Medio and much more.
15. Cusco coffee & chocolate
A side note is chocolates that are produced in the Cusco jungle areas (La convention district) and was recognized in many world competition like the world’s best organic chocolate. It’s worth a taste of it and for that, we have the Chocomuseo, an establishment where we will know the Cusco chocolate history, we will taste this product in its diverse forms, chocolate bars, chocolate liqueurs, cakes, cakes among other. Without mentioning that Chocomuseo offers workshops to make your own chocolate bars, fantastic! This is located in Regocijo, a square next to the Plaza de Armas.
Among the museums in Cusco of history, and art is the coffee museum, located at Espaderos street 136. This museum is a must, like the Chocomuseo, the coffee museum shows the production process of the grain in the Peruvian and Cusco jungle, in addition to the various products that are made from it and exported to the world, as well to have the opportunity to taste a good cup of coffee!
“DARE TO LIVE THE LIFE YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED, TRAVELING!”
We hope we have helped you with our selection of the 15 best things to do in Cusco. We made it thinking about the traditional attractions, the new, and even the most popular festivals in Cusco. Tradition, color, party, culture, and adventure you will have on your trip to the Inca capital if you follow this list. And you know, if you need lodging to rest and recover energy to enjoy Cusco, Eco Home View is willing to help you, contact us, and we will be happy to help you.
