Top 10 things to do in Cusco

The beating heart of Cusco, from first to last light there is never a dull moment in Plaza de Armas.
The central square of the city is bordered on one side by the imposing Cusco Cathedral. It was built on the foundations of an Inca temple and was completed in 1654 with the aim of removing Incan religious beliefs. Now a UNESCO heritage site, it is a must-see during your time in Cusco. Another side of the plaza holds the smaller but beautifully intricate Church de La Compañia de Jesús.
You will inevitably cross Plaza de Armas many times on your own Cusco visit, but our tip to enjoy it most is to go for a morning coffee or afternoon drink at one of the pricer second floor cafes and restaurants which can be found on three sides of the square. With small balconies to huddle on, it’s a welcome respite from walking and sightseeing and the best way to watch the world of traditional and tourist Cusco colliding in a kaleidoscope of colour.

There are a number of excellent days trips from Cusco, but a short bus ride or walk up to the impressive Incan ruin of Sacsayhumán (pronounced sack-sigh-woe-man, not ‘sexy-woman’) is a great opportunity to get out of the city for a morning or afternoon.
The site of the old citadel is a pleasure to explore for an hour or two and its large black boulders are incredibly impressive. Just note that if you plan on doing a Sacred Valley tour, a visit to Sacsayhumán may be included, so consider if you want to end up visiting it twice.

To visit Sacsayhumán and many other sights in Cusco and the Sacred Valley, it is necessary to purchase a ‘boleto turistico’ in advance.

How to get there: You can get to Sacsayhuamán on foot, by taxi, or with a local bus. To walk, simply use Google Maps to find the enjoyable route which takes you through Cusco and up the Atoc’sekuchi staircase – it’s pretty self-explanatory. It’s also possible to take one of the many buses or collectivos which pass the Sacsayhuamán entrance to neighbouring towns – ask you hotel/hostel for advice on the best place to hop on and it should only cost S/. 1 one-way.

Out of all the attractions in Cusco, this one is the crown jewel.

Koricancha (often spelled Coricancha) was the ‘the centrepiece of the Incan empire’ and considered the holiest site in Incan mythology, but its golden glory was tarnished by two key events in the history of Peru. Firstly, when the Spanish demanded a ransom for the release of the kidnapped Incan emperor Atahualpa, much of the temple’s gold and silver (legend says that it was covered in an incredible amount) were stripped, melted, and used to pay. The conquistadors, true to colonial form, then reneged on the emperor’s release and murdered him.

Once the Spanish proceeded to take Cusco, they chose to destroy most of the revered Incan site and stripped it of any remaining gold. The final act to underpin the power shift? The building of a church upon Koriancha’s foundations, which you can still find and visit next door (named the church and convent of Santo Domingo).
It is the remains of Koricancha which continue to act as an important link to the Incans, and a key place to visit in order to understand them and the clash of two civilisations, with one’s temple built atop the other in a very unsubtle metaphor for conquest.

It is apparently obligatory to refer to the San Blas as ‘bohemian’ or ‘artisan’ when writing about it in a Cusco guide, but we’re not going to go into that side of the neighborhood here.

However, this area was really the catalyst for changing my perspective on Cusco, and allowing me to enjoy it away from the central tourism-focused areas. It’s pretty, less busy, has my favourite Cusco coffee shops and restaurants, a handful of excellent independent clothing and jewellery shops, a chilled out vibe, great views of Cusco, fun nighttime bars and, well, lots of the things that you’ll like if you’re based in a city for more than a few days.

As so many travellers set up a little base in Cusco for a week or so, quite a few naturally gravitate towards San Blas during the day and night, and we’d recommend you make a beeline to this small quartier too whilst you’re in the city and embrace your inner flâneur. It is definitely worth that walk up the hill!

First up, there are a number of cooking classes on offer where you will visit a local market, learn about the ubiquity of Peru’s famous potatoes and corn, then head to the kitchen to create your own dishes and learn about the history of food in Peru with a homemade pisco sour. Do a cooking class when you are in Cusco, a four-hour class in Cusco is highly recommended.

Visit one of the several excellent chocolate houses in Cusco where you can sample some of the finest products from local producers. Peru is actually quite renowned globally for the quality of its cacao beans and chocolate, and Cusco offers the chance to sample (or devour) lots of it. If you’re a chocolate fiend, then you’ll want to perhaps accidentally wander past the following (in no particular order) to try some samples:

Now, if you’ve been doing your research for Cusco, then you may have seen a lot of posts talking about the 12-Angle stone (sometimes called the 12-Point Stone).

It is a block of stone that is made of green diorite, a stone widely used in Inca architecture. It is also one of the important symbols of the city of Cusco and is embedded in an Inca wall, which is part of the Archbishop’s Palace and the Museum of Religious Art of Cusco, where paintings of the Cusco school are exhibited.

Museo Inca: The charmingly modest Museo Inka, a block northeast of the Plaza de Armas, is the best museum in town for those interested in the Incas. The restored interior is jam-packed with a fine collection of metal- and gold-work, jewelry, pottery, textiles, mummies, models and the world’s largest collection of queros (ceremonial Inca wooden drinking vessels). There’s excellent interpretive information in Spanish, and English-speaking guides are usually available for a small fee.

Museo de Arte Pre-Colombino (MAP): One of the best museums in Cusco in terms of curation and the quality of exhibits, it’s a privately funded one which (as the name would suggest) focuses on art and artefacts from the period prior to the Spanish conquest. Definitely a worthwhile addition to everyone’s list of things to do in Cusco!

Pisco Museum: It isn’t really a museum, especially come nighttime, but we think that you have earned a drink by this stage. Peru’s most famous cocktail, a sour blend of egg white and pisco, is something you should sample a lot of whilst travelling here. (It’s all part of the cultural experience, right?)