Cusco: 12 Things Actually Worth Doing
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Cusco was the actual capital of the Inca Empire, not a staging post for it, and it’s been a UNESCO World Heritage city since 1983. The Spanish built directly on top of the Inca stonework rather than replacing it, so the layering you see everywhere, colonial church on Inca foundation, is the real story of the conquest, not a museum exhibit. Most visitors land at 3,400m and want to sprint straight to Machu Picchu; that’s the first mistake. Machu Picchu itself sits lower than Cusco, at 2,430m, so the smart order is acclimatize here first, then descend. Give the city its due and it holds up as one of the best bases in South America, not just a layover before the ruins.
| Essentials | Cusco |
|---|---|
| Days needed | 2 minimum (city only); 4-5 to add Machu Picchu; 6-7 to add a high-altitude day trip |
| Best months | May-September, dry season (June-August busiest); the Inca Trail closes every February |
| Daily budget | Shoestring $30-50, mid-range $80-150, comfortable $200+ (excludes Machu Picchu and treks) |
| Book first | Machu Picchu entry via the official government site, tuboleto.cultura.pe, weeks to 3+ months ahead |
Give day one to the altitude, not the sights
Cusco sits at 3,400m (11,150ft), and soroche, altitude sickness, catches nearly everyone who skips the adjustment. The standard advice holds up: take it slow the first day, drink water constantly, and skip alcohol until your body’s caught up. Coca tea is the local ritual for it, legal and genuinely part of Andean culture, but treat it as a comfort measure rather than a cure; the real fix is rest and time. The one sequencing detail that trips people up: Machu Picchu, at 2,430m, is actually lower than Cusco. Acclimatize in the city, or the Sacred Valley, itself a few hundred meters lower, first, then head down to the ruins, not the other way around. The same logic applies harder to the high-altitude day trips further down this list; none of them belong on an arrival-day itinerary.
12 things actually worth doing in Cusco
- Walk Plaza de Armas and step into the Cathedral. The square itself is free and was the Inca ceremonial plaza Huacaypata before the Spanish rebuilt around it. The Cathedral (~$12/S 40) holds a Cusco School painting of the Last Supper with a very specific local touch: the meal on the table is cuy, guinea pig, one of the city’s genuine culinary traditions rather than a joke.
- See Qorikancha, the Inca Sun Temple under a Dominican convent. Once the empire’s most important temple, its walls reportedly sheathed in gold before the Spanish stripped it and built Santo Domingo directly on the surviving Inca stonework (~$4/S 15). The contrast between the two building styles, visible in the same wall, is the clearest single image of the conquest in the city.
- Buy the Boleto Turístico before you go anywhere uphill. Cusco’s combined sightseeing ticket is sold only by COSITUC, cash, in soles, not online. The Integral version (
$35/S 130) covers about 16 sites over 10 days; the Partial version ($19/S 70) covers one circuit only. It does not cover Machu Picchu, the Cathedral, or La Compañía, and you’ll need it for the next stop. - Walk the walls at Sacsayhuamán. The megalithic fortress above the city, zigzag walls built from stones fitted without mortar, has no standalone ticket, it’s Boleto Turístico only. Pair it with the smaller sites on the same circuit, Q’enqo, Puka Pukara, and Tambomachay, and finish at the free viewpoint by the Cristo Blanco statue.
- Wander San Blas and find the carved pulpit. The artisan quarter above the main square is steep, mind the altitude on the climb, full of small workshops rather than souvenir chains, and home to a single-cedar pulpit inside the San Blas church that’s considered one of the finest pieces of woodwork from colonial Peru.
- Eat breakfast at San Pedro Market. Go between 8 and 11am for the food stalls at their best: hot juice, caldo, anticuchos, and a produce section that makes the case for Cusco’s food scene better than any restaurant menu.
- Day-trip Pisac’s ruins and market. The Inca terraces above town are quieter than Sacsayhuamán and worth the climb; the market below runs daily but is best on its traditional market days if your schedule allows.
- See Ollantaytambo’s fortress and living Inca town. One of the few places where people still live inside original Inca-foundation buildings, stacked below a genuinely massive terraced fortress. It’s also the train station for Machu Picchu, so most people see it twice.
- Visit Moray’s terraces and the Maras salt pans. Concentric agricultural terraces cut into a natural depression, paired with salt pans still worked the way they have been for centuries (not on the Boleto Turístico).
- Book Machu Picchu properly, then go. It’s not walk-up: timed-entry tickets on numbered circuits, non-refundable, and worth booking weeks out in shoulder season or three-plus months ahead for June-August or the Huayna Picchu add-on. Get there by train to Aguas Calientes, then the licensed shuttle bus up (the operator running that route has changed hands recently, so don’t assume a name from an old blog post is still accurate).
- Save a high-altitude day trip for after you’ve adjusted. Rainbow Mountain, Vinicunca, ~5,036m, is the famous one and the most crowded; Palccoyo (~4,900m) is a quieter alternative with a similar view; Humantay Lake (~4,200m) is the gentler turquoise-lake option. None of these belong on day one or two.
- Take the quieter South Valley loop. Tipón’s Inca water-engineering terraces, Pikillacta, pre-Inca, built by the Wari rather than the Inca, and Andahuaylillas’ gilded “Sistine Chapel of the Americas” church make a half-day loop with a fraction of the crowds of the main Sacred Valley stops.
| Ticket | Price (approx) | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Boleto Turístico Integral | S/130 (~$35) | 10 days, about 16 sites across 3 circuits |
| Boleto Turístico Partial | S/70 (~$19) | 1-2 days, one circuit only |
| Machu Picchu entry | S/152-163 (~$40-52) | Timed entry, one numbered circuit; not covered by the Boleto Turístico |
Do you need the Boleto Turístico?
Yes, if Sacsayhuamán is on your list, since it has no standalone ticket. COSITUC is the only legal seller, and it’s cash-in-soles only, not sold online, so budget a stop at their office on Avenida El Sol before you start climbing toward the ruins above town. Qorikancha’s status on the ticket is inconsistently reported, so treat it as a separate purchase to be safe. Prices above are approximate and worth confirming locally; Peru’s exchange rate, around 3.37 soles to the dollar as of writing, moves enough that a hard number today reads oddly in a year.
Is Machu Picchu walk-up, or do you need to book ahead?
Book ahead, always. Since June 2024, entry runs on timed slots across numbered circuits (1, 2, and 3, with sub-routes), and Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain are separate paid add-ons that need their own reservation alongside the main ticket. Tickets are non-refundable and do sell out: weeks ahead in shoulder season, three months or more for June-August or the mountain hikes. Getting there means a train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes (about 1h45), then the licensed shuttle bus up to the gate; a cheaper backpacker route runs via Hidroeléctrica and a walk along the tracks. Two honest flags worth knowing before you book: the shuttle bus operator has been unsettled since a 30-year concession expired in 2025, so treat “the licensed shuttle bus” as the accurate description rather than a specific company name; and protests and transport strikes, paros, have repeatedly shut the rail line and site access on short notice in recent years. Neither is a reason to skip the trip, but both are reasons to build a buffer day before any tight onward flight and to check for active demonstration alerts before you travel.
Getting to Cusco, entry rules, and when to go
Fly into Cusco’s Alejandro Velasco Astete airport (CUZ) via Lima, about 1h20 in the air. The long-promised Chinchero airport is still not open, so ignore any source claiming otherwise and book against CUZ. Entry for most nationalities, including the US, UK, EU, Canada, and Australia, is visa-free for around 90 days; Peru switched to a digital entry record, TAM Virtual, in May 2024, so there’s no paper form to fill out and no passport stamp, not a sign anything’s been abolished, just moved online. Bring a passport valid at least six months. Dry season, May through September, is the best window for clear trekking weather, with June through August the busiest and priciest; Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun, hits Qorikancha, the Plaza de Armas, and Sacsayhuamán every June 24 and is worth booking around, not into, unless you want the crowds. The Inca Trail closes every February for maintenance, so plan around that if a trek is part of the trip. One geography note worth a line: Peru does have two Level 4 “do not travel” zones, the VRAEM region and a Colombia border strip in Loreto, but both are far from Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu; they don’t affect this itinerary.
Money in Cusco
The Peruvian sol (S/) is the only currency worth carrying. Cards work in tourist-facing restaurants and hotels, but markets, colectivos, and the Boleto Turístico all need cash. The exchange rate moves, roughly 3.37 soles to the dollar as of this writing, so treat every dollar figure here as an estimate and check a live rate before you land.
Where to stay in Cusco
Base yourself in the walkable Centro Histórico around the Plaza de Armas for the first night or two, flatter ground while you’re adjusting to the altitude. San Blas is the more atmospheric option once you’re acclimatized: bohemian, artisan, and genuinely steep. San Pedro is the budget, market-district choice; San Cristóbal is quieter and hillside, with the same steep caveat as San Blas. Compare current Cusco hotel rates on Booking.com before you commit, and see the 4-day itinerary if Machu Picchu is the priority, or the 7-day itinerary for the fuller loop with a high-altitude day trip built in.
One habit worth building before you land: check for active strike or demonstration alerts and build a buffer day around Machu Picchu specifically. A paid ticket gets you a reservation, not a guarantee the train runs that day.