CUSCO TRAVEL GUIDE | Top 15 Things To Do In Cusco, Peru
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.พ. 2016
- Join us for our Cusco Travel Guide as we cover the top 15 things to do in Cusco, Peru. Many travelers to Cusco use the city as a launching pad to hike the Inca trail, visit Machu Picchu and/or explore the Sacred Valley. With so many travel options just outside of the city it is easy to forget that Cuzco has a lot to offer in and of itself. The following Cusco travel guide is our attempt to showcase what the city has to offer in terms of attractions, things to do, shopping, dining, museums and nightlife. In our opinion, you'll want to budget several days to take it all in and acclimatize to the higher altitude if you're thinking of going on hiking excursions afterwards.
Our visit Cusco travel guide covers some of the top attractions including the best in arts, entertainment, museums, nightlife and restaurants. We also cover off-the-beaten-path activities that you won't find in your typical tourism brochure or Cusco city guide.
1) Cusco Cathedral (Viracocha) - Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin (Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus)
2) Inca Wall
3) Traditional Peruvian Folk Dance at Centro Qosqo
4) Barrio de San Blas Neighborhood
5) Artisan Market on Ave del Sol
6) Cusco Food (Alpaca meat skewers - alpaca a la parrilla
7) Pisco Museum (Museo del Pisco)
8) Plaza de Armas (Square of the warrior)
9) Inca Museum (Museo Inka)
10) Chocolate Museum (ChocoMuseo)
11) Temple of the Sun (Qurikancha)
12) Templo de la Compañía de Jesús (Jesuit Church)
13) Cuy - eating Guinea pig for dinner
14) El Templo de la Merced del Cusco
15) Nightlife in Cusco - drinking a pisco sour
Alternate Cuzco/Cusco spelling: (Quechua: Qusqu or Qosqo)
15 Things to do in Cusco, Peru | Top Attractions Travel Guide:
If you're planning to walk the Inca Trail or visit Machu Picchu, you'll likely end up spending at least a few days in Cuzco. With it's lively square, quirky museums, artisans markets and traditional performances, this is exactly the type of destination you'll want to linger in...plus let's not forget, it's also a good place to adjust to the altitude! The following video will showcase 15 things to do in Cuzco:
Cuzco Cathedral is a place you shouldn't miss. The cathedral sits on the site of Viracocha Inca’s palace, and it was also built using blocks from the nearby Inca site of Sacsaywamán. Inside you'll find impressive works of art done in the cuzqueña style.
In the evenings, you can go watch a traditional dance performance at Centro Qosqo.
San Blas
San Blas is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Cuzco and it is a great area to explore on foot. The neighbourhood is known for its bright blue doors and window shutters, and it has a nice little square with a church and a water fountain. The neighbourhood has some really cool lookout points with great panoramic views of Cuzco, so you'll want to bring your camera.
Plaza de Armas is the beating heart of Cuzco. The square is flanked by a Jesuit church and cathedral, and there are also plenty of bars, restaurants, and tour agencies around the perimeter. During the day you'll find locals and tourists hanging out in the square, and if you get lucky, you might just encounter a performance followed by a demonstration like we did.
The Inca Museum is one of the main museums in town and it has rooms dedicated to different periods of Inca and Spanish history. You can also see women weaving rugs and tapestries by hand in the central courtyard.
Qurikancha was an Inca temple built to the Sun God, Inti, and it is believed that the walls of this temple were once covered in sheets of gold. If the temple looks like it has various layers of construction, that's because when the Spaniards arrived, they demolished the original temple and used the foundations to build the Church of Santo Domingo on the site.
The Church of the Society of Jesus is a historic Jesuit church. It's worth a quick visit if you're in the area.
Templo de la Merced is another church located one block from Plaza de Armas, and it contains the tomb of two famous conquistadors.
And that's a wrap for Cuzco! We hope you enjoyed this video and that it showed you a few of the places you can visit while you're in the city. We recommend spending at least 3 days here, or perhaps a few more if you also want to tour the Sacred Valley. As always, if you have any other suggestions of things to do in Cuzco, feel free to share those in the comments below.
This is part of our Travel in Peru series. We're making a series of videos showcasing Peruvian culture, Peruvian arts, Peruvian foods, Peruvian religion, Peruvian cuisine and Peruvian people. All things Peruano. The best of Comida Peruana and Cocina Peruana.
Proudly presented by: nomadicsamuel.com & thatbackpacker.com
All photos and video taken by Samuel Jeffery (Nomadic Samuel) and Audrey Bergner (That Backpacker).
Music in this video courtesy of Audio Network
I am from Cusco, I will be glad to host or help tourists. I love my city
Thank you!
Hi! I'm going to Cusco in about 3 weeks, and then on to Machu picchu. (I'm from Sweden). Do you have any tips? 🙂
Did you eat at The Rebel Table? Small menu but unique for Peru
Yo soy Mexicano y El Peru me robo el corazon. Regresare por tercera vez. La gente me trato como si fuera de la familia.
¡Gracias! Eso es maravilloso de escuchar Espero que tengas un gran regreso para viajar a Perú. Realmente queremos explorar México. Esperamos hacer un gran viaje a México el próximo año.
que amable eres, siempre seras bienvenido a esta hermosa tierra que es PERU, y te recibiremos con los brazos abiertos querido hermano, viva Mexico, espero conocer tambien tu pais, estuve ahi solo de pasada pero esta en mi lista de paises por visitar, saludos y nuevamente gracias por tan lindo comentario...
me voy pronto
l love peru great destination
We love to travel there!
HELLO that green vegetable are called arvejas
I'm
honestly I love food for all over the world but nothing beats Peruvian food ❤
Thank you very much! We plan to revisit Peru again next year :)
We were there recently, absolutely fell in love with Cusco! 🇵🇪😃
That is great to hear! We felt the same way.
Nice guys! I am here in cusco, have been understaking a 2 month volunteer placement with a great volunteer org called Perus Challenge who work with the surrounding community villages not far (at all) outside of cusco city... I definitely recommend anyone traveling here to come check out some of the communities like pumamarca and quilla huata, it gives you a vibe of the people who speak quechua, the incan language, and also most of those people dressed in native clothing trying to make some money through tourist photographs will often be coming from the villages. the organisation has done great things to empower the people through developing sustainable methods of income... this isnt to be overtly promo-ing, by the way, Im just a volunteer, but I can guarantee that going to these communities will make your experience of the city so much more enriching, and the kids LOOOOVE tourists!
Sam and Audrey, thanks for your europe videos too, heading there next and got some good ideas from you guys, and I very much appreciate your history knowledge, fun to know cute things like the origins or dishes etc.
Thank you! Appreciate you sharing that with us.
A museum thats more like a bar. Now that's what im talking about. :-)
+The Drunken Bear hahaha..not bad huh?
Thank you! I've been to Lima 3 times and can't wait for Cusco!
I love Cusco, it's one of my favorite cities and I wanna go back again because there is so much to learn about the Incas and the Virreynato. My favorite museum was the one that is on Inca Garcilaso de la Vega's old house, hope you visited it.
+Fernando Thanks! That is cool to hear. We didn't get a chance to visit that one unfortunately.
Thanks so much!! I'm actually going to be living in Cusco for the summer on a Study abroad trip! I can't wait!
Thank you! Oh how exciting. I hope you have a great time :)
Just stay in San Blas
I'm heading down on July 2-18! This video is awesome. Thank you so much for sharing!
That's cool! Hope you enjoy Cusco :)
Hello! Thank you for your great videos in Peru! I'm currently in Cusco. What was the name of the restaurant where you had the soup and your husband had the alpaca? Thank you!
I really enjoyed watching your video about my native country!!! My mouth water each time you showed the food....Sigh.... I need to go back to Peru ASAP!!!
Thank you very much! We really miss Peru now as well. Hope you can go back soon.
Going there in two weeks. Thanks for your video. Very well made by real people, like you and me.
Ah, thank you very much! Have a great trip :)
Just came back from Peru last Sunday. Spent 10 days in Lima and Cusco; finally viewing the ultimate sight-,Manchu Picchu. Stayed over nite in Aguascalientes b4 going back to cusco by Perurail in a 3 1/2 hrs ride.
Woah! So cool. Sounds like such an epic trip :)
I was on this trip with Betty, and I'm thrilled to have this video to memorialize the trip. You did a great job of capturing Cusco, Betty. Thanks so much!! I'm a fan of your website!
Thank you!
We just arrived in Lima Peru, what an amazing place. Having the time of our life here!
I especially enjoyed the Billy Ocean tune at the Pisco Bar, eighties retro feel! Cusco's a fun place to spend some time.
That city is much prettier and interesting than I had imagined! I learned something new today, too :)
+Kari H Thanks! Yes, it is definitely worth a visit alone. I think it is overshadowed because of the other more famous areas nearby.
I loved your video! Thanks for sharing those wonderful meals with us!!
Thanks Henry! We loved the food in Cusco.
I came back from Cuzco yesterday and it was absolutely amazing, the food ,landscapes, everything! Im actually peruvian bit i had never been to Cuzco so this was an amazing experience for me and my family, you guus make amazing content, i really enjoy yoir videos (especially the ones about peruvian food) keep up!
That is so cool to hear! It really is a fantastic city. We miss it and Peruvian food a lot.
Guys you're just great! Thank you for doing this amazing video with such useful tips... I'm sure you made foreign people want to visit Cuzco, Peru and made Peruvians proud of our country as well... Well done!!!
Thank you very much! We had such a great time in Peru and would love to come back again soon :)
Leaving for Cusco on Friday. thank for the info!
Que fantastico! Que viva El Peru señores!
was there last year, and Machu picchu. Got altitude sickness but got over it. We then flew to Iquitos to visit friends and went up the Amazon for a couple of days. Hope to go back!
Hope you can revisit again soon.
Thank you so much for these videos, you give us a real insight to Peru
Thank you very much!
As a fellow Canadian I found your video very helpful. Thanks for the Inspiration. I hit most of these places this week! Even had the alpaca and home made bread but the spicy aji was better than the tomato sauce.
Thank you very much! That is great to hear :)
You guys are awesome!!! Thank you for such a great and helpful vid......
Thank you very much! We highly recommend visiting Cusco.
The food in the first restaurant really looked good. My compliments to the chef! They put on a really good presentation.
+Bill Green Thanks! Yes, that was definitely our best in Cuzco :)
Great video ! VIVA PERU
+Elia Innamorati Thank you very much!
Cusco is one of my favorite cities that I’ve been to across the world.
i enjoyed watching your video. Thank you ! Relaxed and cool ! btw the hat was very cute
Thank you very much lou lou!
You guys are so cool and funny, great job! Will be checking out Cuso and Machu Pichu next year, can't wait!!
Thank you! That is awesome to hear. Hope you have a great trip :)
Such a great video! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching Zina! Cusco is amazing.
As usual, great video guys! I recently got back from Peru and was also at Pachapapa and I highly agree, the food (and bread) were excellent! I had the alpaca ham pizza and funny enough too I thought the alpaca tasted sorta between chicken and beef =). Keep up the awesome videos!
Thank you! That is cool to hear. The food in the city is generally quite awesome.
Samuel & Audrey you have done it again shown a slice of the world and made our mouths drool. You two are out of sight, are a real pleasure, an admiration on TH-cam. Thankyou
Thank you very much Lenard!
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Estoy de acuerdo! Me encantó Cajamarca 😍
Thanks guys, pretty good video and info; really invite to visit Cusco !
Thank you very much! Cusco is great :)
Oh my... you guys are so cute! Love this very helpful and sweet video.
Thank you very much!
The Inca were a bronze age people. They did not build the interlocking wall you showed. That would be impossible because the stone is harder than bronze. That megalithic wall must have been built by people before the Inca's.
They did. You can look up ‘12 angle stone’ that is a stone on the wall they shower or Sacsayhuaman to read more about Inca architecture in Cusco
This is perfect, we just got to Cusco, loving the plaza de armas
The plaza in Arrequipa is more impressivev
good job, hot ginger makes it more interesting
I liked the video thanks for visiting Perú...!!!😊😊😘👏
Thank you very much! We had a great time and hope to return again soon :)
lots of valuable information, will done!
+Yuping Cheung Thank you very much! We enjoyed being there for 4 days.
I really loved Peru . I was there for 6 weeks . I like Cuzco . BUT . It is one of the worst for chilling out . You will not be left alone for 5 min . People ALWAYS bugging you to buy shit . Or get a massage . Damn . Try Arequipa . Its beautiful . Lots of hiking around the city . Great bars . The people are so nice . They leave you alone .
barranco is a good place to chilling out
I love you guys! Just subscribed to your channel. Now I am a fan! The Guinea pig though. Looks disturbing. But the "Inca/Incapable" thingy is a nice one. I had a good laugh! You guys just convinced me to go visit Peru. Ciao!
Thank you very much! Welcome! Oh, that is awesome to hear. We highly recommend Peru :)
Lovely tour of Cusco.. Tks ..
Thank you very much Kdu!
Very good video, the information necessary to have a good time and enjoy that wonderful place ... Greetings guys and a big hug.
Saludos!! Una pregunta, es necesario comprar los pasajes para el tren a Machu Picchu con un mes de anticipación o con un dia antes es suficiente?
Congratulations Awesome video thanks for sharing
God bless you
Thanks! We sure enjoyed Cusco.
Briliant vid,tnx a must visit I see.
Thank you! It sure is. An incredible city to visit before and/or after the Inca Trail + MP.
That's about food not Cusco and Machu Picchu. Is that the most important thing ?
We always include food in our guides.
Their channel is Travel AND FOOD, though often it seems like more food then travel. I feel the same way! Where is the amazing Cusco I visited? I think food is an important part of a location's culture, but it shouldn't be the majority of the video. But then again, they specifically state what their Channel is about. If you want sites, there are other channels you can watch. Their subscribers obviously want to see food, and it wouldn't be a good move to change format for a few people. I like their Channel, but I always skip over the food parts. lol
Regrettably it's not about the archiology that the Spaniards totally destroyed. Half is ruined. Most of the Incas treasure melted and shipped to Spain during the conquest.
May I ask where you took the pic in 4:21?
Dear Samuel and Audrey, fyi the stones are pre-inka. thanks for the video.
Thank you for letting us know about that! :)
How was the weather temperature wise in what month did you go in
I always find it funny how Samuel stays still waiting for his queue (4:58 and 7:20)
Jajaja
The Alpaca sweater you and your husband had on are beautiful. Where is a good place to find them, and what is the price range?
Thank you! Try some of the nicer shops to be honest for an authentic one. The ones you see in the typical stalls tend to be fake.
Gracias por el video. Muy lindo!
Gracias!
That beautiful city, I love Cusco ..Soy lima and went to visit Cusco twice and loved everything over there, squares, streets, their meals and their typical dances alla: D Hope be doing well by sudamerica and keep a nice memory of all his great journey, greetings from Peru: D
I hope you understand the translation, if you can not read .. sorry>
+Jessel Guzman Thank you very much! We do miss Peru and we plan to return again soon in May :)
+Samuel & Audrey REALLY? :o IT WOULD BE GREAT :D
+Samuel & Audrey IF RETURNING PROVE ALL THE PERUVIAN FOOD, THE COAST, FOREST AND SIERRA
I love how comprehensive your guides are. You guys really know your stuff, great job!
Thank you very much! We really enjoy making them :)
A lot of my family members live there. I love it there.
Cool to hear! We loved Cusco :)
I love Cusco and your videos, too. I'm wonderig what cameras do you use in your videos? The quality is pretty good. Thanks for your answer.
Thank you very much! We use a Canon G7X and an Olympus OMD-EM5 ii.
watching your vid makes me want to go back to cuzco...
Thank you! Hope you can soon :)
I had such altitude sickness the first night in Cusco. I couldn't look at my iPad even on the lowest brightness setting. I went to the same theater that you showed in the beginning of this video. I loved it, but my girlfriend was a snob about it.
Yeah, it can be really rough for the first few days. When did you start to feel better?
+Samuel & Audrey, I felt much better after the first night. I may return to hike the Inca trail. We'll see what happens. My girlfriend isn't fat, but she needs to up her cardio game. She lives in Lima.
Beautiful Thank some much for visit Perú.
Thank you!
The night life was great. Had 2 big nights on the turps.
Glad you had fun!
Mi Bello Peru!!!
Awesome vid. Thanks!
Thanks!
Love your videos! Would be great to know the locations of the restaurants.
Thank you! Please check out our Cusco playlist by typing Samuel and Audrey Cusco and you'll dedicated vlogs for each place we ate at.
You guys are great together. Love your vids. My only suggestion would be to impose the actual name of the sites you visit on your vids. For those not familiar with the area and don't speak the language and/or are not familiar with various pronunciations, it is at times difficult to understand the names of the places you've visited. Thanks.
Thank you! That is a really good idea. In the description we try to list them but having them visual in the video would be even better.
you guys ate cuy soooooo much props 1 billion subscribe
Thank you!
I love this lady
Great video. Thanks b
Thank you!
Great vídeo ! I love my country
Thank you! We love traveling in Peru whenever we can :)
Very nice video!!!
+El Tercermundista Thank you very much! We had a great time in Cusco :)
4:58 😂😂 .. love your videos, so fun and informative
Very nice video, thank you
+Julie KiwiLee Thank you very much! :)
You didn't give the name of the,first,restaurant. Grilled alpaca. We are now in Cuzco
The Best...
Thank you!
Hi I'm from Perú, glad you like my country and I suggest if you can visit the city of Arequipa. We have a variety of food, spicy sweet or savory, a lot of places to visit and enjoy.
Thank you! I hope we can go there. What foods are unique to Arequipa?
Samuel and Audrey - Travel and Food Videos We have rocoto relleno, it's a big chili stuffed with meat and some veggies. Also we have Adobo, it's pork meat marinade with some spices and we eat this traditionally con sundays mornings. Chupe de camarones it's a shrimp soup with veggies, some pieces of cheese. You can see videos in you tube if you type de name of the meal plus Arequipa in your search. Sorry if you don't understand I can't write very well in english.
YukiKuran04 hi. Thank you for the information. I will be in Arequipa in about a week. Do you have any advice on places to go to eat and experience the best of arequipa?
We're headed there in a couple of weeks. Do you have recommendations from your recent trip. Michael?
hi guys can you tell us the name of the restaurant with the soup, alpaca, tamales etc? Or at least the neighborhood, San Blas maybe? We are heading to Cusco in about a month...thank you! good video.
ah pacha papa. I gather that from anther person's comment.
Thanks!
Ah, that is cool!
You guys are awesome
Thank you!
Hello Samuel and Audrey. Wonderful video. I recently discovered your videos and I am enjoying as well as learning a lot from your experiences. I am going on vacation to Peru this June and would greatly appreciate your suggestions. We will be staying in Lima for 5 nights and then heading out to Cusco for 4 days. From there we're going to Puno and finally back to Lima. We are still trying to decide where to stay in Puno. We are traveling with our son (12 yrs old) and we're not sure where it would be best to stay. Any place you can recommend that is central to everything in Puno?
Q'buena publicidad !!
LMAO, that's a good one, INCA wall vs INCApables wall
Hahaha...thank you!
That was great!
The stonework referenced in the first couple of minutes of the video is a pre Incan constructed wall. It is historical fact that when the Spanish arrived, they inquired as to who had built these magnificent structures and the Inca answered that they did not know. The Inca built upon the foundation stones that were already there. These megalithic structures that are in Peru also exist in many other places around the world and it is a mystery as to who built them. They (the Inca or anybody else) couldn't build these structures in modernity much less hundreds or thousands of years ago. These large stone structures are much older than the Incan culture and your tour guide knows it.
Hi guys, that was a great video! I was wondering, at what time did you visit Cusco? I noticed (and you also mentioned) it was kind of chilly.
Thanks! We visited in late January of this year.
Literally the lovest iq travel blogger i saw in my entire life... The place seems amazing btw.
Thanks Nixon! We just loved Cusco.
I'll be in Cusco in April. Do you remember the name of the restaurant where you had the alpaca meat and the soup or at least if the restaurant is in San Blas???
Everything was so nice, I’m Peruvian and I really glad to see videos like that, I really hope you enjoyed the country! Btw, Samuel ate bread with chili, I’ve seen that before :0
Very nice!!
+Denn G. Thanks! Many just rush off to Machu Picchu but Cusco is worth a few days of exploring as well.
My friends and I are planning to go to Cuzco. Our age range from 45 to 65.
We worried most is the altitude sickness. Was it really hard to adjust to? Any recommendation of what to do before hand or when you are there in regards to altitude sickness. Thank you.
C Lee el mejor consejo es aclimatarse a la altura y a mejor forma de hacerlo es descansar un mínimo de 4 horas antes de hacer cualquier actividad física, él mate de coca es un remedio ancestral y ayuda mucho, en importante también no cargar el organismo con mucha comida, en la altura la digestiones mas lenta, él cuerpo humano es una máquina maravillosa que sabe adaptarse bien, hay q darle solo un poco se tiempo y les aseguro que el problema de la altura pasara desapercibido
Hi, somebody knows where is the restaurant with the alpaca meat? or the name? Thanks!
i love this video. i just came back from lima and cusco and watched your previous peru videos before i went. did you bargain at the market in cusco? i got realllllly got prices!
Very nice video, thanks! I enjoyed watching it. I like the all the dancing and music. And the trying of different foods. :)) The place is truly a paradise.
+Martin Paryz Ah, thank you! It really has a lot to offer. We miss it now that we've gone.
Well memories are for the keeping. :)) Thanks and the video. :)) All the best!
+Martin Paryz Thank you! Same to you :)
:))
Question? Is there a lot of walking involved to get to the Redeemer Statue that overlooks Cusco? From the few videos I've seen, it looks like one has to walk a half a mile on a dirt path with several steps. Any help is appreciated.
Ah, we didn't actually do that. It is definitely a decent climb to get there. Maybe hiring a cab would be another option to hiking.
Thank you.
There is a road I mean a highway made of concrete lol this is not the XVII Century.
nice videos! :)
one question, where do you get your passports stamped in Machu picchu?? I dont want to miss it next month when i go there!
thanks! :)
Literally at the gate you checked in with your ticket. Look for it on your left side.
thank you!
Awesome video! Did you experience altitude sickness when you were there? if so how did you combat it?
+Kevin Dinga Thank you! We did! We decided to stay in Cusco for 4 days to just relax and take it easy before doing the Inca Trail. We drank a lot of cocoa tea and made sure to keep warm and sleep as much as our bodies required.
Great video! Wondering if you could help me with something. I'll be arriving in cusco at around 530pm. Do you think it's possible to book a salkantay trek around that time? I'm hoping the tour agencies are still open around that time.
We wanted to go there to book because it will be much cheaper than to do so online!
Thanks!
Thank you! I'm entirely sure because our tour was booked in advance but I do think even if you were to arrive later you could book through your hotel or other hotels which will have reception open well after typical business hours.
Yammy bread. Nice tips thank u 🌸
+Sumaq Llanqha Thanks! We love our bread ;)