Wereldreizigers.nl
Home » South America » Peru » Cusco Peru | 12x the best tips what to see and do

Cusco Peru | 12x the best tips what to see and do

The city Cusco in Peru is the best base to leave for Machu Picchu. But there's more. From Cusco (location here), there are many other possibilities to discover the area. In addition to visiting Machu Picchu, you can visit even more ancient Inca ruins or visit a salt extraction site. The city itself is also worth a visit, it is perfect for a free walking tour through the unique neighborhoods of the city.

In this article I therefore give you 12x the best tips with everything you can see and do in Cusco + surroundings. From challenging hikes to the best spots in and around the city.

Tour in Peru (backpacking)

Peru; the land of the Incas, mysterious discoveries, colonial cities and the traditionally dressed population. Peru is the country of the impressive Andes mountains, deserts and high-altitude lakes. Are you looking for inspiration or information about Peru or are you already backpacking in the country? Then read the articles below packed with information, travel stories and practical tips…

How do you get there? 

Cusco you can enter from many other places Peru visits. You can from Lima fly to Cusco, but you can also get to Cusco by bus, but from Arequipa, Puno, Ica, Puerto Maldonado, Nasca of abancay. It depends on your route of course and what is a logical choice in this.

What is good to know in any case is that Cusco is located at an altitude of almost 3.400 meters. Because of this you have to take possible altitude sickness into account and therefore acclimatize slowly, if you are not already. If you want to be well prepared, do not immediately choose to undertake activities, but plan a rest day and drink a lot of water.  

One of the many ladies on the market in Chinchero | What to see and do in Cusco
One of the many ladies on the market in Chinchero | What to see and do in Cusco

Also read: Inca Trail | The mystical journey to Machu Picchu

What is there to do in the center?  

There is a lot to do in the Cusco area, but let's start with the historic center. You can do different things there and everything in the center of Cusco is first unsubscribe below.  

1. Free walking tour  

What we did right away on the first day was a free walking tour. This way you immediately learn more about the history of Cusco and you already have an idea where you might want to go. Often an added value for us when visiting a city, but in the case of Cusco it is really a must. We liked the free walking tour from Inkan Milky Way Tours (click here) very good and I definitely recommend this one.   

2. Walking in the San Blas district 

The district San Blas is really next to the historical center of Cusco (location approx here). You can find many small alleys with boutique-like shops. In addition, this district is also known for its delicious restaurants, including Greenpoint (Location here) is a huge hotspot. Definitely go here for lunch or dinner. You can also pick up delicious homemade chocolate croissants, empanadas or chocolate cake. Also located in the neighborhood Mercado San Blas. More on this later.  

The view of Cusco and its surroundings from Christo Blanco | Cusco Peru
The view of Cusco and its surroundings from Christo Blanco | What to see and do in Cusco

3. View over Cusco at Christo Blanco

If you walk a little further from the San Blas district towards Christo Blanco (Location here), or the Christ statue, at the end you get a beautiful view of the city of Cusco and its surroundings. It's quite a bit uphill, but it's totally worth it. By the way, they asked us to pay to go upstairs. This is only necessary if you want to visit the Inca ruins next door. The view at Christo Blanco is completely free and you can just walk there.  

4. Visit the local markets 

In Cusco there are several local markets, but the two local markets around the historic center are Mercado San Pedro (Location here) On Mercado San Blas (Location here).

Mercado San Pedro is very big. You can really buy anything and it is perhaps the most famous market in Cusco. Despite that, I also highly recommend Mercado San Blas. A small, but even more local market. For example, you can also have lunch at both for next to nothing. Two tips for Mercado San Blas are in any case Govinda Lila en Green falafel.  

Mercado San Pedro, from fruit to underwear, everything is for sale | Cusco Peru
Mercado San Pedro, from fruit to underwear, everything is for sale | What to see and do in Cusco

Plan your holiday to Peru here

What is there to do outside the center? 

In the vicinity of Cusco, outside the center, there is also a lot to do. We have made two tours / day trips, but you can stay here much longer to visit even more.

Our first tour was to Chinchero, Salt Mines of Maras en Moray. Our second day trip to Rainbow mountain en Red Valley. Of course you can also do the first tour in separate parts, but with these three locations in one day it was a nice full day trip and it is really handy given the travel time. Below I will explain all the locations we have visited and after each tour I will discuss the associated costs and how to get there.  

1. Chinchero (Tour 1) 

The village Chinchero (Location here) is known for her Inca ruins and there is also a nice local market. The Inca ruins were also different than we know from Machu Picchu, for example. In addition, the view you have around these ruins is really beautiful. The view next to it is the Andes mountains.  

Inca ruins in Chinchero with the Andes mountains in the background | Cusco Peru
Inca ruins in Chinchero with the Andes Mountains | What to see and do in Cusco

2. Salineras de Maras (tour 1) 

During the route to the salt pans/salt terraces, ie Salt Mines of Maras (Location here), you actually drive non-stop in a fairly green environment. Yet suddenly a kind of gorge appears along the road and then you can already see from the first viewpoint that there are salt pans. The closer you get, the bigger it seems to get. Suddenly you see that those dolls from afar are just staff and are working very hard.

In total there are about 3000 salt terraces and they are still used for what they have always been used for, namely salt production. A fun fact: one of the most expensive types of salt in the world is mined here.  

Salineras de Maras, the salt terraces of Peru | Cusco Peru
Salineras de Maras, the salt terraces of Peru | What to see and do in Cusco

3. Moray (Tour 1) 

Moray (Location here) is still a mystery in the history of Cusco. It is an archaeological site with all kinds of unusual Inca ruins. They are large round ruins that the deeper they get, the smaller the circle becomes.

We ourselves had fantasized about what it could be, but unfortunately we may never hear the answers again. The shape makes this archaeological site so different from all other Inca ruins and the associated history is therefore not known.  

Moray | Cusco Peru
Moray | What to see and do in Cusco

4. Rainbow Mountain and Red Valley (Tour 2) 

In the 2nd tour visited there among others Rainbow mountain (Location here). Rainbow Mountain is in it Andes Mountains and will be Vinicunca called. It is a mountain with seven different colors. This is because in the soil of this mountain there is an abundance of different substances, namely copper, malachite and iron. Online you will find many photos of a mega brightly colored mountain and despite there are really good colors to see, you should not believe those edited photos from Google.  

You can walk up and down Rainbow Mountain, but you can also go via on the way back Red Valley walk. I would definitely recommend this. Firstly because you do not walk the same way there and back, and secondly because the route through the red sand is very cool and the view of Red Valley over the mountain ridge is very beautiful.  

The way back from Rainbow Mountain, past Red Valley | Cusco Peru
The way back from Rainbow Mountain, past Red Valley | What to see and do in Cusco

Plan your holiday to Peru here

The cost of tour 1

To determine your own time at the locations, it is nice to have your own taxi for that day and not to join a tour. We found this really ideal. Together with my friend and five other travelers we booked a private taxi and that way we could choose how long we stayed where and when we wanted to have lunch, for example. This cost 50 soles per person (about 12 euros) for the whole day. 

In addition, you have Chinchero en Moray the so-called Boleto Turistico del Cusco necessary. There are two tourist cards, namely one of 70 soles (about 17 euros) each. This allows you to visit four predetermined locations and you have one day for that.

The other tourist card costs 130 soles (31,50 euros) each, but with this you can go to sixteen (!) different locations. You can use this card for ten consecutive days. On both maps, they punch holes in the places you've visited, so you can't visit the same location twice. All locations of these two maps are in the Cusco area.

Om Salt Mines of Maras Unfortunately, you still have to pay a separate entrance fee. This location is not part of the tourist map, but luckily the entrance fee is not too bad, because it is only 10 soles (2,40 euros) per person.

The small, but beautiful streets of Cusco | Cusco Peru
The small, but beautiful streets of Cusco | What to see and do in Cusco

The cost of tour 2

The cost of the tour very much depends on how you go Rainbow mountain want to visit. In any case, I can highly recommend visiting this day trip with your own taxi. Also today we found a taxi that wanted to drive us there and back for 50 soles (about 12 euros) per person. This indeed means that the taxi is waiting for you there. Besides the fact that you are not in a larger tour bus, the biggest advantage is that you can decide for yourself what time you want to be there.

The tour operators leave around four to five o'clock at night and if you take a taxi yourself (as we leave at eight o'clock in the morning), you will only arrive when most other tourists leave. This means quietly and without too many other people around you to Rainbow Mountain.

Although I was skeptical about it, this really was the case. We encountered hundreds of people during the first hour. We went there, they went back again. As a result, we were finally at the top of Rainbow Mountain with a total of three people. Fantastic and therefore definitely recommended to do it this way!

The entrance to Rainbow Mountain was 25 soles (6 euros) per person. I have heard that this can sometimes be 5 to 10 soles more, it depends a bit on your taxi driver apparently. So don't pin me down on this amount.

Would you like to see a similar mountain, but visit the less touristic variant? Then go to the Palccoyo. We have not been there ourselves, but the hike seems to be less intensive, but the view is just as beautiful if not more beautiful. 

Also read: News from Peru | Cusco, Whale Watching and Tourism

Other activities  

Things we didn't do around Cusco, but certainly also cool, I have described for you below.  

1. Humantay Lake  

If you have the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu not on your schedule, then the Humanty Lake hike added value. It is a beautiful lake and the mountains around it are certainly beautiful. So if you do walk the Salkantay trek, you will walk past it and a separate hike to this point is therefore unnecessary.  

2. Sacred Valley tour to Pisac and Ollantaytambo, among others 

De Sacred Valley tours takes you to more beautiful Inca ruins. You can also take the bus yourself, for example Pisac pack and visit there yourself. 

3. Ausangate Trek 

The multi-day Ausangate Trek I have heard other travelers describe it as very beautiful. Yet we had, with Colca Canyon a few days before and a few days later the Salkantay trek ahead, no need for another multi-day trek.  

4. Trekking to Machu Picchu 

I described this in the blog about our Salkantay trek. In addition, you can also do many different quad, bicycle and horseback riding tours do in the Cusco area.

Madelon on top at Rainbow Mountain | Cusco Peru
Madelon on top at Rainbow Mountain | What to see and do in Cusco

Tour in Peru (backpacking)

Peru; the land of the Incas, mysterious discoveries, colonial cities and the traditionally dressed population. Peru is the country of the impressive Andes mountains, deserts and high-altitude lakes. Are you looking for inspiration or information about Peru or are you already backpacking in the country? Then read the articles below packed with information, travel stories and practical tips…

Madelon

My name is Madelon, also known online as 'retourtjewereld'. Ever since I was a few years old, I have been saying that I want to make a long world trip and I did that with my friend Thomas in 2022/2023. My wanderlust is far from over and I would like to share my enthusiasm about the places I visited with you!

Seen a mistake? Ask? Remark? Let us know in the comments!

Would you like to receive great travel tips and extra benefits every month? And did you know that we give away a monthly world map to our subscribers? All you have to do is leave your email address below and you will have a chance to win every month!

logo-world travelers-grey-1
Translate »
Copy link