Cusco City Tour
The City Tour takes half a day, with a morning or afternoon departure as you prefer, and it's the best way to take your first steps in the ancient capital of the Inca empire. After pickup at your hotel we reach the Plaza de Armas, the heart of the city, to visit the Cathedral of Cusco, a jewel of Andean colonial art built on old Inca foundations and famous for its Cusco School paintings, its gold-leaf altars and its well-known Last Supper featuring a guinea pig.
We continue to the Coricancha, the most important Temple of the Sun in the Inca empire, on whose finely cut stone walls the Santo Domingo Convent was built, one of the clearest examples of the meeting of two cultures. Then we head up to the outskirts of the city to visit four archaeological sites: the imposing fortress of Sacsayhuamán, with its huge stone blocks fitted with millimetric precision; the rock-carved shrine of Q'enqo; the checkpoint of Puca Pucara; and the ceremonial fountains of Tambomachay, dedicated to the worship of water.
Throughout the tour, a bilingual guide explains the Inca and colonial history of each place, with gentle walks and several stops for photos. Keep in mind that some sites are above 3,700 m, so it's best to take it easy. It's the best way to get your bearings, acclimatize to the altitude and understand the living history of Cusco, which sits at 3,399 m, before continuing to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley.
