Cusco
Cusco or Cuzco is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range, and the Huatanay and Urubamba rivers.
It is the capital and largest city of the eponymous Cusco Province and Cusco Department. It has historically been one of the largest cultural, economic and political centers of Peru.
Getting to Cusco
- 01Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport
- 02San Pedro
- 03Poroy
Worth seeing
- 01Museo Municipal de Arte Contemporáneo
In the Municipal Palace at Plaza Regocijo, this museum has exhibitions of contemporary art.
- 02Museo Histórico Regional
- 03Machu Picchu Museum
- 04Museo del Sitio del Qoricancha
With information about the different pre-Columbian cultures and fragments of ceramics and textiles of the Inca culture.
- 05Museo de Arte Popular
El Sol 103 (in the basement of the OFEC office),.
Things to do
- 01Plaza de Armas
The park square has churches, shops, restaurants and bars surrounding it, and is a great place to spend an afternoon.
- 02Plaza de San Francisco
A great place to visit one of Cuzco's many great coffee shops.
- 03Salseros Cusco
This is a fabulous little salsa school offering private and group classes at minimal price in two central locations.
- 04Planetario Cuzco
- 05Sacsayhuamán
The closest and largest of these ruins is the amazing Sacsayhuamán (sometimes called Saqsaywaman and pronounced "Sock-say-wah-mun"), the ruins of an Inca fortress high above Cuzco.
- 06Qenko
The second site up the road from Sacsayhuamán.
Where to eat
The Cuzco area has some extremely good international food with tasty options for all budgets. Excellent at the end of the Av. La Cultura. Be sure to try an alpaca steak (don't forget a llama/alpaca is normally kept and used for its wool - so only old animals will be slaughtered). You can get alpaca pizza as well. Most of the mercados listed in the "Buy" section have vendors selling prepared food.
- 01Los Angeles
Jerusalen (close to Ukuku's and near the Plaza de ArmasIf).
- 02Chifa Status
La Cultura (close to El Mega supermarket),.
- 03El Encuentro
Reasonably priced vegetarian restaurant with good portions.
- 04El Fogon
Calle Plateros 365 (Just off of Plaza de Armas, top floor),.
- 05Victor Victoria
Calle Tsesequocha 474 (just off Calle Tigre),.
Getting around Cusco the local way
- Go nextThere are lots of companies offering a 4-day "Jungle Trek" as an alternative to the Inca Trail, or 2-day, one-night trips for US$260-270 (Mar 2018) including hostel accommodation.
- Go nextYou can also get to Machu Picchu from Cuzco in a "cheap" way, first a minibus for round trip for S/95 (May 2015) to Hidroelectrica, then walking 3 hr to Aguas Calientes or just take train for US$28 (May 2015); for more details about this option, see Aguas Calientes.
- Go nextOnly accessible by trekking (possibility to continue to Machu Picchu).
- Go nextVery few visitors are brave enough to make the trek.
- Go nextIt seems like you have to go through a tour operator packages include flights in and out.
From Wikivoyage: Cuzco, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.
