Things to do
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Sacsayhuamán
Sacsayhuamán's three terrace walls stand on the hill above Cusco, built from some of the largest stones in pre-Hispanic America and cut to fit together without mortar. You can stand beside them and run your hand along the seams.
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Cusco Cathedral
Look for Marcos Zapata's Last Supper among more than 400 Cusco School paintings in Cusco's cathedral, the most important religious monument in the city's historic centre.
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Plaza de Armas
From the middle of Cusco's main square, you have the cathedral and the Jesuit church of La Compañía framing two sides, and colonial arcades with cafes and balconies running round the rest.
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Cristo Blanco
A white statue of Christ erected in 1945 on a hilltop overlooking Cusco from the south-east. The monument stands 10 metres tall and is visible from much of the city.
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Qorikancha
The most important religious structure of the Inca Empire, built in the mid-fifteenth century in Cusco and dedicated to the sun god Inti. The site features precisely cut granite walls; colonial Spanish buildings were later built atop the Inca stonework.
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Corpus Christi
Stand on the Plaza de Armas on the Thursday afternoon, when fifteen saints go round the square on their decorated litters. For a view over the crowd, book a table on a restaurant balcony above the square.
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Inti Raymi
Give the whole of 24 June to it and save your strength for the afternoon at Sacsayhuamán, where the full ceremony plays out. Take a grandstand seat if you can get one, or claim the free hillside by late morning.
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Laguna Humantay
A turquoise glacial lake at 4,200 metres under the ice of Humantay, reached by a steep 90 minute climb from Soraypampa, three hours' drive from Cusco. It is the region's most popular day hike and an altitude test. The last stretch is loose underfoot, and horses wait at the meadow for anyone who wants the climb shortened.
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Rainbow Mountain
Mineral banding stripes the ridge of Vinicunca in rust, turquoise and ochre, exposed as the ice that covered it retreated. The trailhead sits above 4,300 metres and the viewpoint passes 5,000, so walkers who have spent a few nights in Cusco fare better. Tours leave in the small hours, cloud and sleet often close in by midday, and horses wait near the trailhead for anyone struggling.
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Museo Inka
Houses the largest collection of Inca artifacts in the world, including textiles, ceramics, and metalwork spanning pre-Columbian to colonial periods. Occupies the 16th-century Palacio Almirante (Admiral's Palace), a colonial mansion built atop Inca foundations.
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San Blas Neighborhood
A historic quarter uphill from Plaza de Armas featuring narrow cobbled streets, colonial mansions, artist workshops, and the Church of San Blas. The neighbourhood preserves Inca street layout beneath Spanish colonial buildings.
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Convento de Santo Domingo
A 16th-century Spanish Dominican convent built directly atop the Qorikancha (Inca Temple of the Sun), preserving and displaying Inca stone foundations and architectural precision beneath colonial structures. Contains religious art and colonial-era furnishings.
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Museo de Arte Precolombino
Specialized collection of pre-Columbian art from across the Andean region, with emphasis on Inca, Nazca, and Moche cultures. Housed in a 17th-century colonial mansion with thematic, well-curated galleries.
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Museo del Sitio de Qorikancha
An on-site museum at the Qorikancha archaeological complex, 5 miles south of the city centre, displaying artifacts discovered during excavations of the Inca Temple of the Sun and its surrounding structures. Features metalwork, stone tools, and contextual displays explaining the site's ritual and astronomical significance.
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Museo Machu Picchu
Houses the largest collection of artefacts from Machu Picchu, including ceramics, textiles, and stone tools excavated by Hiram Bingham's 1911 expedition. The museum occupies a restored colonial mansion in the historic centre.
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Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús
A Baroque church completed in 1668, renowned for its ornate interior with gold-leafed altars, indigenous-influenced carvings, and the Cusco School paintings that blend Christian iconography with Andean symbols. The exterior Baroque facade is one of Peru's most photographed colonial buildings.
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Museo de Arte Religioso
Occupies the 16th-century Archbishop's Palace and displays colonial religious art, vestments, and liturgical objects from Cusco's Archdiocese, with particular strength in Cusco School paintings and indigenous interpretations of Christian imagery.
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Museo de la Coca
A small, privately curated museum documenting the history of coca cultivation, its ritual and medicinal use in Andean cultures, and its role in colonial and modern Peru. Includes leaf specimens, textiles, and ethnographic objects.
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San Blas Church
Small colonial church in Cusco's San Blas neighborhood, built in the 16th century with a single nave and gilt baroque altar. The pulpit is carved from a single block of wood.
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Cusco Museum
Come here to see Inka goldwork and carved ceremonial stone, and the colonial painting that followed, inside the house named for the chronicler Inca Garcilaso de la Vega.
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Kenko
Limestone shrine and ceremonial center three kilometers from central Cusco, featuring carved channels and a small underground temple. Likely used for water rituals and astronomical observations.
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Twelve Angled Stone on Hatun Rumiyoc Street
Halfway along Hatun Rumiyoc, one block of green diorite in an Inca wall carries twelve worked angles and sits without mortar against its neighbours, a demonstration of the masonry that carried the palace of Inca Roca. The wall now belongs to the archbishop's palace. The spot is small, crowded and watched by costumed guides who expect a tip for a photograph.
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Ausangate
The sacred 6,384 metre mountain southeast of Cusco, circled by a four to six day trek over passes above 5,000 metres, past turquoise lakes and herds of alpaca. It is the hardest walk in the region and the emptiest. The circuit passes the striped hills on its southern side, and camps sit high enough for nights well below freezing.
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Huchuy Qosqo
A small Inca town on a shelf 600 metres above the Sacred Valley, reached only on foot: a day's walk from Tambomachay over a 4,400 metre pass, or a steep climb from Lamay below. The great hall and the terraces have no crowd at all.
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Mirador de Capuliyoc
The pass above Cachora where the Choquequirao trail leaves the road and the whole Apurímac canyon opens out 1,500 metres below, with the ruins a speck on the far side. Condors work the thermals here, and a rough road now reaches the viewpoint, so the canyon can be seen without walking the trail.
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Palccoyo
Three striped hills and a stone forest at 4,900 metres, the quieter alternative to Vinicunca with an almost flat walk of 40 minutes from the car park. Same colours, and a fraction of the traffic. The walk reaches three viewpoints along the ridge, and it is done from Cusco in a long day.
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Q'eswachaka
The last Inca rope bridge, spun from grass across the Apurímac gorge and rebuilt by four communities every June in a three-day ceremony. It is three hours south of Cusco and a rite before it is a crossing. The deck can be walked at any time of year, and it sags underfoot above a long drop to the water.
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Soraypampa
The high camp at 3,900 metres where the Salkantay trek begins and the Humantay Lake walk starts, a meadow under the peak with glass sky-camp domes and mule trains. Cold at night all year. Mule trains leave at first light, and the domes and huts are booked through operators in Cusco, never on arrival.
