Cusco is undoubtedly the most famous and amazing destination in Peru. And although many people assume that Machu Picchu is the main destination, there are many other places worthy of being toured and photographed for your memories. Places within the city or close to it that you can access by walking or by taking a taxi.
Join Auri to know 20 magnificent places to visit in Cusco city, and we are sure, many of these places to visit in Cusco will remain unforgettable in your memories.
Sacsayhuaman
The archaeological complex of Sacsayhuaman is the largest within the city of Cusco. Even so, it is estimated that the current structure represents only 40% of what was once its original size. The chroniclers Garcilazo de la Vega, Cieza de León, Martín de Murua, and others called it “Royal House of the Sun”, that is to say, a ceremonial and religious center where it is said that many thousands of people gathered to officiate religious ceremonies. The place would later serve temporarily as a “fortress” during Manco Inca’s uprising against Spaniards in 1536.
In Sacsayhuaman you will find towers, enclosures, tunnels and gigantic walls built with imposing rocks. On your visit you can even visit some huge rock slides.
San Pedro Market Cusco
The Central Market of San Pedro is one of the tourist places in Cusco that you must visit if you want to have an authentic experience of the city. Here you will find hundreds of stalls selling fruit, food, lunch and handicrafts at excellent prices.
It is an ideal place to meet the locals on foot and try a lot of traditional Cusco food at very modest prices. In the San Pedro market you can buy traditional Cusco cheeses, Cusco chocolates, Cusco jungle coffee and even the famous Chuta bread, a traditional bread of large proportions, spongy and sweet tasting.
Qoricancha temple
The temple of Qoricancha was the most important religious temple of the Inca empire, it was the center of all the shrines and sacred spaces distributed in all directions and connected by imaginary lines to this main temple.
In colonial times it became the Convent and Church of Santo Domingo. Today it is a hybrid construction that shows a cyclopean base of Inca walls on which rests a colonial temple. Qoricancha is located about 10 minutes from the main square and is a place to visit in Cusco that should not be missed for any reason.
San Blas Traditional Neighborhood
The traditional neighborhood of artisans, as it is called, is located just minutes from the main square of Cusco. It was called Toqocachi in Inca times. A stroll through San Blas will lead you through its beautiful cobblestone streets, traditional balconies and a quiet and romantic place to relax in the center of the city. In San Blas are located the best craft stores, restaurants with very interesting gastronomic proposals, as well as amazing views and different angles of the Inca capital.
In the neighborhood, we find some beautiful water fountains, as well as one of the first temples that were built in the Andes. To this, we add its beautiful cobblestone streets, aqueducts and some remains of Inca units that give that Inca touch to a typical photograph in Cusco. San Blas is a must-visit place if you are looking for a photoshoot in Cusco or just take a little piece of the city in a beautiful photo.
Cusco Main Square
If you are thinking of traveling to Cusco, you will undoubtedly spend many hours in the Plaza de Armas or main square of Cusco.
This place was known as “Huacaypata” (Place of weeping) in Inca times. The place keeps a great historical richness since Inca times, it was a silent witness of many transcendental events in the history of Cusco, Peru and South America.
Today we can see the combination of colonial architecture, imposing churches, beautiful green areas and thousands of travelers touring this special place.
Siete Culebras Street
The name sounds very curious, it was already a product of the modern urbanization of the city. In Inca times, this street was called Amaru Ccata because of 14 snakes engraved on the Inca walls. Today these 14 snakes can still be found on this street. The street is located just five minutes from the main square. Like few streets in Cusco, this one is characterized by having Inca walls on both sides, and a beautiful arch of colonial elements. A very peculiar street that should not be missing in a photoshoot around the city.
Hatunrumiyoc Street (The Twelve-angled stone)
This street is a coveted spot for both professional photographers and casual visitors. This Inca wall was part of the palace of the Inca monarch called Inca Roca. Today, the place is an essential stop to get a photo that shows that Inca mastery to fit stones of multiple angles to each other. In this case, we can contemplate the twelve-angled stone, a masterpiece of Inca engineering and architecture that is captured in multiple photographs of people who have traveled this emblematic street of Cusco city.
Hatunrumiyoc street is located a few minutes from the main square of Cusco, starting from Triunfo Street. An additional fact that we can mention is that parallel to the Hatunrumiyoc street we find the Inca Roca street, which, although it does not have a stone of 12 angles, it has beautiful Inca walls within closed planes.
Inca Roca Passage
It is a pedestrian passage that presents beautiful walls little known, large pieces of green diorite built in the middle of the fourteenth century. In Inca times, the palace of Inca Roca was built in this place and nowadays the museum of religious art is located here.
This street is not very busy and is located a few steps from Hatunrumiyoc street, where the famous stone of the twelve-angled stone is located. If you are in Cusco and pass by Hatunrumiyoc street, be sure to pass through the Inca Roca passage and take a beautiful picture of a lesser known place, little transited, but of great architectural beauty.
Sapantiana Aqueduct
It is located between the traditional neighborhoods of San Blas and San Cristobal, about 15 minutes from the main square of Cusco following the street of Triunfo, Hatunrumiyoc and continuing the end of Choquechaca street. It was not until mid-2020, in the middle of the pandemic, that this colonial hydraulic engineering work ceased to go unnoticed. It turned out to be a boom for all photography lovers and invaded the social networks in a short time. The Sapantiana aqueduct, with its three levels of arches similar to a bridge, is built over the Saphi river, which descends from Sacsayhuaman. Both elements come together to give us one of the most beautiful photos of the city of Cusco.
Cristo Blanco (White Christ)
If you arrive in Cusco and find yourself in the main square, you are sure to notice a redemptive Christ on top of the neighboring mountain of Sacsayhuaman. This representation of Jesus Christ is called “Cristo Blanco” and is very similar to the Christ of Corcovado in Brazil. The figure is a symbol of the city of Cusco that reaffirms the Catholic faith of most of its inhabitants. From the location of this monument, you have one of the best views of the city. Here you will get a picture that will surely remind you of the Christ the Redeemer of Brazil or you will also get one of the most complete panoramic views of the city of Cusco.
Colcampata Inca Palaces
Returning to the neighborhood of San Cristobal, in its small square, we came across two imposing Inca walls superimposed. Limestone walls of what were the palaces of Colcampata in Inca times. Palaces attributed to the first Inca, Manco Capac. Next to the walls is located the temple of San Cristobal and from the same square, we have another beautiful view of the city. An unmissable place for all those elements that will give a spectacular touch to your photographs: Inca architecture, colonial architecture and panoramic views of the city, all in one place.
Viewpoint of San Cristobal
Next to the palaces of Colqampata is one of the most privileged views of the capital of the empire of the Incas, Cusco. This is the viewpoint of San Cristobal, a quiet place very close to the main square of Cusco (15 minutes walk from the main square). Here you will find the beautiful church of San Cristobal and stone benches perfect for resting while enjoying a beautiful view of the city of Cusco with the snow-capped Ausangate and a long mountain range in the background.
Pumaqchupan Water Fountains
These water fountains are located to the south of the historic center, about 15 minutes from the main square of Cusco. They are easy to find and if you are staying in the monumental part of the city you should have no problem finding them. These beautiful water fountains complement perfectly with the landscape of large houses with ceramic tile roofs in the center of the city.
The fountain or paccha (as it is called locally) has a drop of 7 meters high and a width of 10 meters. At the top, you can see the Sun of Echenique and a beautiful mural with Andean elements like few similar monuments in Cusco. A picture that every Cusquenian keeps in their records and definitely should not be missed.
Inca museum
This archaeological museum known as the Inca museum is located on Ataud street, half a block from Cusco main square next to the Cusco Cathedral. This museum exhibits a collection of Inca mummies, as well as various objects of pre-Inca and Inca origin, weapons, ceramics and different artifacts of the Inca civilization.
Casa Concha museum
Although the Machu Picchu site museum is located in the town of Aguas Calientes, very close to Machu Picchu. The Casa Concha Museum also exhibits hundreds of historical pieces that were found in Machu Picchu by the American explorer and professor Hiram Bingham. The Casa Concha Museum was built over an Inca palace. Today, it exhibits hundreds of unique artifacts returned to Peru by Yale University in 2011.
The Casa Concha museum is located on Santa Catalina Ancha street just 5 minutes from Cusco main square and is a perfect option to visit before reaching the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu.
Amarucancha in Loreto street
This place is an ancient Inca enclosure of great size located right next to the main square of Cusco. According to the chronicles it could have been the Inca palace of the Inca Huascar. Nowadays, the university auditorium, the Society of Jesus and the courthouse are located in a part of what was once this great Inca enclosure. Even today we can still find beautiful stone walls of this great Inca enclosure in Loreto street, a street that gives access to Cusco main square.
Temple of the Moon
The Temple of the Moon is the perfect place to get away from the city of Cusco and breathe fresh air in nature. It is not located within the classic or tourist circuits of Cusco. For this very reason, it is a very special and peaceful place. Here you will find impressive Inca ruins as well as a vast landscape full of vegetation where you can relax and connect with your spiritual side. In the area you will also find the Monkey Cave, Zone X and Quenco.
Kusicancha Inca palace
Kusicancha is an Inca site that for a long time went totally unnoticed. Its name translates as “happy enclosure”. In Inca times it served as a residential area for Inca royalty. Although most of these palaces disappeared, today, a part of the area has been restored, so it is possible to have an idea of how Inca Cusco looked like. It is in this neighborhood where the great Inca Pachacutec was born and grew up.
Kusicancha enclosures are located in Maruri street, a little more than a block from the main square of Cusco, are located next to the Directorate of Culture Cusco, where you can buy tickets to enter Machupicchu.
ChocoMuseo
ChocoMuseo is a cocoa and chocolate museum in Cusco, Peru. Here you can learn about the history of chocolate and the cacao tree in Peru. ChocoMuseo has an artisan chocolate factory where it makes the most delicious chocolates made with organic Peruvian cocoa beans with high degrees of purity.
ChocoMuseo also offers workshops to make your own chocolate and tours to cocoa plantations to see the real life of the producers. ChocoMuseo is located in the Recocijo square one block from the Cusco main square.
Apukunaq Tianan (the Abode of the Gods)
Apukunaq Tianan or the abode of the gods in Cusco, is a modern local tourist attraction composed of a series of stone sculptures that reach 8 meters high. The sculptures represent Andean deities as well as transcendental episodes of Andean culture. It is located almost 10 kilometers from the main square of Cusco.
The visit to this place is like a magical journey to the most representative symbols and figures of the Andean culture in general. There are day tours to get to the place, however you can get there on your own by taking a taxicab or by public transportation to the place, in the Sencca mountain.
Peru is a whole world to explore. In every nook and cranny of its vast geography there are places waiting to be discovered by your eyes. With many years of experience in the travel industry, the professionals at Auri Peru are ready to help you plan and realize your dream trip in every detail. Come and enjoy your adventure in Machu Picchu and other extraordinary places in Peru!
