Cusco (or Cuzco), “Navel of the world” in Quechua, the ancient economic and political capital of the Inca empire, has a lot to offer.
Classified in 1983 as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, it enjoys great cultural and historical wealth.
If you only have two or three days to visit Cusco, a beautiful city in southern Peru, here is a suggested itinerary to make the most of them.
Visiting Cusco for three days is an exciting and intense tourist experience, where you will be able to see beautiful landscapes, learn about Inca culture and try delicious cuisine.
During this time you will be able to visit iconic places such as the Plaza de Armas in the city center, Sacsayhuaman and Machu Picchu.
But you will also have the opportunity to visit the Sacred Valley of the Incas and the town of Ollantaytambo, which will leave you with a pleasant impression when you see its beautiful landscapes. On the trip you will also get to know the daily life of Peruvians, while living an immersive experience in Peruvian art, music and gastronomy, which will take you to know some of the best things to see and do in Cusco.
On the first day of a three-day itinerary in Cusco you will visit the San Pedro Market for breakfast and right after you will go to visit the Plaza de Armas, a main square in Cusco where you will be able to see some of the colonial and historical architecture of the city. Afterwards, you will go to lunch with modern dishes based on traditional Peruvian flavors and after finishing your lunch you can go to explore Sacsayhuaman, an Inca fortress with impressive stone walls and beautiful views of Cusco.
To start your first day of touring Cusco, you will have to leave your hotel around 8:00 a.m. and go straight to the San Pedro Market, which is an excellent option to have a traditional breakfast and take advantage of getting to know the place a little, which is also quite iconic in the town.
The market offers a wide variety of food options, including fresh fruit, juices, empanadas, and traditional Peruvian dishes. This tour of the market will surely leave you wanting to participate in one of the best Peruvian cooking classes in Cusco.
Since the market hours are Monday through Sunday, between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., you can stay for just over an hour and a half to two hours, while you enjoy breakfast and tour the stalls. If there is something you will like about this market, it is its vibrant and colorful atmosphere, with local vendors offering their products and tourists exploring the place.
Leaving from the San Pedro Market, you will go directly to the Plaza de Armas, which is located in the historic center of the city and has impressive colonial architecture, but is also a place that stands out for its great historical importance. To fully explore the Plaza de Armas and its surroundings, I recommend dedicating at least two hours, so you will be finishing your tour of the square around 12:00.
When you finish your tour of the square, it will be the ideal time to enter the Cathedral of Cusco, also known as the Cathedral Basilica of the Virgin of the Assumption, which is located right inside the Plaza de Armas. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city. You can buy tickets to the Cathedral to visit it around 12:00, you can even take a guided tour inside, which will last just under an hour.
During your visit you will see a mix of colonial and Renaissance art, including paintings from the Cuzco School, as well as an impressive collection of goldsmithing and religious relics. In addition, your guide will tell you details about the impressive architecture of the place, its library and its internal museum, which houses religious art objects and other historical treasures.
When you leave the Cusco Cathedral around 1:00 pm, you'll want to find a place to have lunch, and the place I recommend you visit is Chicha by Gaston Acurio. This is a restaurant that is famous in the town for offering modern interpretations of traditional Peruvian dishes.
You can order dishes that are especially traditional in Peruvian cuisine, such as ceviches or even lomo saltado. All of your food can be accompanied by a popular drink in the region. Right after your meal, you can go and enjoy the other Cusco landscapes.
After having lunch, you can continue touring part of the Peruvian city and to do so, you will have to go and see one of the most interesting attractions in the city, which is none other than the Inca Fortress of Sacsayhuaman. It is an impressive structure that has huge stone walls and offers impressive views of the city.
The fortress is located about 2 kilometers north of Cusco, so you can choose to get there by car or walk from the city to the fortress. The Sacsayhuaman Fortress closes every day around 17:00, and since you will enter it shortly after 14:00, you should be out by around 16:00, keeping in mind that you will stay to explore for about two hours.
During the visit, you will be able to admire the impressive stone walls and explore various sites, such as the ceremonial altar and the Temple of Lightning. You will also be able to enjoy beautiful views of Cusco from the top of the fortress, so you should consider going to the Sacsayhuaman Archaeological Park to enjoy the Incan culture and history.
On your way back to Cusco you will definitely want to eat something for dinner, so there is one place I recommend you go to and that is the Pachapapa restaurant. This is a place known for serving Andean food in a cozy and pleasant atmosphere. It is located on Plazoleta Street in the San Blas neighborhood, so perhaps before eating you might want to walk around the neighborhood. There you can try different traditional dishes, from meats and stews to stuffed potatoes and chicha morada.
The restaurant is open until 9:00 p.m., so you can go in around 7:00 p.m. to enjoy your dinner before going to rest at your hotel or place of accommodation. If you want to try a slightly more adventurous menu, I also recommend trying the trout ceviche or the guinea pig pate.
During your second day in Cusco you will do several interesting activities, but mainly you will go on an excursion to Machu Picchu. This day will start early, since you will have to leave for Machu Picchu. This is one of the most iconic attractions in Cusco, which is why I recommend you dedicate the whole day to visit it completely.
When you arrive back to the city, I recommend you go to dinner and recharge your batteries at a famous restaurant in Cusco, called Cicciolina. In addition to being able to taste very good Peruvian food, it will be the start of a fun experience in Cusco's nightlife.
The trip will begin early in the morning, when you will embark on an excursion to Machu Picchu from Cusco. You can do this trip in two ways, one of them is traveling on board the train, from where you will be able to enjoy the incredible views of the Andean landscapes as you approach this wonder of the world. On some of these excursions you will have the opportunity to have breakfast on board the train.
Another way to get to Machu Picchu is by private car or private bus that will take you to this wonder of the world. Once you arrive at Machu Picchu, you can explore the citadel on your own or with the help of an expert guide who will give you all the information about the history and culture of the place. You will also be able to see the Sun Gate, the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Three Windows, among other iconic places in the citadel.
The best thing about doing this type of guided excursion is that on some of them you will be able to have access to certain restricted areas, such as the iconic Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain, from where you can enjoy and take photographs of impressive views of the citadel and the surrounding Andean landscapes. Generally this experience usually lasts just over five hours.
Upon your return to Cusco, there are many other things you can do in the city to continue exploring. I recommend signing up for a tour of Cusco where you can visit interesting places in the city for the rest of the afternoon, and even take advantage of the sunset to enjoy the city from another point of view. If you want something more relaxed, I recommend visiting some of the spas and wellness centers that are quite popular in the city.
For dinner I recommend visiting Cicciolina, which is a popular restaurant in Cusco thanks to its delicious Peruvian food and cozy atmosphere. The best thing about this place is that you can go with the whole family, or with friends, considering that it offers both options for sharing dishes and individual dishes.
To enjoy this space you will have to go between 12:30 and 15:30, although if you want to have dinner you will have the opportunity to go between 18:00 and 22:30. You should know that you will have to pay around 20 dollars per person to enjoy a main dish and a drink.
During your third and last day in Cusco you will spend time visiting places such as Maras and Moray, the town of Ollantaytambo and the Sacred Valley of the Incas. In Maras and Moray, you will see the impressive Inca agricultural terraces and learn about the importance of agriculture in Andean culture.
In Ollantaytambo you will see very well-preserved buildings and fortresses. And of course, throughout the day, you will have the opportunity to enjoy delicious traditional Peruvian dishes with the influence of other cuisines, to complete an excellent last day in this city. But to enjoy the entire itinerary, you will have to leave your hotel no later than 8:00.
As you know, you will start your day by visiting Maras and Moray, two Inca sites that are located in the Sacred Valley, very close to the city and that have a huge historical and archaeological importance for the culture of Cusco. Maras is known for its impressive Inca agricultural terraces, while Moray offers a unique insight into Inca agriculture and salt mining.
To travel between Cusco and Maras and Moray, I recommend signing up for an organized tour or a private taxi. During the trip you will have the opportunity to visit these two places along with other tourist attractions in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
I recommend that you spend at least a couple of hours or a little more to visit Maras and Moray. In fact, if you want to take a guided tour, you would have to spend a little more than half a day, but since it is a short itinerary, it could take you a little more than two hours to get to know the place.
Along with the excursion to Maras and Moray, I recommend taking a guided tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas, where you can explore the ruins and archaeological sites of the region. Among the sites you cannot miss in this place is Pisac, which shows you its ruins and its vibrant market within the town of the same name.
To visit the Sacred Valley of the Incas, I recommend you also dedicate about two hours in which you can visit the city of Pisac and its famous Inca ruins, as well as explore the local market, to buy crafts and local products to keep as souvenirs. Even during this tour you will have the opportunity to visit Urubamba, which is a good place to taste the local cuisine, or you can also stop in Chinchero to learn more about the Andean textile culture.
Since this is such a tourist area, I recommend taking advantage of signing up for a quad tour of Cusco and its surroundings, which will take you to interesting places like these. Without a doubt, an experience that you cannot miss on your tour of the city.
During the same tour, and if you take a guided tour, you will have the opportunity to continue your way to Ollantaytambo, a picturesque town that is located about 30 kilometers from Pisac. In this place, you will be able to explore the impressive fortress and the Inca temple, two archaeological sites that are well preserved and are also full of history.
Once in Ollantaytambo, you will need approximately 2 to 3 hours to explore the main archaeological sites and enjoy the views and culture of this place. That is to say, you will enter the town around 3:00 p.m., to stay until a little later than 5:00 p.m.
At that time, it will be time to return to the city of Cusco, to enjoy the rest of the afternoon, have dinner and rest at your hotel or place of accommodation.
When you arrive in Cusco, your clock will surely strike a little after 6:00 p.m., so it's time to find a place where you can have dinner. That's why I recommend visiting Kion, where you can enjoy the fusion of Asian cuisine with Peruvian ingredients in a cozy atmosphere. It's a well-known place where you can enjoy delicious dishes and a varied schedule that adapts to different needs.
As for Kion's schedule, you should know that you can go visit it until 10:00 p.m., taking into account that its closing time is around 11:00 p.m. every day of the week.
After having enjoyed a good dinner at this place or any other place you choose if you want to try another type of cuisine, it's time to go to your hotel or place of accommodation, to rest and sleep and leave very early to return home. You also have the option of going to get to know a little more about the nightlife of the Peruvian city, but this will be your decision.
With this last activity of your choice, you will have completed your three-day itinerary through the city of Cusco in Peru, so you can return home with the certainty that you have enjoyed and seen many of the most interesting places in the city; but at the same time, you will be left with even more desire to return.
