Cusco, Peru
Cusco Highlights
Pisac
San Blas
Cusco Plaza de Armas
Museo Casa Concha
Chocolate workshop
Stargazing
Why visit Cusco?
For the historic and cultural capital of the Inca empire and for wandering through beautiful squares and cobbled streets.
Getting there and around
After our week in the northern part of the Sacred Valley in Ollantaytambo, we booked a private driver with Taxidatum to travel back to Cusco, via Pisac. The journey cost £70, and took 2 hours.
Cusco is a safe and enjoyable city to walk around. We walked everywhere and had no need for taxis.
Accommodation
In Cusco we stayed at the wonderful Antigua San Blas hotel for 4 nights. This was one of the best hotels we have ever stayed in. We felt pampered and looked after and totally relaxed. The service was outstanding and the £170 per night cost was very good value given the luxury experience we received.
We had a room with a king sized bed and two single beds. The room was beautifully appointed with antique wooden furniture, interesting textiles, and a modern bathroom. A bedtime turn-down service was provided with hot water bottles and free tea. Outside in the hotel’s courtyard were fire pits with comfy seating, cushions and blankets.
The hotel restaurant Piedra and Sal served wonderful breakfasts including continental buffet options and hot dishes made to order such as eggs, burritos, vegan pancakes and French toast. For lunch and dinner there was an extensive menu of traditional and fusion Peruvian and international dishes such as chicken noodle soup with Peruvian spices, lamb with locally grown bean and rice arancini, and alpaca skewers with corn.
Our star rating: 5
Our cost rating: 5
Pisac
En route to Cusco we visited the Pisac archaeological site.
The archeological remains at Pisac are some of Peru’s most intact. The site, high up in the mountains, would have helped the Inca to defend Cusco and the jungle to the north east. As well as serving a military function, it’s numerous terraces down the hillsides would have made Pisac important for agriculture too.
Then we visited Pisac market which has an extensive selection of artisan products and tourist souvenirs. We visited on a Monday when the market has the fewest crowds (Sunday has the most). We enjoyed strolling the pretty streets and browsing the stalls. We ate delicious empeñadas for lunch expertly baked in a big oven in a charming courtyard.
San Blas
Our Cusco hotel was located in the San Blas neighbourhood. The area was full of narrow steep cobbled alleyways, coffee shops, boutique hotels, artisan workshops and restaurants. San Blas had a laid back cafe culture vibe and was an absolute pleasure (and a workout!) to explore on foot.
Browsing for fruit at the San Blas market and eating lunch alongside local people was fun, cheap and tasty. About ten stalls served hearty dishes such as minestrone soup, chicken and rice, and pasta, which only cost about £2 each. A whole row of stalls at the back of the market made fresh juice and smoothies.
Cusco Plaza de Armas
Cusco, the old Inca capital, is a wonderful city. The city centre is perhaps over saturated with tourists but it also has a fascinating history, magnificent architecture, and pretty streets.
The Plaza de Armas is Cusco’s main square. In Inca times this area was the cultural centre of the imperial capital, and it would have been where ceremonies were held and military victories celebrated. After the Spanish conquest the area was transformed into a plaza.
Today the square has floral displays and grand Catholic buildings including the cathedral and la iglesia de la compañía de Jesús. Many of the buildings are home to touristy restaurants, souvenir shops, and travel agents. The square was always very busy with tourists and lots of people selling souvenirs and offering photos in traditional dress.
Near to the Plaza is the ‘twelve angled stone’ which in our opinion is an overhyped selfie spot. The stone, sits in what was an Inca palace wall, and demonstrates the Inca’s mastery of stonemasonry.
The Inca made precise cuts and employed a method of mortar-less construction which allowed stones to bounce around during earthquakes before settling back into their careful placements.
Museo Casa Concha
This small but fascinating museum displays circa 500 finds that were recovered from Machu Picchu by Hiram Bingham when he and his team excavated the site in 1912.
Bingham removed the artefacts to Yale University in the USA and they remained there until 2011 when the Peruvian government secured their return and displayed them in this museum.
The museum is housed in a beautiful Spanish colonial building. Under the courtyard floor are the remains of original Inca walls and floors which can be seen via a glass viewing platform.
This museum was small but really interesting and it was great to see the cookware, crockery, jewellery, clothing, tools and weapons that the Inca used at Machu Picchu.
We also learnt about Inca burial rituals and how they kept records using coloured strings with knots, in the absence of a written language.
Tickets cost £2 per adult and children can enter for free. Discounts are available for Peruvian residents and students.
Chocolate workshop
The Choco Museum in Cusco, which also has branches in Lima, Guatemala, Mexico and Nicaragua, offers an insight into the role of chocolate in Mayan, Aztec, and later European cultures (the Inca didn’t cultivate cacao even though the plant grew prolifically in the Amazon).
We learnt that today, Peru is the world’s largest organic cacao producer and more than 50,000 Peruvians make a living through the production of cacao on farms averaging just 2 hectares in size.
We attended a 2 hour ‘bean to bar’ workshop (£30 per adult and £15 per child) which took us through the history and process of chocolate making.
We learnt to select, roast, peel, grind and press cacao beans into cacao paste. It was fantastic to understand the whole process from start to finish.
During the workshop we got to try different drinks including the Mayan Xocolatl with honey and chilli, Peruvian cacao tea, and a more familiar European style hot chocolate with milk and sugar.
We then poured chocolate into moulds before adding our choice of toppings. We got to take our chocolate creations away and they were delicious!
Star gazing
On our last night in Peru we went stargazing. We were picked up from Plaza Regocijo and driven ten minutes in a van up the hill to the Cusco planetarium near the Inca site of Saqsaywaman.
The staff at the planetarium gave us an interesting talk about the star constellations and the Incas and official names for them. The best bit was getting to look through the telescopes and seeing Jupiter, Saturn (and titan) and star clusters. This was something we can’t do easily at home and it was a great activity with which to end our time in Peru.
Final thoughts
We absolutely loved Cusco. Maybe it was just that we stayed at a brilliant hotel that felt uber luxurious, but we also thoroughly enjoyed exploring the city as well. There was so much to see and do with kids, the city was very walkable and the vibe was friendly. We could see why many digital nomads and ex-pats have chosen to make Cusco their home.
Practical notes - Peru
We paid for everything in Peru by booking online in advance or by using Mastercard debit or credit cards. By using our Starling and Halifax Clarity cards we didn’t pay foreign exchange fees. Markets, small shops and cafes, and some museums were cash only.
We didn’t find any accommodation with laundry facilities and we either washed clothes by hand or paid for hotel laundry services, the cost of which was reasonable (£5-£10 per load).
Speeds and distances are in kilometres. Driving is on the right. Road safety for pedestrians is challenging, with lane markings and zebra crossings treated as optional. We would have found driving in Peru challenging. There is an extensive bus network but accidents are frequent. Taxis are available everywhere and can be booked in advance.
Food in Lima and Cusco was diverse and good quality but in rural areas restaurants offered less variety. Markets offered great fresh produce at low prices. A simple one course lunch in a restaurant for 4 people with soft drinks cost around £20.
We each purchased Airalo e-sim cards for Peru. A 5GB data allowance for 30 days cost £10. Airalo is really easy to use with iPhone and it worked very well throughout Peru.