Things to do in Cusco

Landmark · The historic centre

The colonial square built directly on the Inca ceremonial centre, and the temple whose stonework the Spanish cathedral was raised on top of.

Local tip: Qorikancha is the one to spend time in: a Dominican convent sitting on the Inca Temple of the Sun, with the original curved wall intact because the Spanish could not improve on it and later earthquakes proved the point. Go late in the afternoon when the tour groups have moved on.

Neighborhood · The steep artisan quarter above the Plaza de Armas

Narrow cobbled streets, workshops, small bars and the best views over the city's tiled roofs.

Local tip: Beautiful and severely steep — living here at 3,400 metres means climbing a serious hill every time you come home, which is a genuine daily consideration and not a romantic one. The little plaza is the place to sit; the streets above it are quieter and cheaper.

Food · A few blocks west of the Plaza de Armas

The city's working market, in a building attributed to the Eiffel workshop, selling everything from a hundred potato varieties to frog juice.

Local tip: The juice counters at the front are the tourist face; the real market is behind them, where restaurants buy and where the almuerzo counters serve a full lunch for a few soles. Go before nine, bring small notes, and ask before photographing anyone.

Culture · On the ridge immediately above the city

Enormous Inca ceremonial walls of interlocking stones, some weighing over a hundred tonnes, fitted without mortar.

Local tip: You can walk up from San Blas in about forty minutes, which is a real effort at this altitude and worth doing once. Beyond the main site the ridge continues past Q'enqo and Puka Pukara with far fewer people. Inti Raymi is staged here on 24 June and the city fills completely.

Nature · 45–90 minutes north of the city

The Urubamba valley floor at around 2,800 metres — terraced hillsides, market towns, and noticeably easier breathing.

Local tip: Six hundred metres lower than Cusco makes a real physical difference, which is why so many long-stay residents end up living down here and coming up for business. Pisac's market is Sunday; Urubamba is where people actually live. The valley is warmer, greener and has better produce than the city.

Nature · The hillside above San Blas, beyond Sacsayhuamán

Carved rock shrines, caves and unrestored Inca sites scattered across the ridge, mostly unsigned and mostly empty.

Local tip: A short walk beyond the ticketed sites is a whole landscape of carved outcrops — the Templo de la Luna, the so-called Zona X, Inkilltambo — that most visitors never hear about and many are free to enter. Go with someone who knows the paths the first time, in the morning, and treat the sites with the care the ticketed ones get.