Cusco City Tour: Explore Architectural Wonders and Historic Sites in Half a Day

Immerse yourself in the architectural wonders and historic sites of Cusco on this engaging half-day city tour. Explore hidden secrets, visit the Plaza de Armas and ancient temples, and walk Cusco like a local with our knowledgeable tour guide.

Duration: 5 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Cusco - The tour will start at 13:0pm form your hotel, you will explore the center of Cusco.
    Cusco, also spelled Cuzco, is a city in southeastern Peru, It’s often known as the “Historical Capital of Peru,” and it was the capital of the Inca Empire.
    You will explore the Plaza de Armas, the 12 angled stone street, Loreto street, and most important buildings and streets.
  • Qorikancha - From the Plaza de Armas, you will walk to the Coricancha temple, also known as Qorikancha or Koricancha, was the most important temple in the Inca Empire. Located in present-day Cusco, Peru, the name Qorikancha translates from the Quechua language to “Golden Courtyard” or “Golden Enclosure,” reflecting its once opulent decoration.
  • Sacsayhuaman - Next, you will drive to Sacsayhuaman and explore the best of this magnificent Inca Site.
    complex located on the outskirts of Cusco, Peru, the former capital of the Inca Empire. This magnificent site is best known for its massive walls of perfectly fitted stones, some of which weigh more than 100 tons. These walls are a testament to the incredible engineering skills of the Inca.
  • Puka Pukara - next, drive to Puca Pucara, which translates to “Red Fortress” in Quechua, is an Inca archaeological site located near Cusco, Peru. It’s part of the Inca ruins along the route to the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, and is often visited along with other nearby sites such as Tambomachay, Qenqo, and the massive Saqsaywaman complex.
  • Tambomachay - We will start from your hotel and visit the Cathedral, Koricancha, Sacsayhuaman, Quenqo, Pukapukara, and Tambomachay. This tour will take us about four hours.

This is a perfect opportunity to explore Cusco city and the surroundings as you acclimatize for your trip to Machu Picchu, combining the beautiful Plaza de Armas, 12 angles stone, Loreto street, Koricancha and walk around the fantastic 4 archaeological sites outside of Cusco, will give you a glimpse of what is coming up on the next days.

  • Complejo Arqueologico Q’uenqo - Qenqo, sometimes spelled Q’enko, Quenko, or Kenko, is an important archaeological site located just a few kilometers north of Cusco, Peru, in the Antisuyo region of the Inca Empire. The site is part of the larger Saqsaywaman archaeological complex.

The name Qenqo comes from the Quechua word “Q’inq’u,” meaning “zigzag,” likely referring to the intricate carvings found on some of the site’s rock surfaces. The site is often referred to as a “huaca,” which roughly translates to “sacred spot” in Quechua.

What's Included
  • Private transportation
  • All taxes, fees, and handling charges included
  • Hotel pick-up and drop-off
  • Guidance from a professional native tour guide
  • Exploration of the Cathedral and Koricancha
  • Visit to the 4 historic ruins around Cusco
What's Not Included
  • Meals
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

This is a perfect half-day tour that will take you exploring the best of Cusco city, visiting the most beautiful and important neighborhoods, streets, plazas, temples, and archeological sites: Amaze yourself with the magnificent architecture of the Colonial buildings lying over the Inca foundations, visit the temples and palaces of the city center, and later visit Sacsayhuaman, Quenqo, PukaPukara, and Tambomachay.

Highlights of the Cusco City Tour
• Discover the hidden secret of Cusco City in a half-day tour
• Visit the Plaza de Armas, where the Cathedral of Cusco is located
• Explore the twelve-angled stone street and the Street of the Sun
• Visit Sacsayhuaman, Quenqo, PukaPukara, Tambomachay.
• Walk Cusco like a local with our native Tour Guide

  • Children must be accompanied by an adult
  • Names of all travelers
Location
Cusco
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
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(27 Ratings)
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Trishacv8684zy
Aug 7, 2024
Ask for Katia and you will have the most amazing experiences on this tour! - We thought we were going to be just walking around the city and were pleasantly surprised that we were actually outside the city exploring ruins and battle grounds and sacred mummification grounds. We learned so incredibly much from our guide Katia about the history of Cusco and the kings and battles and family lineage. She pointed out significant signs in the rocks and was so patient with all of our questions. We also got to see all kinds of llamas and feed them. We spent so much time on each place we were running late and Katia just let us have our experiences! But made sure we got to the final church before it closed so we could experience the majesty. She even took us to the Chocolate Museum and walked us to a restaurant we could have dinner at. This was an amazing tour and Katia was the best tour guide!
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Alexandrarn4833my
Jul 25, 2024
Amazing intro to the Inka world!! - I had an amazing intro to Cusco on this City Tour with Katie. She was extremely knowledgeable, kind and patient and went above and beyond to give me and the group a great experience and insights into the Inca culture. I was travelling on my own but felt very safe and comfortable on this trip. I recommend it to anyone looking for a first glimpse into the rich Inca heritage.
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N695byannag
Jul 20, 2024
A wonderful introduction to our adventures in Cusco! - Wow! What an amazing guided tour of the ancient ruins and historical sites around Cusco. Our tour guide Katia was extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic about sharing her knowledge and her personal heritage with us. She was very contentious and kind, with lots of interesting stories and great recommendations. Thanks Katia!
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Kathrynaw781jg
Jul 14, 2024
A fascinating history well-told - Cristiano did a fantastic job showing us around Cusco! The highlight was Sacsayhuaman - a must see while in Cusco. We also had a bonus stop on the tour that we hadn't known about - a visit to Manos de la Comunidad - a llama, alpaca, vicuna, and huacano sanctuary owned by the local community. I would highly recommend going to Peru at the end of June because they have daily parades in celebration of Cusco's birthday, and Cristiano provided insights into the significance behind the demonstrations we saw, which was truly fascinating. I learned so much and would highly recommend a tour to learn more about Cusco.
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Acmh5
May 5, 2024
Knowledgeable, caring guide, amazing historic sites - My family was lucky enough to have Miguel Rosas as our guide for a tour of some of the historic sites around Cusco. Miguel was very knowledgeable and explained everything we were seeing with just the right amount of details and cheerfully answer any questions we had. The tour moved at a great pace for us and Miguel was happy to take photos of our family as well. We had a wonderful experience and highly recommend this tour!
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T2344ngteresaf
Apr 21, 2024
Cisco 1/2 day city tour - We leaned a great deal about Peru and Cuscu from Jennifer. We learned about the changes the Spanish made to the Peruvian citizens, buildings and area. She did a great job!
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Hennohb
Apr 6, 2024
Great tour around the city with Katia:) - A great tour around the city with the talented and very knowledgeable Katia. It was great to have a local female tour guide with her perspectives on the history, culture and sites. A great experience that we can highly recommend. Also hope more local girls and woman want to become guides:)
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860pilare
Apr 4, 2024
Fabulous - Fantastic excursion through Cusco province and fantastic guide Jennifer Sulca. It was a very good and entertaining day for you.
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Abelgh5949cd
Mar 31, 2024
Getting to know the Inca culture with José - Highly recommended tour of the beautiful city of Cusco and its surroundings. We were lucky to have José as our guide, always attentive, friendly, and his explanations were very interesting. Also very grateful to Giovanni, our driver. Everything was very well organized, congratulations and thanks to Trexperience!
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Carpas666
Mar 9, 2024
Nice tour. - The guide Katya Durán was very attentive, with great skill when it came to all the instructions and a lot of knowledge of the subject. Very kind thank you.
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September 2024
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