Description

This fabulous half day tour will take you around the most important sites of Cusco. Including visits to the Cusco Cathedral, the Temple of the Sun (Qoricancha) and the various Inca sites found outside the city, you can see an incredible mix of Inca and Spanish style architecture and in the case of Qoricancha, the two combined.

Price: 15.00 US dollars per person.
Confirmed departures: Every day.
Morning schedule: 9:00 horas a 14:00 horas.
Afternoon schedule: 13:00 hours a 18:30 hours.
Duration: 05 hours approximately.

Cusco is truly a fascinating place to visit; providing a blend of the two cultures (Inca and Spanish) walking the streets of Cusco is walking in a city of stone, it is also walking in an open museum and gives a look and feel that is completely different to the rest of Peru.

We will visit as part of the tour:

Cathedral
Temple of the Sun or Qoricancha
Sacsayhuaman
Q’enqo
Pukapukara
Tambomachay

Tour Details

Includes

Hotel pick up.
Professional guide.
Tourist transport to visit all archaeological sites.

Not Includes

Partial Tourist Ticket: for the 4 archaeological sites, 40 soles for Peruvian and 70 soles for foreigners.
Entrance to the Cathedral (25 Soles per person).
Entrance to Koricancha (15 Soles per person).

If you are also planning to do the excursion to the Sacred Valley, south valley, it is actually better to buy the general tourist ticket which is 130 soles for foreigners and 70 soles for Peruvians (which gives you access to other sites in the Sacred Valley AND some museums and attractions in Cusco and is valid for 10 days).

What to bring?

Original passport or ID card.
For students: valid physical student card issued by your university (50% discount on the tourist ticket) .
A warm jacket.
Water.
Hat.
Sunscreen.
Money in soles.

Itinerary

Half Day | City Tour Cusco
According to your tour schedule, we will pick you up at your hotel to visit the Imperial City. It is a living example of the mixture of Andean and Spanish culture. We start the tour at the Cathedral located in the main square. Then we continue to visit the Convent of Santo Domingo built on top of the Koricancha which was an Inca Temple and the main centre of worship of the Sun God. You will have time to enjoy these beautiful views, after which you will continue to visit the archaeological site of Sacsayhuaman with its impressive Inca architecture overlooking the city. Finally we will visit the archaeological sites of Q’enqo, Pukapukara and Tambomachay, located in the northeast of the city.

THE CATHEDRAL

The cathedral was built between 1560 and 1664 of large red granite slabs taken from the Inca construction of Sacsayhuaman. It houses important collections of gold and silver work from the colonial period, altars, wood carvings and a beautiful collection of oil on canvas from the 16th and 17th century Cusco School.

QORICANCHA AND THE CONVENT OF SANTO DOMINGO

The convent was built over the spectacular “golden enclosure” of Qoricancha. This was the most important temple dedicated to the worship of the Sun and its walls were lined with solid gold leaf. All that remains now is fine stone, the conquistadors took the rest and destroyed the temple to build the convent. Qoricancha was also an observatory, where priests kept track of important celestial events. Today it houses an impressive collection of canvases of the Cusco School.

SACSAYHUAMAN

Sacsayhuaman (meaning “satisfied falcon”) is one of the most impressive sites built by the Incas. It is generally known as a fortress; however it is not certain what its main function was. Current research suggests that it was most likely used as a temple, because of the Inca tombs that have been discovered in the area.
The site is a wonderful archaeological feat; even now after it was destroyed; one can only imagine its grandeur when it was in full glory. The stones in the wall are incredible and the largest weighs 128 tons.
The Incas imagined that Cusco was shaped like a puma and Sacsayhuaman was the head. The magnificent zigzag walls are the main attraction. The surroundings of Sacsayhuaman are still used today for the colourful Inti Raymi festival held to celebrate the winter solstice on June 24th.

Q’ENQO

The site of Q’enqo (meaning “Labyrinth” in Quechua) contains the most impressive rock carvings in the Cusco area. There are carvings everywhere although some are somewhat indistinct: a llama, a condor and snakes have been identified. There are many zigzag channels on top of the natural rock, probably used for pouring chicha (a local drink made from corn). Beneath the rock, there are a series of caves and passageways and an altar that was used for llama sacrifices and mummifications.

PUKAPUKARA

Puka Pukara translates to “The Red Fortress” in Quechua. This is a small site and although the name suggests that it was a fortress, it does not seem to have had any defensive purpose. It was probably an administrative centre. The interesting point is the way the Incas built the walls on the rocks.

TAMBOMACHAY

The name means “Place of Rest” in Quechua. It used to be the royal hacienda of the Inca Tupac Yupanqui when he went hunting in the surroundings. It was also thought that this site may have been used as a temple dedicated to water. There are some interesting aqueducts, canals and waterfalls carved in stone, designed to channel water flowing from a nearby stream.
After the tour we will return in our tourist transport to the city of Cusco arriving as a final point at the San Francisco square.

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From: $15.00