Cusco City Tour Half Day

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. The convent was built on the spectacular Qorikancha place of gold, the most important dedicated to the worship of the sun, whose walls were covered with sheets of gold. The convent stands on a foundation of polished stone structures, the most finely crafted in Cusco, the Inca Empire. Its gate is an excellent example of Renaissance and its unique tower, baroque, prominent on the tiled roofs of the city. Like all churches, it has an important collection of paintings of the Cusquenian School.

   1 h

2. Imposing example of Inca military architecture, this fortress was built using large slabs of granite and dedicated to the safeguard of the city of Cusco from attacks by invaders from the east or Antis. Sacsayhuaman (in Quechua "satisfied falcon") is made up of three large terraces which overlap in a "zigzag" and flanked by enormous stone ramparts of up to 300 mt of length. Due to its proximity and elevation with respect to Cusco and the dimensions of the stones of up to 5 mt. High and 350 tons, this served as a quarry for certain structures in the colonial city of Cusco.

   1 h

3. Pukapukara is a spiritual center built on a sole outcrop of limestone, with underground galleries and a semicircular amphitheater ritual center. Puca Pucara (in Quechua "Red Fortress") is a military construction composed of stairways, terraces and large walls, which are part of the defense system of the imperial capital. Both are adjacent parts to the archaeological circuit of Cusco.

   30 min

4. Also known by the name "Bath of the Inca", it was apparently a place for worship water and rest the monarch of the empire. They excel in it, a system of aqueducts, canals and cascades carved in stone, designed to channel water flowing from a nearby spring. According to specialists, Tambomachay was also a real garden, full of ornamental profuse vegetation, the same that was maintained by an intricate system of canals.

   30 min

5. Located 4 kilometres northeast of the city of Cusco, Q’enqo was a spiritual center of the Inca’s built on a singular outcrop of limestone. Its underground galleys and semicircular amphitheatre fulfilled a purely religious function, hosting ceremonies in honor of their major gods such as the sun, the moon, the mountains and the earth. Q’enqo is also home to the Intihuatana, an astronomical observatory used to calculate the position of the sun and to predict changes in the seasons.

   30 min

6. The Main Plaza oc Cusco city

   40 min

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 4 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in Cusco

• Its from-price is 13% below the median of the 182 city tours we list in Cusco.
• It is shorter than most of them.
• By number of reviews it ranks 69 of 182.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Cusco

Cusco, the old Inca capital high in the Peruvian Andes, blends massive stone walls with colonial churches and is the gateway to Machu Picchu.

The Plaza de Armas is the heart of the city, framed by the cathedral and the Jesuit church of La Compañía. Inca stonework survives throughout the centre, most famously at the Qorikancha, the sun temple on which the Spanish built a monastery, and in the twelve-angled stone on Hatun Rumiyoc street. San Blas, the artisans' quarter, climbs steeply with workshops and cafés.

Top-ranked sights in Cusco: Aguas Calientes, Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo Ruins.

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