Cusco a Living city
- Availability: Available now
- Group size: 2-10
- Tour Type: City tour
- Max. Elevation: 3400 meters above sea level
Cusco a Living city
70 USD Per person
Touring the Living City of Cusco
Cusco, the archaeological capital of America, in addition to its imposing Inca citadels of Machu Picchu, Sacsayhuaman and Ollantaytambo and its scenic beauty retreated with the beautiful rainbow mountain, the sacred valley and the Humantay lake; The city of Cusco also has to offer ancestral customs and a delicious gastronomy forged through the millennia. This tour called Cusco a living city, allows you to visit the iconic local market of San Pedro, the neighborhood of the artisans of San Blas and the museum house of Hilario Mendivil, one of the most important Peruvian artisans of the 20th century, recognized for his art in the confection of virgins, saints and harquebusiers, who present serene faces and elongated necks. You will also contemplate a beautiful sunset from the San Cristobal viewpoint, known as the most panoramic and beautiful viewpoint in Cusco. Finally, the afternoon will end with a delicious dinner Chifa Aeropuerto, a Peruvian-Chinese influence dish created in Peru in the 90s accompanied with a delicious Chicha Morada, one Peruvian flagship drinks.
Touring the Living City of Cusco, Trip Overview
- Tour localization: The outskirts of cusco, its streets, colors and flavours
- Tour type: 1/2 day walking
- Good for: Everybody, done in small groups or privately.
- Difficulty: Not hiking, but a lot of walking around the points of interest.
- Highlights: San Pedro market, San Blas the neighborhood of the artisans, San Cristobal viewpoint and Chifa Aeropuerto with Chicha Morada.
- Language: All our tours are done only in English; If you need a Spanish tour, it must be booked privately and done at the initial booking.
- Season: All year around
Day 1: San Pedro Market – San Blas the Neighborhood of the Artisans- San Cristobal Viewpoint – Chifa Aeropuerto and Chicha Morada.
This experiential tour in the city of Cusco, will start with your tour guide coming to your hotel at 2: pm. to pick you up. Then you will head to the San Pedro market, where you will see 1180 stands that sells endemic Peruvian fruits, flowers, veggies, medicinal remedies, medicinal herbs, psycodelic herbs, meats, cheeses, breads, typical Peruvian food, souvenirs, etc. Among the most outstanding things in the San Pedro market are the heads of animals; Heads of cows, pigs, lamb and more are also sold in the meat section. Also for sale are the snouts, testicles, ears, blood and more. In Cusco nothing is wasted and one of the most famous dishes is the ‘head broth’. Remedies made from herbs, the Incas cured many of their ailments and diseases using different types of herbs. Currently, many Cusco citizens continue to use herbs as natural medicine. For example, the coca leaf (sacred to the Incas) is still used to relieve pain and improve people’s physical performance. Frog extract, there is a section where frog extracts are offered. It is a very old custom in the Andes that many people continue to practice. It is believed that this drink has medicinal and aphrodisiac properties. The soups section, Cusco has a cold climate, so the consumption of hot soups is deeply rooted among its inhabitants. You can try the classic “caldo de gallina” or the traditional “cows head” or “sheep legs” soups. The majority of people from Cusco have the habit of tasting soups in the morning.
After having a fantastic experiential tour in the market of Cusco you will walk for 15 minutes to artisan neighborhood of San Blas. There you will visit the house-museum of Hilario Mendivil, who was one of the most important traditional image makers in Peru in the 20th century. His inspirational motives are often religious. He has achieved international fame for his figures of the Christmas mystery, Mary, Joseph, the wise men, saints, virgins and harquebusiers, who always have a long neck and a serene countenance. He does not reproduce the colonial models but, in their style, recreates them with a very personal and authentic flavor. When recreating a religious festival, he also recreates the context, placing his everyday saints next to it, like a chichera. Afterwards you will head for 10 minutes to the San Cristobal viewpoint. San Cristobal is made up of both its colonial temple, its Inca-Hispanic square and what is known as the most beautiful viewpoint in the city of Cusco. This place is one of the most traditional points of the city of Cusco and one of the many sources of inspiration for its bohemia that shows a great city to those who are lucky enough to contemplate it from its privileged square. Finally, you will take a taxi for 10 minutes to a famous local Chifa to have a delicious Peruvian-Chinese fusion dish called Aeropuerto and one of the Peruvian flagship drinks, an exquisite Chicha Morada.
** This experiential gastronomic and cultural tour in Cusco starts at 2 pm and ends about 8 pm.
Included on our Touring the Living City of Cusco
Professional local english speaker Guides: all our super leaders grew up in cusco region and studied tourism for five years at cusco’s university, they are friendly, funny charming, knowledgeable, professional and will care your safety into our Touring the Living City of Cusco
Permits: As soon as we get your details and deposit, we will purchase your permits for the inca ruins located into the Touring the Living City of Cusco
Briefing: you should come to our office at least one day prior to your tour to pay the balance, provide exact information about your accommodation and receive some details for the tour.
Transportation: Incas Path will be providing all the transportation that the narrow streets of Cusco allows us, for this Touring the Living City of Cusco.
Details: We profess that it is the attention to small details that separates us from other travel agencies. Each tourist will recieve an umbrella for rain that you can also use for protection against the sun, due the solar radiation is very high in places located near the equator.
First Aid: Every guide has got training in first aid from a clinic and firemen. We elaborate mandatory training sessions every February on our tours, which every Incas Path tour guide must attend. Your tour leader is going to have always a first-aid kit for basic medical problems.
Not Included on our Touring the Living City of Cusco
Gratuities for our staff: Incas Path ensures all staff are fairly paid and therefore gratuities are optional and at your own discretion
Travel Insurance: Highly recommended for all tourist
Daypack: We suggest you to use a daypack that not exceed 25L to carry passport, water, sunhat, sunglasses, suncream, bug spray, rain jacket and a warm jacket
Water bottle
Flight tickets
Hotel in Cusco
Prices
We would love to tour the Cusco City Tour with you and your loved ones and take care of immortalizing your visit to the lost city of the Incas.
We can leave any day of the year as long as we meet at least two people, our bus tours can leave any day of the week, twelve months a year.
- $100 per person
Important Note: This Touring the Living City of Cusco is only done privately and our prices are based on a group of two to four; you will travel in a private van.
If your group is larger than four, please ask to an Incas Path representative for a special offer.
Important Note ll: We sometimes offer to combine private tours (with your permission) into small groups with a discount. Let us know if you would like to others joining you.
Student Discount:
- – $ 10 discount per person
Student discounts apply to anyone who has a valid International Student Card (ISIC) at the beginning of the tour or who is 17 years old or younger. For those who use an international student card or for children under 17, we need to see a copy of their card or passport at the time of booking to receive the discount of Machu Picchu.
Please send everything to info@cuscodigital.com
Packing list
We suggest you to carry lightweight backpack that the is key to feeling good during this Experiential Cusco City Tour
Essentials:
- Original Passport ,
- STUDENT CARD (if you booked as a student)
- Good daypack (the smaller, the better)
- Comfortable athletic shoes (lightweight with good soles)
Inside Your Daypacks:
Daypacks can be any size for walking, but we always recommend the smaller, the better. Some items are listed below
- Sunhat
- Rain gear
- Fleece
- Rain jacket
- Camera
- Music (IPhone)
- Handsanitizer
- Extra Money for Souvenirs, Drinks & Tips
- Personal medication
- Sunscreen
- Handsanitizer
Journey Info
Arriving to Cusco
The airport in Cusco at the present time is only for domestic flights, so all international travelers by plane must disembark in Lima and go through Customs. Even if your flight to Cusco is the same day by the same airline carrier, you must grab your bags in Lima and then check them back in.
The best way to arrive to Cusco is by air and there are several options in airlines. LATAM tends to be the most expensive, but has the most options and flights.
Expect delays or flight cancellations; due to the high altitude of Cusco, it tends to be difficult to land and any weather inconvenience will stop air traffic.
Bus travel is always available and while the trip can be long, especially from Lima, the buses company such as Oltursa, Cruz del Sur, etc, are very well maintained and comfortable; this option is strongly encouraged if coming from a city closer to Cusco, like Puno or Arequipa.
Luggage Storage
Even though this is an overnight tour by train to Machu Picchu, your luggage allowance is still limited due to restrictions on the train; all bags brought to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu) need to be carry on size.
Any extra luggage you have with you, can be left safely in Cusco at either your hotel or with us at the Incas Path deposit while you enjoy your tour: We will grab the extra luggage from you the morning of your tour and return once you are back in Cusco.
Make sure your suitcase have some kind of identification on them so they are easy to locate.
Altitude
As soon as people book their trip to Peru, specifically Cusco, they start wondering about altitude sickness. The air at high altitudes contains less oxygen than at sea level and forces your body to work harder to get the oxygen it needs. Over several days at high altitude, your body adjusts to the lower amount of oxygen in the air; that is why we advice you to arrive in Cusco three days prior your trek begin or taking a tour of easy physical demand.
With altitude sickness, you may first feel like you have the flu or a hangover. You may have a headache, tiredness, loss of appetite, nausea or vomiting, dizziness, trouble sleeping, trouble breathing during exercise. If any of these effects become severe, please contact our representatives and we will help you get to a physician.
Most of the time, these symptoms will be mild. We always recommend easing into activity slowly, allowing your body to adjust, drink plenty of fluids such as water, electrolites or coca tea: coca tea has been used since ancient times to help prevent altitude sickness, leaves from the coca plant contain alkaloids like the globulin alkaloid which helps creating red cells in your body that captures the oxygen faster, so helping your body avoid the effects of altitude sickness.
Avoid drinking a lot of alcohol it will cause you to urinate more often and become dehydrated, avoid smoking due it will make more difficult for your body to get oxygen and also avoid sleeping pills because it may cause shallow breathing at night, making it more difficult for your body to absorb oxygen while you sleep.
Your healthcare provider may prescribe medicines, such as acetazolamide better know as the brand Diamox and dexamethasone, to help prevent altitude sickness; start medication two days prior you get to a high altitude and continue to take it while you are at high altitude.
Weather
Of course weather is unpredictable. Typically the dry season in Cusco is from April through October, but this does not stop rain from falling in June or the sun from coming out in December, just be prepared; no matter what month you are doing the trek or tour, please make sure that you have rain gear that includes a waterproof jacket, pants, poncho and waterproof gloves.
Travel Insurance
To protect your journey investment, we highly recommend the purchase of travel insurance; acquiring travel insurance before you leave home, is strongly encouraged and very easy.
Vaccinations
The body’s immune system helps protect against pathogens that cause infection; most of the time, it’s an efficient system, it either keeps microorganisms out or tracks them down and gets rid of them.
However, some pathogens can overwhelm the immune system; when this happens, it can cause serious illness.
The pathogens most likely to cause problems are the ones the body doesn’t recognize: vaccination is a way to “teach” the immune system how to recognize and eliminate an organism; that way, your body is prepared if you’re ever exposed.
Vaccinations are an important form of primary prevention; that means they can protect people from getting sick, vaccinations have allowed us to control diseases that once threatened many lives, such as: measles, poliotetanus, and whooping cough.
You may require some additional vaccinations before traveling to Peru; it is adviced you consult to your physician specially if your are taking any trip to the jungle
