- Availability: Available now
- Group size: 2-10
- Tour Type: Historical and informative
- Max. Elevation: 3300 meters above sea level
EXPERIENTIAL CUSCO CITY TOUR
75 USD Per person
CUSCO CITY NIGHT TOUR
Cusco is the main tourist destination in Peru and one of the most important in South America. Due to the large number of archaeological monuments it has, it is often called the «Rome of America«. However, this beautiful city has much more to offer, that is why IncaGo Expeditions has created a unique itinerary that allows you to visit and experience in depth the tradition, folklore and gastronomy of Cusco. Don’t think twice and book the best Experiential Cusco City Tour.
Experiential Cusco City Tour Trip Overview
- Tour localization:Cusco city and its outskirts.
- Tour type: Half day tour.
- Good for: Everybody, done in small groups or privately.
- Difficulty: Not hiking, but a lot of walking around the places of explanation.
- Highlights: San Jeronimo market, Huasao the town of sorcerers, little ents and groot sculpture park, see guinea pigs living in people´s house and enjoy a traditional lunch in the main gastronomic corridor of Cusco.
- Inclusions: All entry tickets are included; you only need to pay for your lunch.
- Language:This tour is 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.
San Jeronimo Market
We pick you up from your accommodation at 8:30 am. and we go for 20 minutes in our van to the first point of visit. San Jeronimo is a huge grocery and vegetable market on the outskirts of Cusco, where most of the locals go to shop for vegetables, due to its low price.
Fruits, vegetables, meats of all kinds, flowers, groceries, garden supplies and much more, are on display at this traditional market. Your guide will make you taste unique fruits and vegetables from Peru such as: granadilla, lucma, pacae and custard apple. In this market are for sale products from the Peruvian coast, the Peruvian Andes and the Amazon jungle of Peru. This helps explain the delicious richness of Peruvian cuisine, which we will taste later.
Huasao, the town of sorcerers
We boarded the van again and headed for 20 minutes to the second visiting point. The town of Huasao is a mysterious place that remains in Cusco and is well known nationally as «The land of witches» thanks to the hundreds of healers, spiritualists, herbalists, sorcerers, altomisayoc and laycas that are there. An altomisayoq is the highest Andean priest and they are generally chosen by the God Ray. Many people from all over Peru come to this place to perform love moorings, spells, among other witchcraft practices. In this case, you together with your guide, will visit a healer capable of reading the coca leaf and predicting the future. It surely sounds like a joke to you, however these practices are in daily use and are part of Andean superstition and folklore. Finally let’s be open-minded; let’s enjoy, learn and be part of the Andean cultural heritage.
Little ents and groot sculpture park
Very close to the town of the witches, is located a wetland and ecological park that became popular thanks to its sculptures of ‘ents’ and ‘Groot’, characters from the movies «The Lord of the Rings» and «Guardians of the Galaxy”.
The so-called ‘ents’, in the narrative of the «Lord of the Rings», make up an ancient race of forest guardian trees, while the ‘Groot’ is a genius superhero shaped like a living tree in the saga «Guardians of the Galaxy «, which also has the power to control trees.
The purpose of the works is to recover natural ecological spaces within the urban area, a space dedicated to the conservation and protection of natural ecological niches.
Together with your guide, you will take a tour of approximately 20 minutes where, in addition to taking memorable photos, you will learn interesting facts about this place.
Visiting guinea pigs
Later we will go to visit a family that raises guinea pigs in the kitchen of their house; This practice is widespread in all the Peruvian Andes. Guinea pigs were domesticated 5,000 years ago and have always been the maximum source of animal protein in the Andes due to their quick reproduction system. Peru is the country where these animals are most consumed with an average of 65 million guinea pigs a year. Your guide will be in charge of giving you interesting info about these animals, in addition to the experience you will have when you touch and feed them.
Lunch in the gastronomic corridor of Cusco
After having immersed ourselves in the Cusco traditions, we will visit the gastronomic corridor of Cusco, famous for its delicious typical dishes. Each town has its own specialty of the house. If we want to try the best baked guinea pig or cuy chactado we have to visit the town of Tipon. If we want a delicious pork chicharron, we must go to the town of Saylla and if, on the contrary, we want to try exquisite dishes based on trout or green rice with duck, we have to visit the town of Lucre. Your expert guide will provide you with the pertinent recommendations to make a good choice. After having satisfied the hearts and stomachs, we return to Cusco, where we will arrive between 2:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Included on the Experiential Cusco City Tour
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 in this Cusco City Tour.
Permits: As soon as we get your details and deposit, we will purchase your permits for stargazing at Cusco planetarium. The tour includes a visit to San Jeronimo market, Huasao the town of sorcerers, little ents and groot sculpture park, see guinea pigs living in people´s house and enjoy a traditional lunch in the main gastronomic corridor of Cusco.
Briefing: You should come to our office at least one day prior to your tour to pay the balance; and provide exact information about your accommodation and receive some details for the tour.
Transportation: Incas Path will be providing all transportation for this night tour. You will be picked up from your hotel at 8:00 am.
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 the Experiential Cusco City Tour
- 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, sun cream, bug spray, rain jacket and a warm jacket
- Water bottle
- Flight tickets
- Hotel in Cusco
Prices
We would love to tour the experiential Cusco city with you and your loved ones and take care of immortalizing your visit to the land of the Incas.
Our day tours can leave any day of the week, twelve months a year.
Group Price (2022):
- $75 per person
Private Tours are based on Group Size (2022):
- Priced per person
- Two people: $75 per person
- Three people: $60 per person
- Four people: $50 per person
- Five people: $45 per person
- Six people: $40 per person
- Seven people: $35 per person
- Eight, or more, people: $32 per person
Important Note II: 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:
- – $ 0 discount per person
Student discounts apply to anyone who has a valid International Student Card (ISIC), at the beginning of the hike; 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@icagoexpeditions.com
Packing List
We suggest you to carry lightweight backpack; that the is key to feeling good during this Experiential Cusco City Tour.
Essentials:
- Good daypack (the smaller, the better).
- Comfortable shoes.
- Down jacket, it gets cold in the planetarium, due is located on an open mountain.
Inside Your Daypacks:
Daypacks can be any size for walking, but we always recommend the smaller, the better. Some items are listed below
- Sunhat.
- Fleece.
- Rain jacket.
- Camera.
- Hand sanitizer.
- Extra Money for Souvenirs, Drinks & Tips.
- Personal medication.
- Sunscreen.
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.
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 advise you to arrive in Cusco three-day 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, electrolytes 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 known 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, polio tetanus, and whooping cough.
You may require some additional vaccinations before traveling to Peru; it is advised you consult to your physician specially if you are taking any trip to the jungle