The Half city tour Cusco is perfect tour to known the mixture of Inca and Spanish-style. Takes you around all the most important sites of Cusco. The City tour involves to visits to Cusco's Cathedral, the Temple of the Sun (Qoricancha) and the 4 important Inca sites found outside of the city, such as Sacsayhuaman, Quenqo, Pukura and Tambomachay ruins.
Your Tour Guide picks you up from your hotel and takes you onto the tour of Cusco City starting with a visit of the Cathedral located on the main square (Plaza de Armas). Then, you visit Qoricancha - the golden temple of the Incas that was once the main temple of the Incan Empire and it was dedicated to the god of Sun! After that, we continue by our bus outside of the city visiting the huge Incan fortress of Sacsayhuaman. There are some magnificent Inca´s walls made up of huge and impressive stones weighing up to 130 tons. The stones fit together with an absolute peferction! Three of these walls run parallel to over 360 m. There are 21 bastions in the fortress.
Later on, we continue to a nearby Incan labyrinth and a ceremonial site - Qenqo. After our Tour Guide has explained us about this enigmatic site, we board our bus to continue to the red fortress of Puca Pucara. Our last stop is in Tambomachay - a water temple of the Incas.
13:30 We pick you up from your hotel
13:50 Guided tour of the Cathedral of Cusco
14:30 Guided tour of the Qoricancha church
15:00 Visit the Sacsayhuman and guided tour
16:00 Quenqo guided tour
16:30 Guided tour of the Pukapukara ruins
17:00 Guided tour of the Tambomachay ruins
18:30 Cusco
Departure Point: Cusco - We pick you up from your hotel.
Departure Time: 13:30
Briefing Point: Our guide will visit your hotel 2 or 1 day before the trek
Briefing Time: Between 17:00 - 18:00
Return Point: Cusco - Near to the main square
Service Level: Comfortable tourist-class tourist transport and professional guide English or Spanish.
Physical Rating: 1 - Demanding - Easy
Age requirement: 2+ / All travellers under age 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
City Tour Cusco Tour Operator: Tierras Vivas Travel
Crew: A Tierras Vivas Representative in Cusco and a profesional Tour Guide on the City Tour in Cusco.
Transportation: Tourist bus.
The city of Cusco was the capital of the Incas. Important Inca constructions such as Sacsayhuaman, Coricancha, Qenqo, Puca Pucara and Tambomachay survive on its streets.
The City Tour Cusco visits these places as well as the Cathedral of the city. The name 'Cuzco' is considered 'Navel of the world' in Quechua, the language of the Incas.
Most tourists decide to take the Cusco city tour on the first day of their visit. Thus, they can better acclimatize to the high altitude of the Andes Mountains. The remaining days it is recommended to visit Machu Picchu, the Mountain of the 7 Colors or other tourist attractions.
The Cusco City Tour is a tour of the main tourist attractions of the city of Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas such as: the Cathedral, Sacsayhuaman, Coricancha, Qenqo, Puca Pucara and Tambomachay.
Offers a 5 hour visit (half day). Some tour packages start in the morning (from 8 in the morning) and other tours do it in the afternoon (from 1.30 in the afternoon).
It also includes the tour guide service, transportation to all places and entry to all tourist attractions. Visitors can choose a shared or private service.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
BOLETO TURISTICO GENERAL - TOURIST TICKET
This ticket is not included on the tour, you must purchase a tourist ticket. A full tourist ticket costs S/130 (U$ 41)or S/70 (U$22) for students with a valid ISIC card. The full tourist ticket is valid for 10 days and allows entry to the Inca sites such as Sacsayhuam, Quenqo, Pukapukara, Tambomachay (City Tour), 4 museums in Cusco, Inca Pachacutec monument's, Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, Moray (Sacred Valley of the Incas) and the Centro Qosqo (It's a theater where you can appreciate the tipical dance of the Cusco - 125 dances) This is a better option if you plan on also combining the City Tour, Sacred Valley and visit and explore the Cusco city.
BOLETO TURISTICO PARCIAL - TOURIST TICKET
This ticket is a partial tourist ticket, the price for this ticket is S/70 and it is valid for 1 day. Only you can visit City tour, Sacred Valley or Moray with this ticket. Not included the Cusco museums, Pachacuted Monument and the Centro Qosqo (It's a teatre where you can appreciate the tipical dance of the Cusco)
Please Note: In this general tourist tickets. Not Include Entrence to Qoricancha or the Cathedral of the Cusco. Entrance To Qoricancha Is S/15 Or S/10 for student. Entrance to The Cathedral is S/25 Or S/15.00 for Student.
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You will be picked up from you hotel at approximately 13:00. From here you will head to Cusco’s Plaza de Armas where you will visit the famous Cathedral of the Cusco (entrance fee: S/25 - U$ 7.8). After touring this sacred building you will continue on foot with your group through an ancient Inca-built street from the Plaza de Armas to Qoricancha, the Temple of the Sun (entrance fee : S/15 - U$ 5). In Qoricancha you will observe the clash between Inca culture and Catholicism, and you will have the opportunity to see firsthand the difference in building methods. Your guide will explain about the history behind the arrival of the Spanish to Cusco, including their taking over this great and immense temple and converting it into a Catholic convent.
Continue your City tour, the group will walk down to the principal avenue of the Cusco - Avenida El Sol, where you will take the bus and our driver will be waiting to bring you up and out of the city to visit some truly unbelievable and well preserved archaeological ruins. The first stop is Sacsayhuaman, a huge fortified citadel and sacred ritual ground. Marvel at the master Inca stonework and the immense stones used to construct the fortress.
From Sacsayhuaman will go by bus to the farthest archaeological site, Tambomachay, a water temple conveying Inca principles of duality and displaying their mastery of hydraulics. Then you will visit Quenqo, small temple site of the Inca, It is a temple which was dedicated to sacrifices and the principle of the world being divided into three realms; Hanan Pacha, the celestial realm in the sky, Cay Pacha, the outer Earth, where people live and Uku Pacha, the inner Earth. Puca Pucara and the last visit it is Tambomachay ruins.
After finishing the visit of the archaeological sites (as allowed by the daylight) you will return to Cusco by bus, arriving by approximately 18:30.
The Cusco Cathedral or Basilica of the Virgin of the Assumption is one of the most popular architectural monuments in the city. It is also the first site you will visit. It is located in front of the Plaza de Armas. Its construction took almost 100 years until its culmination in 1654. It was originally an Inca temple dedicated to the god Wiracocha. During the Spanish conquest the temple was looted and demolished for the construction of this historic Catholic monument. In 1983 it was declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The Coricancha is one of the most important religious centers of the Inca empire. Its stone constructions have an even greater perfection than Machu Picchu. It was lined with gold and plant until before the Spanish conquest who built the Convent of Santo Domingo there. It is located two blocks from the Plaza de Armas. It houses paintings made by the artists of the so-called ‘Cusco School’. Both the Coricancha and the Santo Domingo Convent coexist harmoniously as a symbol of cultural syncretism.
Sacsayhuaman is one of the most enigmatic places of the Incas. There the tourist will be able to appreciate stones up to nine meters high and more than 120 tons. They all fit together with incredible precision. The Spanish believed that the enclosure was the work of the devil. There, tough battles were fought between Incas and Europeans. Today it is one of the most symbolic attractions of Cusco and Peru. There every June 24 the famous ‘Fiesta del Sol’ is celebrated, also known as the Inti Raymi.
Qenqo is located approximately 1 kilometer from Sacsayhuaman. It was an Inca ceremonial center whose buildings were dedicated to Mother Earth. There is a space called an amphitheater where the Incas had to place their dead in trapezoidal niches. Its biggest attraction are its underground labyrinths. Moreover, the word ‘Qenqo’ in the Quechua language (the language of the Incas) means ‘Labyrinth’.
Puca Pucara is known as the ‘Red Fortress’ due to the pigmentation of this color in some of its stones as well as the reddish hue that the place acquires at sunset. It is believed that this enclosure served as a military post and resting place for the Inca troops. Its main function was to take care of Tambomachay and Sacsayhuaman. There you can also see other structures such as fountains, aqueducts and other Inca constructions.
Tambomachay is one of the most beautiful archaeological sites. It is located approximately 400 meters from Puca Pucara. Its Inca constructions worship water with such perfection that even today, after several centuries, its canals continue to flow water. The enclosure is also made up of a set of finely carved rocks as well as waterfalls, channels and aqueducts fed by springs. The scenic beauty of the enclosure harmonizes with the buildings and the murmur of the water.
The textile centers of Cusco offer a demonstration of the spinning and dyeing process of garments made of alpaca and other materials used in Cusco for many years. In addition, each visitor will be able to know the difference in types of materials such as: alpaca, baby alpaca, vicuña and more. At the end, tourists will be able to make purchases of clothes and other crafts made by Cusco hands.
For the City Tour you will need to buy the Partial Cusco Tourist Ticket Saqsayhuamán - Circuit I. However, if you are also planning to visit the Sacred Valley (Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero and Moray) or the South Valley (Tipón and Piquillacta); We recommend you buy the General Tourist Ticket. Since, the Partial Tourist Ticket - Circuit I, only serves to enter the attractions of the City Tour Cusco.
Ticket prices are in PEN (S /), Peruvian sol. Credit Cards, Debit Card, USD, or other types of currencies are not accepted for the purchase of Tourist Tickets.
Hiking pants and T-shirts are recommended during the day, complemented by sweaters, fleeces and waterproof jackets. It is very convenient to have light raingear available in the daypack (rain poncho or jacket and/or rain pants) as the weather changes easily and rains can suddenly occur.
These are some tourist attractions of the city of Cusco that are not included in the City Tour:
In the fifteenth century, two Inca sovereigns, Pachacuti Yupanqui and Tupac Yupanqui, created an immense empire in South America, ranging from the south of present-day Colombia to central Chile and occupying much of the Andean territories of Peru, Bolivia and the North of Argentina.
The Empire of the Four Regions of the Sun, or Tahuantinsuyo, stretched over more than 4,000 kilometers from north to south and was articulated by an impressive road network, 40,000 kilometers in total. The nerve center of that powerful state was located in the heart of the Peruvian highlands: in a large area more than 3,000 meters above sea level where the city of Cuzco, capital of the Empire and court of the Incas, stood. This area was crossed by the Sacred Valley, a territory that stretches along the Vilcanota River, of extraordinary agricultural wealth and marked by a series of splendid Inca fortresses. Sacred Valley Tour
Machu Picchu is situated between steep mountains with summits above 5,500MASL and the ever-wild Vilcanota river. The only way to get there was on a narrow footpath built by the Incas: the Inca Trail.
Thousands of tourists today come by train to visit the sacred city. Visitors get off the train at Hot Springs and take a bus to the ruins. The city of Machu Picchu is located at 2,400m above sea level and 100km from Cusco. Enjoy a tour to the city of Cusco will be unforgettable, with this travel agency that will provide everything you need to make your trip unique.Machu Picchu Day Trip
This circuit is not traditional so it is not very important today the Tour de Moray Salineras Maras for its beauty of nature that can be observed and the agricultural work of our residents also on the way we can see two very large lakes Piuray and Waypo are lagoons around the route, we will also have archaeological centers that we will visit of the Inca culture where we will know the history of the Incas. Maras Moray & Salt Mines Tour
Days | 1 |
From per person |
$ 20.00 |
Code | PCTCP |
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