Cusco, the former capital of the Inca Empire, is one of the most fascinating cities in South America. Just walking through the city center, you can see the incredible mix of Inca and colonial architecture, watch the merging of indigenous and Spanish influences, and feel the history that flows through every cobblestone street.
But it’s also easy to miss many of the most important aspects of the city. So come with us on our fun and informative Cusco half-day tour and let one of our highly knowledgeable and experienced local guides show you this amazing city. We’ll visit Cusco Cathedral, the Koricancha (Qorikancha), Sacsayhuaman, and Tambomachay, giving you a deep insight into the city and its history.
If you want to experience more Cusco day tours, you can also choose one of our Cusco city tour extensions, which are listed here.
Fire away with your questions and snag some tailor-made wisdom from our experts to make your adventure epic!
Our Cusco day trip begins in the morning, heading first to the imposing Inca fortress of Sacsayhuamán, perched on a hill above Cusco. Here, you will witness some of the finest examples of Inca masonry and construction, including enormous boulders that were meticulously cut and perfectly fitted to form the walls.
After exploring Sacsayhuamán on our Cusco tours, we will climb the hill to Qenqo, one of the most intriguing archaeological sites of the Inca civilization. This enigmatic sanctuary, whose name in Quechua means "labyrinth" or "zigzag," offers visitors a fascinating mix of history, spirituality, and architecture. From here, you will also enjoy beautiful panoramic views of Cusco.
Next, on our Cusco excursions, we visit the Tambomachay Archaeological Complex. The exact purpose of this site is unknown, but it may have functioned, at least in part, as an Inca spa. Incan hydraulic engineering is evident here, with a series of aqueducts, canals, and waterfalls running through the terraced rocks.
We then continue to the wonderful Koricancha, adjacent to the Church of Santo Domingo. According to chroniclers writing during the period immediately following the Spanish conquest, the Koricancha was the most sacred and important temple in the Incan Empire. Its walls were covered in gold, and life-size statues of plants and animals, all made of pure gold and silver, decorated its rooms and hallways. Sadly, this wealth was stripped away by the Spanish conquistadors. However, it remains a magnificent temple, and your Cusco private tour guide will show you details that you would almost certainly miss if you visited without a guide.
After visiting the Koricancha, we will head to the Cusco Cathedral, located in the Plaza de Armas. Built between 1560 and 1654 on the foundations of an existing Inca temple, this spectacular cathedral houses many works of art from the Cusco School of painters, and its main altar and pulpit are covered in gold and silver reliefs. Look closely, and you will also see elements of indigenous religious symbolism incorporated into the church by the natives who worked on its construction, such as the carved head of a jaguar on the doors.
Finally, our guide will bid you farewell, offering restaurant recommendations for a delicious meal (not included) or providing directions on how to return to your hotel.
Note: Our city tour begins at 9:00 am or 1:00 pm, with a brief coordination with the office.
Total trekking distance: 3 km (1 hour approx).
Highest altitude: 3,750 m (12,303 ft).
Lowest Altitude: 3,400 m (11,154 ft).
Departure dates for this package have not been configured yet. Please check back later or contact us for more information.


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Valencia Travel was amazing to work with, and I would highly recommend them for any new travelers. Special thanks again to Andes (guide) , Maria (agent/coordinator) , and Washington (driver) . Thank you for making this a trip to remember for a lifetime.
Valencia Travel was amazing to work with, and I would highly recommend them for any new travelers. Special thanks again to Andes (guide) , Maria (agent/coordinator) , and Washington (driver) . Thank you for making this a trip to remember for a lifetime.
We truly had an incredle experience from booking with Maria, to meeting Miguel upon arrival at the airport, and of course trekking with our incredible guide Aldo and the amazing porters who helped make trekking much more comfortable and luxurious than we're used to. We couldn't believe the 3 course meals they cooked up. Truly blew us away.
The trek itself is incredible as you're able to see so many Inca sites along the way before arriving to Macchupicchu. The mountain range was beautiful.
Aldo our guide was the best! He was very information and taught us so much about the incas and knew so much about all the trees, wildlife, and fauna we saw along the trek. He's been guiding for many years and thanks to his experience and forethought we managed to catch amazing views away from the other groups of trekkers and were the first to arrive to Macchupicchu making for an even more private experience. I highly recommend Aldo!
Valencia travel is a local company that supports all the locals they employ. I highly recommend them for any bookings!
**tip: definitely give yourself 3 days in Cusco before hiking in order to acclimate to the altitude. We saw a couple turn around due to issues with altitude.
We truly had an incredle experience from booking with Maria, to meeting Miguel upon arrival at the airport, and of course trekking with our incredible guide Aldo and the amazing porters who helped make trekking much more comfortable and luxurious than we're used to. We couldn't believe the 3 course meals they cooked up. Truly blew us away.
The trek itself is incredible as you're able to see so many Inca sites along the way before arriving to Macchupicchu. The mountain range was beautiful.
Aldo our guide was the best! He was very information and taught us so much about the incas and knew so much about all the trees, wildlife, and fauna we saw along the trek. He's been guiding for many years and thanks to his experience and forethought we managed to catch amazing views away from the other groups of trekkers and were the first to arrive to Macchupicchu making for an even more private experience. I highly recommend Aldo!
Valencia travel is a local company that supports all the locals they employ. I highly recommend them for any bookings!
**tip: definitely give yourself 3 days in Cusco before hiking in order to acclimate to the altitude. We saw a couple turn around due to issues with altitude.
The Porters and Chef Filex were exceptional and went above and beyond with all our needs.
I was surprised with a Birthday Cake on our hike, and I had no idea someone could make and decorate a cake in a tent.
It was incredibly mind-blowing.
I highly recommend them to anyone looking to do the Inca Trail.
We are extremely pleased with the service we received.
I give them A++++++
Un’altro aspetto importante è stata la guida per Macchu Picchu, Washington! Super appassionato del posto e della storia, vi coninvolgerà con i suoi racconti e le sue spiegazioni. E’ davvero una guida molto esperta e professionale!
Thank you for such a brilliant trek!
Our chef, Gregorio, "Goyo", had the best food of all of our Peru!! the culinary expertise of this guy whom planned a menu according to our hike plan, carbs and proteins, and we had plenty.. .I mean plenty to eat. The porters (all 10), with leads from Climico, and special mention to Fortunato who would met us at the end of the trail to help carry our personal packs to our porters applauding our days hard accomplishment. Along the entire trail, Wilbur encouraging the porter of other competitors as his "little brother" to continue to be strong as they quickly passed us on the trail. My respect to the team of Valencia Travel, the porters, head chef and his assistant and mostly to Wilbur for delivering an experience that I encourage anyone to participate in. Thank you Wilbur. we the 7 women from California, USA will forever be your "Flowers".
There were some challenges communicating with the office staff with some questions we had before the trek and booking it, though once we had our meeting with Guillermo it was all sorted out.
After a lot of research, Valencia Travel appeared as the most qualitative and professional agency organizing the excursions we wanted to take part in. We signed in for day trip to the rainbow mountain and had an amazing experience. The guide spoke English and shared a lot of interesting facts with us, the food was delicious and the general activity was perfectly organisez.
Thanks to this very positive experience, we decided to do the 4 days Lares Trail to Machu Picchu with Valencia Travel. Waouw. We spent the 4 days talking about how impressed we were about the professionalism of the agency. The trek was wonderful, the nature breathtaking but the most impressive part was the service, the kindness of the staff, their organisation,… Everything is in the details, the camp are very confortable, they even bring you tea in your tent to wake you up in the morning!
The food was beyond expectations. At every meal, we had a salad, a soup, a main dish and once we even had a cake that they baked in the tents! Being vegan, we are always a bit scared that it could be a problem for trekkings, but with Valencia it is not at all! We had some of the best foods of our trip during our trekking!
I am so happy that we did the Lares trekking with Valencia as there is no better way to reach the sacred site of Machu Picchu than by doing a trekking in the nature. It is a very special place and trekking to reach it definitely add some magic to the experience!
To conclude, I would highly recommend Valencia for any activities in Peru, it will make your experience unforgettable!!
At 55 and with a helpful dose of camaraderie from my younger trek-mates, including my 16 year-old niece who managed the ascents and descents with aplomb, I felt a sense of accomplishment in completing the trek, which is more vertical than horizontal and ranges from about 9,000 to 12,000 feet over three days. Hiking the trail does require above-average fitness for the middle-aged. No unmanageable parts but a walking stick, reliable shoes, dependable leg muscles and accommodating joints, a relatively light backpack of essentials, and stops along the way to gulp down the thin air, take in the jaw-dropping vistas, pause for passing porters, and make way for grazing llamas—all are required to push through. So is a large reserve of self-deprecation. Alex and other minders were more than indulgent while keeping us all on the move.
Reaching Machu Picchu at the end was paradoxically awe-inspiring and anti-climatic given the splendor of the journey to get there. At the end of it, getting on the train that deposits and returns the vast majority of visitors in the space of a day, I simply couldn’t imagine seeing Machu Picchu without doing the trek.
If you are hiking the Inca Trail I highly recommend to go through Valencia Travel. Ask to have Elistan as your guide. The porters are treated very well. They have good hiking shoes, and attire to wear. (though if they could get backpacks that include waist straps I think that would be great!). Ask for Luis to be your cook. I have never eaten so well on a vacation. Luis is amazing at what he can cook up on the trail, we are talking three course meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and the food is presented as if it was at a 5 star hotel. Incredible!!!
My only other desire is if Valencia offered a Recipe Book of the meals eaten on the trail. I would totally purchase such a piece of "gold".
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