I loved Cusco, and am so happy we devoted a lot of time to staying here. The city is the perfect balance of traditional and modern, and local and touristic. There certainly are a lot of tourists in Cusco since it is the gateway to the Sacred Valley, but I never felt overwhelmed or like the city was only catering to tourists. There are plenty of local restaurants and shops, including a couple of great markets.
You can find some great deals on textiles here too, but definitely negotiate. I got a great alpaca sweater for only $25.
In another instance of good luck (just like the festival we happened upon), we accidentally found ourselves in the middle of a tourism promotion video that the city of Cusco was producing. There were a ton of dancers in traditional costumes, and a live band who was lip syncing to music. It was all being filmed by a crew of videographers and drones. We watched as they performed several takes. It was so fun. Sadly, we weren't in the final version of the song, but it was a fun experience.
We also ate in some really great restaurants including a cevicheria, a vegetarian place, and a steakhouse (the veggie kabobs were great!). Of course we also frequented the local bakery, La Valeriana. Sadly, I kept forgetting to take pictures at the bakery, but trust me. It's worth a stop.
We did more than just eat and shop, of course. We also took a day trip to Pisac, a local town with a big market and some nice ruins. At this point, we had already seen a fair amount of ruins, so we weren't sure whether it was worth it to visit Pisac. Thankfully, we got great advice that told us this couldn't be missed.
What we weren't told though, was that the ruins are at the top of a giant hill and it is a strenuous hike. We actually took a taxi up to the top of the mountain and wound our way down the mountain seeing the sites. It took us about two and a half hours to get down, and we were VERY thankfully we didn't do it in the reverse order. The people climbing up looked pretty rough. You can really feel how high up Cusco is on this hike.
Once we made our way down, we stopped at the local market to watch locals haggle for fresh produce and flowers. There were also a fair amount of tchotches for sale, which is where we picked up the gifts for Zahara's teachers.
With the horseback riding, the food, the Chabad, the views, the people...Cusco really has it all. I loved this town and highly recommend to everyone. Have you been? Let me know what you think!
See our other stops in Peru:
Itinerary
Lima in Two Days
Getting to the Sacred Valley
Machu Picchu
Maras and Moray
Horseback Riding in the Sacred Valley
We did more than just eat and shop, of course. We also took a day trip to Pisac, a local town with a big market and some nice ruins. At this point, we had already seen a fair amount of ruins, so we weren't sure whether it was worth it to visit Pisac. Thankfully, we got great advice that told us this couldn't be missed.
What we weren't told though, was that the ruins are at the top of a giant hill and it is a strenuous hike. We actually took a taxi up to the top of the mountain and wound our way down the mountain seeing the sites. It took us about two and a half hours to get down, and we were VERY thankfully we didn't do it in the reverse order. The people climbing up looked pretty rough. You can really feel how high up Cusco is on this hike.
Once we made our way down, we stopped at the local market to watch locals haggle for fresh produce and flowers. There were also a fair amount of tchotches for sale, which is where we picked up the gifts for Zahara's teachers.
With the horseback riding, the food, the Chabad, the views, the people...Cusco really has it all. I loved this town and highly recommend to everyone. Have you been? Let me know what you think!
See our other stops in Peru:
Itinerary
Lima in Two Days
Getting to the Sacred Valley
Machu Picchu
Maras and Moray
Horseback Riding in the Sacred Valley
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