(Please note that the order in which we visit the following attractions may vary, according to the location of your hotel accommodation)

The best way to see the historic center of Cusco, with its narrow streets and peaceful plazas, is on foot. We will pick you up from your hotel at around 1:15 pm, from where we will walk to the Qorikancha, or Temple of the Sun. For the Incas, this was the most important sacred site in their vast empire, and within its finely-worked walls several of the gods of the Inca pantheon were honored. The Spaniards built their Santo Domingo church over the remains of the Inca temple, and today the simple and yet elegant structures of this pre-Christian site can be viewed within the walls of the church.

The Temple of the Sun overlooks Avenida El Sol. Just outside the historic center, this is Cusco’s main street, where all its banks and many exchange houses and stores are located.

From the Temple of the Sun it is a short walk to the main square, where we will enter the city’s cathedral. Built in the renaissance style in the 17th century, this imposing structure dominates Cusco’s main square and contains many treasures of colonial-era religious art, including several canvasses from the Cusco School of Painting.

The main square, or Plaza de Armas, is also home to the church built by the Jesuits to rival the cathedral. Its magnificently restored interior is dominated by a main altar covered in gold leaf, and its paintings include a depiction of the marriage between a Spanish captain and an Inca princess.

From the cathedral, we will continue our walk through narrow streets, many of which are lined with Inca period stonework. Crossing the main square and continuing past La Merced church, with its interesting Moorish-style ceiling, we will pass another square, San Francisco, which is dominated by the austere façade of the church which gives this public space its name.

After passing beneath the Santa Clara arch, which was originally one of the gateways to the old Spanish city, we will come to San Pedro market, opposite the church of the same name and the railroad station to Machu Picchu. This bustling local market is filled all day with local people, who come to shop for produce as well as to eat at food stalls or drink a freshly-made fruit juice.

In the streets above the cathedral, we will also visit the traditional neighborhood of San Blas. Our route will take us past the Archbishop’s Palace and along the street known by the Quechua name Hatunrumiyoc (literally, “the place of the big stone”), where the famous Twelve-Angled Stone forms part of the walls of the old palace of Inca Roca.

The narrow streets of the charming district of San Blas are lined with whitewashed houses and stores, where local artisans offer their work to passersby. This picturesque part of Cusco has been home to artisans since the Inca period. San Blas church, situated on the small plaza of the same name, is famous for its colonial-era pulpit, elaborately carved from a single piece of cedar.

Places that are visited

• Plaza de Armas
• Cathedral Qorikancha templo of the sun
• San Blas
• San Pedro Market.
• Visits to eminent weaving houses in Cusco.