How many days do you need in Cusco?
Three days. That is the length of the itinerary we built for Cusco.
Here is what each day holds. Every stop below carries its time, and every gap says how to get to the next stop, with the walk or drive time wherever both stops are mapped.
Cusco · 3 days Peru
Best time: The dry season, May to September, brings clear skies ideal for ruins and treks.
Cusco city and SacsayhuamanDay 1
⛪9:30 AMPlaza de Armas and Cathedral
The arcaded main square centers on a 16th-century cathedral built over Inca foundations, ringed by the old center.
🚶 ~9 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.3 mi
🍽️12:30 PMSan Pedro Market
The city produce market piles Andean corn, cheeses, juices, and textiles under a Eiffel-designed iron roof.
🚶 ~18 min · 🚗 ~2 min · 0.7 mi
📍4:30 PMSacsayhuaman
A hilltop fortress of colossal interlocking limestone blocks overlooking Cusco, glowing at late-afternoon light.
Sacred Valley day tourDay 2
🍽️9:00 AMPisac ruins and market
Terraced Inca ruins climb the ridge above a valley town known for its sprawling artisan market below.
🚗 ~76 min · 22 mi
📍1:00 PMMaras salt pans
Thousands of small terraced evaporation pools have been worked by hand since pre-Inca times on a bright hillside.
🚗 ~30 min · 8.7 mi
📍4:30 PMOllantaytambo
A living Inca town below a steep temple fortress, and the usual boarding point for the Machu Picchu train.
Machu PicchuDay 3
📍7:00 AMMachu Picchu citadel
The 15th-century Inca city of terraces and temples sits on a saddle high above the Urubamba, best entered early.
🚶 ~4 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.2 mi
🌳11:00 AMInca Bridge trail
A short cliffside path within the site leads to a vertiginous log drawbridge on the old Inca approach road.
🚶 ~42 min · 🚗 ~5 min · 1.6 mi
📍3:00 PMAguas Calientes
The river town below the ruins, where the train departs for the valley, offers hot springs and a craft market.
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