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Inca Museum
Housed in the former palace of Admiral Francisco Aldrete Maldonado, the Inca Museum (also known as the Archaeological Museum of Cusco) displays a fantastic collection that reveals Peruvian history through objects from pre-Inca times up to colonial times. In addition...
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Indagare Tours: Cusco
It’s well worth spending a half day with a guide or historian to tour the historic center of Cusco, so they can explain the background of the major sights such as the Cathedral on the main plaza and the other...
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Museo de Arte Precolombino
On the same square as the Hotel Monasterio, the Pre-Colombian Art Museum occupies a palace built for the conquistador Alonso Diaz. The building was renovated to house the country’s first museum dedicated to ancient art in 2003. Within the central...
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Sacsayhuamán
Pronounced “sexy woman,” the Sacsayhuamán ruins on the outskirts of Cusco can be compared to the pyramids at Giza, in that they testify to the incredible ingenuity and organizational power of the region’s ancient cultures. Machu Picchu may be more...
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San Blas
The area around the San Blas church is a center for artists and galleries. You can browse shops but also visit ateliers where artisans sell their crafts, particularly popular are wood carvings. In fact, the pulpit in the Church of...
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UNSAAC-Yale International Center
One hundred years after Hiram Bingham discovered Machu Picchu, Yale University, who sponsored Bingham’s original dig, returned 300 of the artifacts from the site where they are now on display at the UNSAAC-Yale International Center for the Study of Machu Picchu...
Cusco

Once the capital of the Incas, Cusco, with its red terra-cotta rooftops and Spanish colonial architecture, is like an Andean version of Florence. Under the arches of its elegant plazas and before its grand churches, villagers in colorful local dress mingle with global travelers, and llamas and goats wend their way down its cobbled streets alongside tour buses. At 11,156 feet above sea level, Cusco sits in thin air that provides crystal-clear morning light (but often causes altitude sickness in visitors arriving directly from Lima).
Destination
Type of Activity
Editors Pick
Beyond…
Consider combining your trip with one of these destinations.
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Lima
Anchored by its historic center, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988, Lima is a lovely place to explore for a night or two before venturing on to Peru’s main attractions. The city has been gentrified and...
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Sacred Valley
Machu Picchu may be Peru’s greatest draw, but a visit to the Sacred Valley, which surrounds Machu Picchu and Cusco, is also essential to understand the land that inspired awe in the Incas and the conquistadores.