Every year thousands of travelers visit the beautiful city of Cusco, ancient capital of the Inca empire, all of them with the purpose of knowing the beautiful Machu Picchu, to make adventures in the mountains and venture through Inca trails. The whole trip can be spectacular if you take into account some cusco travel tips, or you may experience some inconveniences that may not be so pleasant on your trip.
Train schedules to Machu Picchu.
Perhaps the most important tip is to take into account the train travel schedule to Machu Picchu. Taking into account that visitors will travel to Machu Picchu, you should inform yourself very well about the most convenient and accessible travel schedules.
For the trip to Machu Picchu by train you have two options, which start from two stations such as: Poroy station and Ollantaytambo station. The second option (Ollantaytambo) is the most recommended, because it has more schedules available, from that station trains depart to Machu Picchu at various times, in the early morning, morning, midday, afternoon and evening.
On foot you can discover so many things that otherwise would pass you by.
Don’t worry, in Cusco you are safe during the day, just follow the normal precautions, so you won’t be an easy target for a pickpocket! Also, keep in mind that Cusco is a tourist city and the security of the city is paramount. You will find tourist police or citizen security always attentive guarding the safety of its visitors.
Take a map of the city that shows more than the center and start touring places! You should know that the best archaeological centers are outside the city of Cusco, generally located in nearby communities or towns, to reach them it is not necessary to spend a lot of money. In fact, you can do tours on your own as long as you have the entrance tickets to archaeological complexes.
If you need more information about Cusco tickets you can enter the page cosituc.gob.pe, there you can learn about the attractions that can be visited with the ticket, or simply ask the travel agency of your choice to buy the tickets for you.
Culture, adventures and nature.
In cusco you will find the best one day adventures and very economical as the trip to Machu Picchu 1 day. Enjoy hiking on trails that lead to beautiful places like the Humantay launa, the rainbow mountain and biking in the sacred valley.
Cusco offers you a lot on the cultural scene: There are many archaeological sites to discover, and not only from the Inca period – even cave paintings can be found in the most remote parts of the Sacred Valley route! In small specialized museums you can learn more about the coca plant, modern and ancient Peruvian art, the natural history of the region or Peruvian musical instruments. But culture is also alive here: In Cusco there is still a lot of traditional handicraft to discover and some workshops are located in the city center.
Restaurants in Cusco and its delicious typical gastronomy.
Visit the markets! if you want to know about the Cusquenian seasoning, we advise you to visit the markets near the square of Cusco such as San Pedro, San Blas and Cascaparo. there is the real Cusquenian food.
Maybe you have already noticed that Peru is slowly becoming more and more famous for its cuisine? Here in Cusco you can find and taste everything from food in the market to food in the most famous and luxurious restaurants located around Cusco’s central square.
If you are visiting Cusco for the first time you will notice that the restaurants are located around Cusco’s main square. There are a variety of fast food services, vegetarian and especially typical food of the Cusco region.
In Cusco you can also enjoy various street food stalls, regional specialties and rarities up to noble restaurants of the novo-Andean cuisine! The potato has been domesticated in the Andes and the native Andean cereals are grown here, which are in increasing demand all over the world: Quinoa, Kiwicha and Canihua. Here the famous corn beer is freshly brewed or the dark purple corn is made into a refreshing drink! In the surroundings of Cusco you will find the town of round breads, guinea pig restaurants or chicharronerias (fried pork chops), in the local markets you can buy freshly pressed juices of all flavors and colors.
In Cusco it is close to the clouds.
Acclimatization is very important, do not take this advice too lightly. It is very important that after arriving in Cusco you take a couple of days to acclimatize your body before any trip or adventure. If you do not take this advice seriously you will see that the consequences of altitude sickness will spoil the whole trip.
Cusco is located at 3400 meters above sea level, which has its good and not so good sides: On the one hand, altitude sickness can be a problem for you if you reach high altitudes directly, but it is even better if you plan a little more time, because acclimatization needs more than one day! But even if you make it, the Sacred Valley is only an hour away and more than 500 meters lower, which makes the adaptation process easier!
Living at 3400 meters also has the side effect that in extreme cases you can experience all four seasons in one day, 20 degrees difference between day and night is not unnatural and even a step from shade to sun is noticeable here – where else can you experience something like that?
Keep those Cusco travel tips in mind and you will enjoy your vacation without inconveniences and trails, multi-day tours, mountain hikes and mystic tourism like the San Pedro retreat if you overlook those small but important facts, you will see that your whole plan can be very uncomfortable.
