We traveled to Peru in August of 2007, which is springtime in South America. Our primary goal was a 3-night, 4-day guided horse trek into the Andes, culminating in a day at Machu Picchu. However, this review will concentrate only on Cuzco (also spelled, Cusco).

Cuzco claims to be the highest city in the world at about 11,000 ft. We arrived there 3 days prior to our horse trek and it was a good thing. Beside the great activities available in Cuzco, having three days to become acclimated to the elevation before going even higher in the Andes was very important.

The tourist areas in and around Cuzco are interesting. There is much to explore with great architecture, history, cultural sights and events, restaurants, and shopping. The city was established by the Incas and was their capital until being conquered by the Spanish over 400 years ago. Most of the buildings existing today in the old part of the city are Spanish architecture built upon Inca foundations.

Traveler tips:
When in Cuzco, take your time getting acclimated to the elevation. Walk casually, take time to rest in one of the many plazas, and drink plenty of water. Your hotel will likely have complimentary coffee service and cacao tea in the lobby. The tea is supposed to help with fatigue and altitude discomfort. Tap water is not potable anywhere. Buy bottled water and if you don’t like it carbonated, always specify, “sin gas” (without gas). At restaurants bottled water is an extra cost. As a somewhat thrifty soul I found that running a pot of tap water through the coffee maker in our hotel room in Cuzco, then cooling in the room’s refrigerator provided us most of a days supply while in town.

Street vendors are everywhere. If you don’t want to interact with them when they approach you, just don’t make eye contact and say, “No, gracias, no,” and they’ll leave you alone. If you do want to get some cheap souvenirs then by all means give them your business, as that is probably their only livelihood. When buying more than one item, or any relatively expensive item, it is fine to bargain. Look to pay 75-80% of asking price. We also used one of these vendors to “guide” us to a few places on our tourist map, giving her a few soles (about 3:1 U.S.) each time, and then bought a few of the socks she was selling as well (they came in handy at night in the mountains).

You’ll find beautiful jewelry and alpaca wool products to buy, and many of the better shops have demonstration areas and mini-tours. Your hotel should be able to set you up with a professional “arranger” who will provide transportation to selected shops for free (they get a fee, or a commission on whatever you buy from the shop). Bargaining in these upper end shops usually means 10% off your total bill, or 5% if you use a credit card. We used credit cards and negotiated a 7.5% discount. If you are a great shopper, or are spending a lot you can probably get a better deal. Research alpaca products at home before going, so that you know what kind of deal you are getting.

When shopping in rural areas you will often find very good deals on quality hand made jewelry and wool products and can negotiate to about 70-80% of the asking price. Since there are fewer middlemen in these areas you can be better assured that your dollars are going directly to the people who made the crafts.

Lock all valuables in your room safe or in your lockable luggage. If you store some of your luggage in the hotel while on a side trip, use locking luggage. There is a high probability that you will not have jewelry and other valuables when you return if you don’t.

Only take taxis that are identified with a company. In downtown Cuzco the fare was about 3 soles ($1) per ride, 6 soles to/from the airport or other outlying areas.

Do try the pisco sours – a very tasty kick. Also try alpaca meat – my very favorite food while there. We did try guinea pig out on the trail, but would not recommend it other than as an experience.

I realize that I keep getting requests for information from friends -- so why not just share my trip with the tripadvisor community, rather than typing over and over again! Thus this is a long overdue trip report for my post-bar trip to Peru. This was the second half of my trip - I actually started in Equador and went to the Galapagos first. (you can check that forum for my trip report also).

This is about my stay in Cusco and hiking the Inca Trail.

Adjusting to Cusco: I really liked Cusco - it's very charming! You might need to plan for a few days beforehand though, to adjust to the altitude. I didn't find it necessary to take altitude sickness pills, but one of my friends started taking it before we got there and she thought it helped her. Another one of my friends got sick while there (she was throwing up) but there are plenty of pills you can buy while there (she got the ones called Soroachi).

Altitude sickness is like having a hangover, I think - headaches, with some dizziness. Drinking coca tea definitely helped me. I advise dumping a lot of sugar in it though, unless you really like drinking leafy-tasting beverages.

Places to Stay in Cusco: We stayed at the Hotel Rumi Punku while there. It is located in a really good area very close to the square. You can find cheaper lodgings, but I'd advise you to be careful about what part of the city it's in. Ours was very safe, and they posted a guard outside at night. Also, the door had a buzzer and lock on it at all times. It was also very clean and there was a very good complimentary breakfast. So we chose that for those reasons.

I personally am not that paranoid about my personal safety when I travel (probably dumb) but if you are, Rumi Punku is a good bet. It ran $105/night for 3 people when I stayed there this past September. This would be on the pricey side of things... I think. We'd actually booked at a cheaper hotel for when we returned from the hike, but we fell in love with the Rumi Punku so decided to switch and stay with them!

Things to Eat in Cusco: I loved the restaurant inside the Precolombino museum - it's called the MAP Cafe, and it is this tiny restaurant encased in a glass box inside the courtyard of the museum. We went there twice and loved it both times. Their pork belly was really good, the desserts were delicious, and they have very good wines. It's pricey for Peru, but I think it's well worth the price given the value. I think it'll come out to about $20-30 per person...? Not positive. We also went to the very fancy restaurant, Restaurante Illary, (where I tried alpaca for the first time) which was nice, especially for ambience, but I liked the food at MAP better.

For more casual fare, you should eat pizza in Cusco because they use really good brick ovens to make a crispy chewy crust. I ate at Chez Maggy (they have multiple locations throughout the city) and I thought it was quite good. Also, if you or your travel mates are adventurous, you should consider trying alpaca, guinea pig (called "cuy" - a delicacy there), and chicharron - fried pork.

Sightseeing in and around Cusco: You absolutely have to do the Sacred Valley loop. There're some ruins right outside Cusco - of these, I think Sacsayhuaman is a must-see. I loved that site a lot. I think it was my favorite. I think key sites to see in the Sacred Valley are Ollantaytambo and Chinchero, with Pisac, Tipon, Moray and Maras being optional but highly recommended.

IMHO, you should get a private driver (we asked our hotel to recommend one), because the buses are extremely commercial and they end up driving you to markets and restaurants instead of the actual sites. The ruins are also quite spread apart, so if you go on your own you avoid crowds and you see a lot more.

Other than that, just talk a walk around the city square and some of the small narrow streets. The foundations - the roads - are amazing!! The twelve sided stone is huuuge. It's hard to believe that this stuff has been put together without any mortar or cement. You can also really tell the difference between the original and the later structures. I also went to the Temple of Q'oricancha, but actually didn't find it that impressive.

Hiking the Inca Trail: this was really fun, although for some people it seemed more arduous and painful than fun or relaxing! It can be a hard climb, especially the second day (it is called the Dead Woman's pass for a reason...j/k. All the tour guides say that it is called this because of the shape of the mountain - but most hikers will tell you it is because you climb endless, endless steps - only to descend them all again) and especially if you have altitude sickness.

Speaking of that - most tour groups will require you to pay the remaining balance on your trip in person at their office at least two days before your trip departure. This is their way of ensuring that you are there long enough to acclimate to the altitude. So figure that into your planning!

I really recommend going with a reputable tour agency. They provide better tour guides who speak English (I guess this isn't a concern if you speak Spanish) and they treat their porters well. After arduous research I went with Llama Path, but I also looked into United Mice, Pachamama Explorers, and Andean Adventures. Obviously I can't speak for the others, but I really have nothing but praise and rave reviews for Llama Path. They were clean, orderly, had brand new tents, good food. The porters were amazing, and outfitted and equipped well. (They made us a cake our last night!!) Our tour guide was really great - taught us so much not only about the history and symbolism of the sites, but also about nature. He collected mint leaves on our way, and we had fresh brewed mint tea in our tents after dinner. Delicious!

We got to the actual Machu Picchu site pretty late on our hike, so there was no time to hike Huayna Picchu, which was too bad because we'd heard about just how amazing the view is from up there. If you have the chance, you should probably hike up there!

Finally, hikes of the Inca are permit only (limited to 500 per day) so I think you're best off booking early, especially if you're going during peak season (which I think is June through Sept. The trail is closed in Feb). But i've heard that other hikes, like the Lares, are really pretty too.

Dec 2008
What an amazing place, filled with history and beauty.
We had to go thru Lima, Peru to get there. I do not recommend Lima. Very polluted and did not feel welcome, but it is necessary to fly to and from Cusco.

Cusco is a wonderful town full of history and beauty.. We stayed 3 nights only. Should have stayed longer, there is so much to see. Peolple were very friendly. We took day trips from Cusco to Machu Picchu, the Scared Valley and the area around Cusco. The dome train to Machu Picchu had excellent service and spectacular views. Our guide, Alvin, was great. Do not miss the Scared Valley tour. It is like heaven. We want to go back!

Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machupicchu are some of the best tourist destinations in the world. The beauty of the archaeological sites in a unique natural setting is mind-blowing. How long however will tourists accept the officially organised extortion? How long will young people be able to afford to visit them?

It starts with the Boleto Turistico that you have to buy in Cusco and that gives access to archaeological sites in and around Cusco and to museums for a period of 10 days. This Boleto costs 43 USD (September 2008) which is expensive to South American or to Peruvian standards. At the selling points, there is no posted information that you could consult at your ease before buying the ticket. You need to ask very specific questions to the vendor or the Tourist Information Desk but most newcomers are relatively uninformed and the information in the travel guides are already outdated even if you bought the newest edition. You would believe that with this Boleto, you would be able to visit the most important things. This is true for the archaeological sites. The Boleto gives access to 9 sites including the top sites, but some sites are quite far out of the way so that depending on the tour you are making, you would miss 2 or 3 of the less important ones. It is impossible to buy single tickets for the sites you want to see so you have no choice but to buy the complete ticket. Yes there are 2 partial tickets but the validity of 1 or 2 days and the distance range are almost not feasible. The museums included in the ticket appear to be of second or third rank. None of the top museums nor the cathedral or other churches are included. The “Religious Circuit” costs another 17 USD. One thing I found exceptionally grave: The Qoricancha is the former Inca palace of which only some parts are still visible after the conquistadores built the Dominican Cloister on top of it. This Qoricancha is a must for tourists. The Boleto contains access to the “Museo de Sitio del Qoricancha” and the map that goes with the Boleto shows a picture of the real Qoricancha. In reality, what you can visit is a small third rank underground museum at the side (not the site!) of the Qoricancha where you spend less that 15 minutes looking at primarily replicas. In my book this is called plain fraud!

The entrance to Machupicchu is not included in this Boleto but this was obvious from the beginning and the cost of 43 USD is probably what you have to pay nowadays for a world class site. The problem is with the train from Cusco or Ollantaytambo and the bus from Aguas Calientes, the village at the foot of the Machupicchu site. Both means of transportation are monopolies. Unless you walk the (also expensive) Inca Trail for 5 days, there is no alternative to get to Machupicchu than by train, unless you want to hike along the track which is very dangerous and of course forbidden because breaching the monopoly, or buying an old inner tire and letting you drift on the treacherous waters of the Rio Urubamba. This Peru Rail train section is given in concession to “Orient Express Luxury Trains” with registered office in the Bermudas but in reality a British company. Again, at the ticket selling point in Ollantaytambo, there is no posted information of the time schedule and the price. Everything has to be asked at the ticket boot. The cheapest train is (yes, how did you guess it?) 43 USD for the one way 1 hour and 40 minutes trip of 43 km. How does this compare to the similarly priced train to the top European tourist site of Jungfraujoch in Switserland? The main part of this latter railway track is cut inside the mountain and goes to the foot of a glacier in the Swiss Alps. The Machupicchu railway was built in 1931 on the then existing road. First lesson in how to ensure your monopoly: get rid of the road where all kinds of busses could bring tourists and put a railway instead. A Swiss train conductor gets a monthly salary of around 3500 USD whereas the Peruvian train conductor makes 740 USD a month. Seventeen passengers pay the months salary of the Peruvian conductor on a track that is relatively easy (and cheap) to maintain, whereas you need 81 passengers to pay for the monthly salary of the Swiss conductor of the Jungfraujoch train on a track that is very expensive to maintain. Both the Machupicchu tourist and the Peruvian workers are being robbed. Oh yes, I almost forgot the bus from Aguas Calientes to Machupicchu which costs 7 USD one way for a 20 minute ride. A luxury night bus in Peru costs only 5 USD per hour and a normal day bus 1,25 USD per hour but they are not golden coloured mercedeses as the ones in Machupicchu. Alternatively, you can climb the hill in around an hour if you are physically fit to do so.

According to a travel guide from 2004, prices in Cusco have quadrupled. How much longer are tourists going to accept this? A World Heritage location recognised by UNESCO should be accessible at a reasonable price so that everyone can afford to visit it. We hear that more and more young travellers need to take a long but cheap local bus ride from Cusco or Ollantaytambo to Santa Teresa and then have to walk a difficult 5 hours to reach Aguas Calientes in order to avoid the train racket. More tourists should do so.

Patrick Debouck
Belgium