Mid-range · 6-hour walk · Cusco
Sacsayhuamán and the markets in six hours
The San Pedro market, the pre-Columbian art museum, the zig-zag walls of Sacsayhuamán, the white Christ and the shrine of Q'enqo.
Above Cusco to the north, Sacsayhuamán's three tiers of zig-zag walls are the greatest piece of Inca stonework anywhere, built of blocks that weigh more than a hundred tonnes. This route starts in the city's food market, climbs through the old streets to the walls, and goes on along the ridge to the carved rock of Q'enqo. Both sites are on the boleto turístico, the city's combined ticket.
The route, stop by stop
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Mercado de San Pedro
The city's central market: fruit juices at long counters, potatoes of every colour, and soup for breakfast.
40 min here Walk here → -
Museo de Arte Precolombino
Gold, silver and pottery from three thousand years of Peruvian cultures, chosen from the Larco Museum's collection in Lima and shown as art.
45 min here Walk here → -
Sacsayhuamán
Walls of limestone blocks fitted without mortar, the largest more than a hundred tonnes, in three zig-zag tiers. Inti Raymi, the festival of the sun, is re-enacted here every 24 June.
90 min here Walk here → -
Cristo Blanco
A white Christ with open arms over the city, given in 1945 by Palestinian Christians who had found refuge in Cusco.
15 min here Walk here → -
Q'enqo
A limestone outcrop carved into channels, steps and an inner chamber with an altar, used by the Inca for rites of the dead.
30 min here Walk here →
More walks in Cusco
More in Cusco
Every walking route in Cusco, the full Cusco guide for where to stay and what a day costs, or walks in other cities.