Information Peru

About Cusco

All you need to know about Perú, Cusco, events happening in Cusco - if there is something you need to know, contact us, and we'll be happy to share our knowledge and expertise with you when you are planning your trip.

For modern day visitors to Cusco, the city is a beautiful place to explore for a few days, enjoying its centre, and it makes a wonderful base from which to explore the many, many nearby attractions. The city has some fine hotels and good restaurants, and has the best services in the country outside of Lima. It is also a great place to meet other travellers, and there are many fine crafts from the surrounding areas for sale in the city.

How to get Here
Air:
From Lima, Cusco is just a 1 hour flight away. There are a few airlines flying the route : LAN Airlines, TACA, Star Perú and Peruvian Airlines. LAN has the most amount of flights per day and the rest have around 2 flights. You need to pay a national airport tax of approximately $8 on all internal flights within the airport terminal.

Bus:
The road is long and winding! It will take you up to 22 hours to reach Cusco using one of the countries tourist buses that run the route. Best buses are: Cruz del Sur, Palomino or Flores Express.

Within Cusco banks:
There are many Banks / ATMs from where you can withdraw both US Dollars or Peruvian Nuevo Soles. If you are thinking of bringing Traveller Checks with you please ensure that they are American Express. Other types are difficult to change. There is a commission charge of around 3% on travellers’ checks.

Money exchange facilities
There are many places where you can also exchange money of different currencies. Kindly note that when changing US Dollar Notes to Soles or even paying with US Dollars; your notes need to be in perfect condition! They cannot have any rips, tears or holes in them as these are not accepted here in Peru!

Accommodations
In Cusco you will find lodging from Budget-style to Five-Star. There is a wonderful range of hotels to choose from! Please ask us for our Preferred Hotel List to help you select.

Cuisine
Perú has been voted the Best Cuisine in the World twice in a row! You will have the opportunity of sampling delicious varieties of food here! There are plenty of local and tourist restaurants that offer a wide-variety of food; from the delicious grilled-guinea pig (local delicacy), ceviche (raw fish marinated in lemon), pollo a la brasa (chicken grilled in a fire-wood oven, served with chips - Peruvian fast food!) to pizza and pasta restaurants.

Popular drinks here are coca tea (tea made from the coca leaf), Inca Kola (soft drink made with lemon grass - only found in Peru!), Pisco Sour (a mix of Pisco, egg whites, lemon, sugar, cinnamon and ice) and chicha (alcoholic drink made from corn).

Shopping
A great variety of hand-made textiles can be found here; popular buys are alpaca, llama or the high-quality vicuña wool fabrics. There are also beautiful ceramic works and gold and silver jewellery on sale. Most of the best shops are located around the main square (Plaza de Armas) in Cusco, and you will also find many a market stall where you can bargain for great goods!.