48 Hours in Cusco

Day One: Into the Heart of the Andes

Morning breaks with golden light spilling across Cusco’s terracotta rooftops. You step out of your boutique hotel in the historic centre, already sensing the altitude in your lungs and the thrill of adventure in your chest. The air is crisp, thin, and laced with the soft scent of incense wafting from a nearby chapel. Breakfast is a warm empanada and a strong local coffee, enjoyed on a tiny balcony overlooking the Plaza de Armas, where schoolchildren chase pigeons beneath the imposing presence of the Cathedral.

By mid-morning, you’re winding your way uphill into San Blas, the city’s creative soul. The streets grow steeper and narrower, each one more enchanting than the last. Blue-painted doors open onto artisan studios, their interiors brimming with colour and craftsmanship. You pause to watch an elderly weaver working a backstrap loom, her hands dancing over hand-dyed alpaca wool. Just around the corner, a silversmith polishes a pendant shaped like a condor—the symbol of the upper world in Andean belief.

Later, with the sun high and Cusco glowing gold, you meet your guide—a born-and-raised Cuscqueño with an infectious passion for his city. Together, you set off on a walking tour through the old Inca capital. First stop: Qorikancha, once the empire’s most sacred temple, where gold-covered walls once shimmered in the sun. Now, Spanish stone arches rise from the same foundations—history layered in stone.

As you navigate alleyways lined with flawless Inca masonry, you’re struck by the precision. You run your hand over the cool, smooth stone—blocks fitted so perfectly they’ve withstood centuries of earthquakes. “These aren’t just walls,” your guide says. “They’re sentences, carved in stone.”

Before dinner, you make your way up to Mirador de San Cristóbal. From here, Cusco spreads out below in shades of orange and ochre, framed by distant Andean peaks. You sit and take it all in, the city humming quietly beneath you. Dinner is a celebration of Andean flavours: alpaca carpaccio, quinoa risotto, and a tangy maracuyá tart, all savoured with a crisp pisco sour as traditional music drifts up from the plaza below.