How to Spend 4 Days in Cusco – Best Things to Do & Map
TL;DR
Visiting Cusco, Peru? Our 4-day itinerary covers the best things to do in Cusco, Peru – from Inca ruins to vibrant markets and stunning mountains – packed with tips to help you explore like a local.
Planning your trip to Cusco, Peru, and wondering what to do with just a few days? With so much culture, food, and history all packed into one city and its surrounding Sacred Valley, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. From navigating the high altitude to figuring out entrance tickets, first-time visitors often struggle to make the most of their time.
That’s where we come in. With personal experience exploring Inca sites, local neighbourhoods, and day trips around Cusco, we’ve crafted a 4-day itinerary. Whether you’re a solo traveller, a couple, or a family, this guide highlights the must-see sights, insider tips, and practical advice to make your trip smooth and unforgettable.
If you’re searching for the ultimate things to do in Cusco, Peru, our blog post will take you step by step through a fast-paced four-day adventure.
Cusco 4 Day Itinerary
Cusco Peru Itinerary Map
Day 1 – Free Walking Tour & Historical Centre
Morning – Free Walking Tour
Yes, we sound like a broken record, but we just love a free walking tour to discover a new city. In Cusco, we chose this free tour with local guide. Here are the most important points of interest to explore – with or without a guide:
- The Plaza de Armas or central square with the Cathedral as well as the Capilla de Nuestra Señora de Loreto.
- Qorikancha, the most important temple in the Inca Empire. Included in your tourist ticket.
- Kusicancha, the palace where the Inca Pachacutec, one of the greatest men of pre-Columbian America, was born and grew up. Free to visit.
- Calle Inca Roca & Calle Hatunrumiyoc with cool Inca walls.
Afternoon – Historical Centre & Museums
Use your afternoon to explore more of Cusco's historical centre and make the most of your tourist ticket.
For an authentic lunch, we highly recommend San Pedro Market. On your way, you can check out the Arco de Santa Clara and the Plaza San Francisco with the Convento de San Francisco.
If you like museums, the Casa del Inca Garcilaso De La Vega Museum, the Contemporary Art Museum, and the Popular Art Museum are close to the beautiful Plaza Regocijo and included in your tourist ticket.
Also included in your tourist ticket is a demonstration of typical dances of Cusco and Peru at the Qosqo Native Art Center. It starts every day at 6:30 p.m. Don’t miss the Mural of Cusco right across the street if you go!
Day 2 – Sacsayhuaman & San Blas
Morning – Sacsayhuaman, Q'enqo, Puka Pukara & Tambomachay
Dedicate your second morning in Cusco to exploring four super cool archaeological sights, which are included in your tourist ticket.
You can either opt for a guided tour or go independently.
Here’s a quick overview on how to visit these 4 Inca sites independently:
Start at the furthest site from Cusco, Tambomachay – known as El Baño del Inca (“The Bath of the Inca”). Its terraced stonework, canals, and still-flowing waterfalls may have served as a royal spa, military post, or sacred water temple, reflecting the Inca’s reverence for water and nature.
A short, pleasant walk leads to Puka Pukara (“Red Fortress”), named for its stones’ colour at sunset. Overlooking the Cusco Valley, it likely served as a checkpoint or rest stop for nobles on their way to Pisac, built during Pachacutec’s reign.
The walk to the next site, Q'enqo, is roughly an hour. We opted to take a bus. You can also find taxis (we’re not sure about Uber). Carved into natural rock, this sacred site features tunnels, altars, and channels believed to have been used for rituals and mummification.
On your way to Sacsayhuaman, make a beeline for Cristo Blanco Mirador. The views across Cusco are stunning!
Sacsayhuaman (Quechua: “fortress of the royal falcon”) is a 15th-century Incan citadel built under Pachacutec. Its massive interlocking stones – some over 200 tonnes – fit so precisely that a paper cannot slip between them. Once both ceremonial and defensive, it remains a breathtaking symbol of Incan engineering.
Afternoon – San Blas
To get from Sacsayhuaman to the centre of Cusco, it’s only downhill – literally – and you have to pass through San Blas inevitably.
San Blas is Cusco’s artisan neighbourhood with the art galleries and artisan handicraft shops, cobbled and narrow streets, as well as cute cafes and restaurants with amazing views. Keep your eyes peeled for street art and wander around as much as you like!
First, head to C. Pumacurco Street. From here, turn to the picturesque Siete Borreguitos. At the end, you can find the Huaca de San Blas as well as the Sapantiana Aqueduct.
Make your way to the Mirador de San Blas. Depending on the time, you can either rest at ViewHouse Resto bar right next to it or continue towards Mercado San Blas in case you want to catch a bite.
Last but not least, don’t miss Plaza San Blas with the Iglesia de San Blas right next to it.
Day 3 – Day Trip to the Rainbow Mountain
One of our highlights during our time in Cusco was our day trip to the Rainbow Mountain & Red Valley.
Rainbow Mountain or Vinicunca rises over 5,000 meters (16,000 ft) in the Andes. Its striking striped colours come from the mineral composition of the soil: red clay, green phyllites, yellow sandstones, and other minerals form natural layers that create a rainbow effect.
Most tours combine a visit to the Red Valley, which is a great addition due to its almost Martian-looking red colours.
While the hike is neither long nor challenging in itself, you have to be aware of the very high altitude. We opted for the early access tour to beat the crowds. Here is our full review:
Day 4 – Day Trip to the Sacred Valley
Four days in Cusco is really not a lot of time to explore everything this city and its surroundings have to offer. This is why a day trip to the Sacred Valley is a convenient, affordable, and efficient – though not in-depth – way to learn more about the Inca heritage of the region.
If you opt for the same tour we did, you will visit these five main sights:
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Chinchero. Built by the Inca Túpac Yupanqui around 1493, it is full of terraces, stone enclosures, sacred sites (wacas), and foundations that once housed the city. The colonial church of Our Lady of Monserrat also stands on the grounds.
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Moray. An Inca site known for its terraced circular depressions, the largest about 30 m (98 ft) deep, featuring an ancient irrigation system. Likely used for agriculture, the terraces create microclimates with up to 15 °C (25 °F) temperature differences, allowing the Incas to grow crops like a natural greenhouse.
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Maras Salt Terraces. Salt has been harvested since Inca times from a natural underground stream. Water flows through terraced ponds, where the sun evaporates it, leaving layers of salt.
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Ollantaytambo, known as the Living Inca City, is one of the most important Inca sites, second only to Machu Picchu. Built by Pachacútec around 1450, Ollantaytambo was both a fortress and a ceremonial site, featuring 17 massive terraces, the Wall of Ten Niches, the Sun Gate, and the Temple of the Sun with enormous pink granite boulders.
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Písac features terraces, temples, residences, guard posts, and ceremonial spaces. Built around 1450 under Pachacútec, it served as a royal retreat, observatory, fortress, and religious centre. The site stretches along a ridge with seven main areas, including Qantus Raqay (stone tower), terraces with views, ceremonial baths, and K’allaq’asa with the Sun Gate lookout.
We have written a full review of our one-day Sacred Valley tour:
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