Location: Cusco
Top Things to do in Cusco
Countries
Top 10 Food Tours in Cusco, Cusco Region
Incan majesty and Andean baroque exist side-by-side in Cusco's stone streets, epitomized by the Qoriacancha palace and the church of Santo Domingo flanking the Plaza de Armas. In this high-altitude melting pot of Amerindian and mestizo culture, you'll find extraordinary textiles, lively summer festivals and archeological wonders.
Restaurants in Cusco
1. Private Ollantaytambo, Pisac Ruins Tour with Farm Visit, Gourmet Picnic Lunch
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 36 reviews
This tour visits two amazing Inca ruins in the Sacred Valley: Ollantaytambo and Pisac .You will have a private guided tour of these sites and will learn a tremendous amount about Inca history while taking in majestic views of the Sacred Valley. We will then visit a local farm where we will taste local fruits and vegetables fresh from the land and feed the guinea pigs that are kept in almost every local house as a source of heat and food. While you tour the farm, our private chef will prepare a gourmet, healthy organic lunch featuring local Peruviuan produce, including some of our own crops. We will then visit a local non-touristic market in Urubamba to see how the locals sell their produce and other goods. Finally, we will visit the terraced ruins at Pisac and learn about this amazing religious, astronomical and military site.
Inclusions: Lunch, Food tasting, Private transport, Local professional guide, Hotel pickup and drop-off
Exclusions: Entrance fees (requires purchase of Boleto Turistico for entrance into Ollantaytambo and Pisac ruins (130 soles-$37 covers entrance to Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, Moray, multiple museums in Cusco, and Sacsayhuaman or 1/2 ticket: 70 soles--$23 which covers only some of these sites), Gratuities
Reviewed By robertaC3485TY
Valentin conducted a Zoom tour of Cusco for our group in Chicago. Simply using an i-phone (remarkably good images), he was able to tell us about the history and culture of Cusco. He was very easy to understand even while walking and identifying points of interest. We hope that he will do more virtual tours.
2. Group Culinary Tour
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 15 reviews
Our culinary tour consists of an evening exploring the streets of Cusco in order to try some of the city’s best street eats from strategically chosen points as well as visiting three of the city’s top restaurants located in the historic center alongside our chef that will guide us and share with us untold and sometimes unusual stories of both the streets and locales we visit.
Inclusions: Bite sized appetizers from Cusco’s top restaurants, A tasting of Peruvian anticuchos and picarones, The company of one of our lovely chef or guides, The restaurants visited on this tour may vary subject to dates, times and seasons, Alcoholic or non-alcoholic pairings at each of the three restaurants visited, Snacks, Bottled water, Coffee and/or Tea, Alcoholic Beverages
Exclusions: Gratuities
Reviewed By laurels2021
We had an amazing time with this class. We did it during COVID and while precautions were taken, it did not negatively impact the experience. Chef Jose was knowledgeable, attentive and made the class very enjoyable. We highly recommend taking this class.
3. Cusco Food Walking Tour
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
People eat guinea pig in Peru?! Yes, the rumors are true. When you visit Cusco, you’ll get the chance to try this classic food for yourself. Not that adventurous? Don’t worry, because there are a ton of other decadent traditional Peruvian meals for you to try as well. The traditional food of Peru has been calling the world’s attention for the past few years now- It’s no secret how popular ceviche has become. But if you’re heading for Cusco and Machu Picchu, you’re not going to find the same seafood dishes you may have heard of from abroad. You’ll find something potentially better. The rich, smoky dishes of the highlands offer a whole other side of Peru’s incredible cuisine just waiting to be discovered. Full of hearty meats, hundreds of varieties of potatoes and vegetables and herbs used since the Incas began eating them, this is your starter’s guide to everything you should eat in Cusco! Prepare your palates…
Inclusions: Food tasting, Professional guide, Pickup and drop-off from designated meeting points, Snacks
Exclusions: Gratuities
Reviewed By gbac3000
Very historic city with plenty of architecture to see. Main square is pleasant and a good place to just sit and watch the world- except for the constant, non stop barrage of people trying to sell you something. (There are plenty of other smaller plazas- with less people trying to sell you something.) I realise I come from a fortunate place but when the same person asks you multiple times over the course of a day it wears you down. I was asked 38 times in 45 minutes if I wanted a massage, wanted to buy a picture, wanted my shoes polished (dont wear leather shoes- they just dont stop asking) or wanted to buy a trinket/ day trip/ object of some type. They are warm and friendly people so be courteous at least- but it does annoy after a while. Be prepared. Remember, your a visitor in their country- its not up to them to speak your language. They work hard and do it tough- there is no way the average Peruvian could even contemplate a trip like your on. The architecture is so well restored its hard to see (or know) what is original- but it is very interesting. Make sure you get a tourist pass that lets you visit multiple sites in the region (100 soles)- otherwise you can pay up to 70 soles for a single site.
4. The 10 Tastings of Cusco With Locals: Private Food Tour
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 3 reviews
Eat your way through Cusco's culinary scene on a private food tour. Go on a delicious journey as you try 10 of the best food items beloved by the locals: from savory to sweet and local drinks; this tour will leave every foodie satisfied! Enjoy tastings typical of the local cuisine and hand-picked by a local guide passionate about food like Chevice and Pisco Sour. But that's not it! This tour is more than just food; it's a cultural experience! In between food stops, you'll also find city highlights making this experience a well-rounded tour that will satisfy every foodie. Withlocals The 10 Tastings Private Food Tour™ is one of Withlocals' signature tours available in major cities worldwide. We work with passionate local guides who earn a fair fee. We support local economies by only offering local produce and prevent over-tourism with only small non-intrusive groups. Our tours are carbon-neutral and away from the standard tourist routes.
Inclusions: Private Tour, Small group tour option available, Local Guide, 10 Food & Drinks Tastings, Vegetarian alternatives
Exclusions: Hotel pick-up and drop off, Food and drinks not mentioned as inclusion
Reviewed By Resort58552020
Awesome tour - sights and narration. Omar was a gracious host. His knowledge of Cusco city, region, and culture is vast. His knowledge of the history buried in the mural of Peru was astonishing. He connected ancient Peru with the present.
5. Morning Culinary Experience in Cusco
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
Discover the best of Cusco's historical part and taste local specialties at gourmet restaurants inside colonial mansions, monasteries, and museums. Learn more about our past walking through Inca's streets and reliving the most fascinating stories.
Inclusions: Food tasting and beverages, Professional guide, Hotel pick up and drop-off, All activities
Exclusions: Alcoholic beverages, Gratuities
6. Curious Monkey Cusco- Eat the Streets, Walking Food Tour
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 42 reviews
Curious Monkey Food Tours is the original walking food tour around the historic centre of Cuzco. We love Cuzco and we love the food even more so, we created this tour to share some of our favourite market and street food vendors.
Inclusions: Local taxes, Food tasting, Local guide, Pickup and drop-off from designated meeting points, Dinner, Coffee and/or Tea
Exclusions: Gratuities
Reviewed By Susan N
Our family really enjoyed the walking food tour with Corinne and Liz! We sampled a variety of great tasting food and drinks, while absorbing the info Corinne and Liz provided about the local culture. All a wonderful experience.....highly recommend!!
7. Curious Monkey Cusco- Market and Streets, Walking Food Tour
Overall Ratings
4.9 based on 7 reviews
Curious Monkey Food Tours is the original walking food tour around the historic centre of Cuzco. We love Cuzco and we love the food even more so, we created this tour to share some of our favourite market and street food vendors.
Inclusions: Local taxes, Food tasting, Local guide, Pickup and drop-off from designated meeting points, Dinner
Exclusions: Drinks, Gratuities
Reviewed By Abby L
Loved this tour! Great balance of food/drink and sweet/savory. We went around Cusco and had full portions and Kacey was our guide. She was super friendly and informative! This is how we experienced the less tourist-y food and got to meet and learn about the locals that prepare the food too! You won’t be disappointed!
8. Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Workshop in ChocoMuseo Cusco
Overall Ratings
4.8 based on 74 reviews
Learn how to make your own chocolate on a 2-hour workshop at the ChocoMuseo in Cusco. This is a hands-on activity, starting from the cocoa tree to the finished product passing by every step of the whole chocolate-making process. You will also discover the history of cocoa and the reasons why Peru is known for its fine chocolates.
Inclusions: Chocolate drinks tasting, All materials to make your own chocolates, 120gr of your handmade chocolate
Exclusions: Hotel pickup and drop-off
Reviewed By earthworm159
My daughter and I really enjoyed the class: it’s intriguing, fun and delicious. We are lucky to be the only ones in the class: so we got to take our time and ask questions. We are taking home 6 pieces of large chocolates, plus 3 different kinds of chocolatier drinks we tasted. We also liked the variety of chocolate-related items for sale in the store.
9. Cusco Shanty Towns: Half-Day Alternative Tour in Cusco
This is great way to Experience Cusco, off the beaten path, where we show you the reality of Cusco families living outsides of Cusco downtown, you stop by their houses and working areas, talk and interact with them, mainly is a conversation with the local and understand the living style here and the problems they can have when they migrate from the countryside to the city.
Inclusions: Pick up and drop off from/to your hotel, Professional staff who speaks English and spanish and local language called quechua, Local food and snacks during the visit., Visit of the Supplier local Market of Vinocanchon
Exclusions: Souvenirs, Tipping
Reviewed By Loves2GoPlaces
Incredible experience!!! Our family of 2 out-of-shape parents and 2 teenage kids went to Peru for Spring Break. We booked a 2-day tour of the Sacred Valley, Pisac, Ollyantaytambo, Machu Picchu, and Huayna Picchu. Kevin met us the night before at our hotel, exactly on time. He carefully walked us through all the events of the trip - their timing, the tickets (he’d already purchased all of it), the items we’d need (passports & a backpack with a change of clothes, some snacks, camera, drinks). We met the following morning & had a HUGE minivan and driver just for our family!! We took a wonderful drive to Pisac, stopping at a llama, alpaca, and vicuña preserve, some beautiful photo stops, and then Pisac. The whole time we got a comprehensive overview of the region & it’s history. We climbed Pisac and took a bunch of photos. Kevin was super engaging with our teenagers, which was so nice! We further had lunch in Pisac and walked through their incredible market (hint!! Get your souvenirs here!). We continued on to Ollyantaytambo and our kids climbed those ruins with Kevin while we chilled down below. He was so darn flexible about what we did and where we went, it was amazing! We took the train to Machu Picchu - note, you can upgrade to the VistaDome train. Your guide would take a separate train if you do this, which scared us, but he informed us we’d be met on the other end by a representative, and sure enough a young lady had a sign with our names at the other end. It’s a tiny train station, you cannot get lost! The entry/exit points are about 10 feet wide and the waiting rooms for the trains only hold about 15-30 people! The city is in the jungle, the train takes about 90 minutes to get there & runs along a river all the way there. You’ll get a little snack & drink on the train & a small cultural presentation that was a lot of fun (not going to ruin it but it’ll make you laugh!) The hotel in Machu Picchu initially worried us as the city is clearly not well off and I’m used to the Ritz, but it was clean, very quiet, and very safe! There are no cars in Machu Picchu Pueblo, there’s a river that runs through town just outside the train station and maybe 3 streets about 1/4 mile long each. Most hotels are on the same street, right on the river, and another parallel street behind the hotels is where all the restaurants are. It is on a long slope, think of a San Francisco street but in the middle of the jungle. We wandered around for the evening, had our dinner, and felt quite safe. The next morning Kevin met us at 7am and we lined up for the buses up the mountain. We were in Machu Picchu by about 8:30am. We walked around the site with Kevin for some time before we headed to the check in for Huayna Picchu. Sole important thoughts here - firstly, I had in my mind we’d climb Huayna Picchu first but Kevin had booked our tickets to do Machu Picchu first. LISTEN TO HIM AND DO MACHU PICCHU FIRST!!! Yes there was fog at Machu Picchu initially, but we were patient and just as Kevin predicted, all the fog lifted while we were there and we got amazing pictures. We took a fog one just for fun and one about 7 minutes later that you’ll see below - that’s how quickly the weather changes! Climbing Huayna Picchu in the second group is smart because you are passing people as they’re coming down the mountain and once they clear you have the whole mountain to yourselves. It was incredible!! It isn’t for the faint hearted - my husband had to quit about 30% of the way up the mountain, and I had to take breaks all the time, but Kevin was so amazingly encouraging and patient we couldn’t have asked for a better experience! Tip: take 2L of water per person. We ran out of water coming down and were parched at the end! A few thoughts about the climb - when you begin the trek you actually have to climb DOWN first. You must get from Machu Picchu to the next mountain over, so you go down into the valley to cross over to the other mountain. Just remember when you’re aching and tired at the end of your trek, you have to climb back up out of the valley to leave....it’s a bit of torture :) When you near the summit you’ll arrive at some terraces. Stop here & just enjoy for 10 minutes, because next you climb the “stairs of death” - steep, small depth stairs to get to the elevation check point. These stairs are no joke in how scary they are if you actually stop & turn and look while you’re on the stairs...essentially you can drop right into the valley from them in you slip. My 13 year-old daughter had a bit of a panic attack here, but Kevin stayed right with her and soothes her and encouraged her up those steps!! So, after this you’ll hit the elevation check point where you can sit & chill a while. Take some photos, etc. Climb up further to the very summit where there’s only room for 3-4 people to take a photo on a rock with Machu Picchu behind you, and then you start your descent. Here’s where our hero guide again cane to the rescue - there’s a cave you have to maneuver coming down the mountain. It is VERY tight & for a claustrophobic person, I found it terrifying. Kevin coached me through it, and even scrambled down into the cave with me to stop me from hitting my head as I panicked & tried to stand up! After you’re out of the cave, you’re pretty much following the same path down as you took up, so not much more to say here other than Kevin is so conscientious about your safety that he warned us and even jumped ahead of the kids in steep sections to point to the rocks they needed to walk on for the most stable descent. Now folks, this is a huge mountain for our family, we’ve never experienced ANYTHING like this before. We felt in such capable hands. It took us 3 hours and 7 minutes from start to finish. Kevin has made a round trip of the entire mountain in under 40 minutes, so we could only imagine how he must have felt with slow people in tow, but he was positive the entire time!! On the return from the region, Kevin’s train was about an hour ahead of ours because we again chose the VistaDome train, so we did a little shopping & picked up our backpacks we’d stored at the hotel while we climbed. He met us back in Ollantaytambo and back we went to Cusco! This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us. We were nervous storing bags in Cusco (when we left for Machu Picchu), and Machu Picchu while we climbed, but Kevin and our driver made it all so darn easy, safe, and enjoyable! Kevin even made sure to get Machu Picchu stamps in our passports, which we’d have never thought to do. He made sure we kept change for the bathrooms, and that we had emergency electrolytes in case of dehydration. He really thinks of everything! Couldn’t be happier with our experience, our children have memories that they’ll cherish their whole lives because of Kevin!
10. Cusco Sunset Cocktail & Planetarium Night Stars tour with Dinner
Start an evening in Cusco on a high note with this sunset & night tour. Admire views from the bar balcony overlooking all Cusco city while enjoying a delitious Pisco Sour Cocktail. Then discover the Inka constellations from Cusco Planetarium and finally enjoy a delitious tradicional dinner in one of the best local restaurants in the city
Inclusions: Hotel pickup and drop-off, Pisco Sour tasting, Dinner, Planetarium Cusco, Alcoholic Beverages
Exclusions: Gratuities
Reviewed By gbac3000
Very historic city with plenty of architecture to see. Main square is pleasant and a good place to just sit and watch the world- except for the constant, non stop barrage of people trying to sell you something. (There are plenty of other smaller plazas- with less people trying to sell you something.) I realise I come from a fortunate place but when the same person asks you multiple times over the course of a day it wears you down. I was asked 38 times in 45 minutes if I wanted a massage, wanted to buy a picture, wanted my shoes polished (dont wear leather shoes- they just dont stop asking) or wanted to buy a trinket/ day trip/ object of some type. They are warm and friendly people so be courteous at least- but it does annoy after a while. Be prepared. Remember, your a visitor in their country- its not up to them to speak your language. They work hard and do it tough- there is no way the average Peruvian could even contemplate a trip like your on. The architecture is so well restored its hard to see (or know) what is original- but it is very interesting. Make sure you get a tourist pass that lets you visit multiple sites in the region (100 soles)- otherwise you can pay up to 70 soles for a single site.
