How to Spend 48 Hours in Cusco, Peru - The Perfect 2 Day Itinerary
by Rebecca Hollman
updated May 20, 2019
The Perfect 2 Day Itinerary for Cusco, Peru
Cusco is the starting point for people to reach Machu Picchu. Since almost everyone who travels to Peru visits Machu Picchu, you will most likely be spending time in Cusco. Cusco is a huge city and you should really give yourself a good amount of time to stay in Cusco. I would highly recommend at least a week in Cusco and the Sacred Valley alone, if not two or three. If you’re only on a quick trip and can only spend a little bit of time in Cusco, then here is how you should spend your 2 days.
Table of Contents
Day 1: Full Day in San Blas Barrio
Sacsayhuaman
Lunch at Green Point
San Blas barrio
Sunset at San Cristobal
Dinner at Pachapapa
Bar hop at KM0 or 7 Angelitos
Day 2: Explore the Downtown Area of Cusco
Breakfast at Jack’s Cafe
San Pedro Market
Inca Museum
Pre-Columbian Art Museum
Plaza de Armas
Cusco Planetarium
Day 1
9 AM - 10 AM: Grab breakfast at your hotel/hostel.
10:30 AM - 12:30 PM: Explore the ruins of Sacsayhuaman. These ruins are located in the San Blas area and overlook the city of Cusco from it’s high look out point on the hill. Because of it’s high strategic location and large fortified walls, these ruins were considered to be an Incan fortress. The entrance for these ruins is included in the cost of the Boleto Turistico.
1 PM - 2 PM: After walking around the Incan ruins, head back down the hill to the San Blas area and grab lunch at Green Point. This amazing vegetarian restaurants serves up breakfast, lunch and dinner and even though it’s a vegetarian restaurant it is easily one of the best places to eat in Cusco.
2 PM - 5 PM: Spend the rest of your afternoon walking along the cobblestone streets of San Blas and wandering along the skinny side streets, going to boutique stores, coffee shops and restaurants. San Blas is known as the artisans’ quarter and is definitely the more hipster, and much more quiet, area of Cusco. The rest of Cusco can seem hectic and jam-packed with people, but for some reason San Blas remains way more tranquilo and the streets are virtually empty. Make sure to take a stop at the Meeting Place for coffee and to buy a book or two. Really just wander and get yourself lost in San Blas and see what little stores and shops you can stumble upon.
5 PM - 6 PM: Still in San Blas but closer to Sacsayhuaman, is San Cristobal Cathedral. This is the best view in all of Cusco. You can see the entire city in a bowl below you from outside this church. Sit along the wall or the many benches and watch the sunset from here. Make sure to stay until after it’s dark to see the city lights illuminating up from below.
7:30 PM - 9 PM: Now after a long day, it’s time for dinner. Grab a seat at Pachapapa in San Blas. They serve up contemporary takes on traditional Peruvian dishes and use many traditional Peruvian foods like yucca root, potato, and others. The seating area is outside on a big terrace so make sure to bring warm clothes. Cusco gets cold at night, regardless of the season.
10 PM - whenever: Head out to a night of live music and bars in the San Blas area. One of the most popular bars is KM0, which has live music most nights of the week. Another notable stop in San Blas is 7 Angelitos.
Day 2
10 AM - 11 AM: Start off your day with breakfast at the iconic Jack’s Cafe. They serve up huge portions of all day breakfast. Just don’t be surprised if it’s packed and there’s a line to get a table.
11 AM - 1 PM: Head to the San Pedro market to do a little shopping, food tasting, and just plain out admiring at all the unique things you can find in this market. My favorite section was the fruit section - I tried so many exotic fruits I’d never seen or heard of before. There’s also many juice stands, fruit/vegetable/meat vendors, full restaurants, shops selling trinkets/alpaca sweaters/souvenirs/etc - you name it, they have it. Spend a couple hours here roaming around the stalls and taking tons of awesome photos.
1 PM - 2 PM: Stop by the informative but small Inca Museum to learn more about the Incan culture and see artifacts collected from Cusco. You can go through the whole museum easily in one hour.
2 PM - 3 PM: Head to the only other museum in Cusco, the Pre-Columbian Art Museum. This art museum is dedicated to the display of archaeological artifacts and examples of pre-Columbian artworks drawn from all regions of pre-Columbian Peru. You can go through the whole museum easily in one hour.
3 PM - 4 PM: Grab a late lunch at Greens Organic in the Plaza de Armas or if you are feeling something fancier, MAP Cafe - located inside the Pre-Columbian Art Museum.
4 PM - 6 PM: Spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out in the Plaza de Armas. This is the heart of Cusco and is the most touristy and the most busy, but it is definitely worth spending a few hours here admiring the buildings around and people watching. There are endless shops and restaurants in this area to stick your head in, and also tons of Peruvian women with baby llamas in sweaters. Just make sure to tip them if you want to take a picture of their llama.
6 PM - 8 PM: Spend the evening learning about astronomy, the Incan’s view of astrology and how their beliefs were tied to the sky, and look into the night sky to observe planets like Jupiter and Saturn. Doing a tour of the Cusco Planetarium is a great way to spend the evening learning more about the Incan culture and astronomy in general. Tours must be booked in advance and only run from 6 PM to 8 PM each day.
9 PM - 10 PM: After observing the night sky, head back to the downtown area for dinner at Fallen Angel - an off the wall restaurant with crazy, eclectic decorations and vibe.
