Flying to Cuzco from Lima takes one hour. The other option is by bus, which takes a very rough 20 hours. I fly with Peruvian Airlines and arrive at 11.30am.
Cuzco is up in the mountains and snugly fills the valleys and ridges 3,400 meters above sea level. Flying there gives you spectacular views of a snow covered mountainous terrain. You have to go to Cuzco to access Matchu Pitchu and I always thought that was it’s whole reason for being. But it is a spectacular city in it’s own right. It’s been here since 11000AD. In fact, I read that Cuzco is the oldest continuously inhabited city in South America. Today tourism is probably it’s heart beat but I suspect this ironically is keeping a lot of the Indigenous skills alive. Tourists come here for authentic examples of traditional Inca life and it is on display here. Even the Indigenous language survives. I would recommend coming here even if you are not interested in visiting Matchu Pitchu.
The Spanish may have been very good at robbing, pillaging and annihilating civilisations (and I will never forgive them for that) but they were also good at building stuff. Cusco is an example of that. The Spanish baroque-styled architecture is everywhere here and is just jaw-dropping. You are surrounded by age-old beauty where ever you go and there are some amazing examples in the town square, or Plaza de Armas, just down from where I am staying.
La Cathedral
These old structures are now occupied by businesses and institutions, old and new. The streets are heavily cobbled and very narrow, and there are lanes everywhere. It is easy to get lost. And even within the buildings there are all sorts of spaces occupied by businesses.
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