Luxury Cusco: Neighbourhoods, Hotels and Exclusive Experiences

The first day in Cusco should not involve walking. Altitude —3,400 metres— demands pause. The instruction from the Belmond Monasterio concierge, given with the tone of someone who has seen hundreds of guests ignore it, is clear: ascend slowly to the room, coca tea, sleep until dinner, first walk on day two. International passengers who follow this instruction eat better the rest of the trip. Those who do not lose two days.

Cusco offers itself to the average traveller as the gateway to Machu Picchu. This guide proposes the opposite: Cusco as destination, not transit. The capital of Tawantinsuyo —the Inca empire that stretched from southern Colombia to central Argentina— remains, after five centuries, Peru's densest city in archaeological, gastronomic and cultural terms. Three to four nights are minimum. Five are what we recommend.

The neighbourhoods that matter

Cusco has four zones the luxury traveller should distinguish. The difference between sleeping in one or another changes the experience.

The Historic Centre, around the Plaza de Armas, is the most archaeologically dense zone. The Cathedral, the Coricancha (Inca Sun Temple converted to the Santo Domingo convent), Loreto Street with perfect Inca walls, the twelve-angled Inca stone. Staying in the centre means stepping out and finding Inca stone three metres away. The most expensive and most tourist-trafficked zone, but also the most historic.

San Blas is the bohemian neighbourhood: cobblestone alleys climbing the northern slope, white houses with wooden balconies, artisan workshops, galleries. The San Blas church holds Peru's most celebrated cedar pulpit. Staying here means walking ten minutes downhill to the centre and twenty uphill on return. Recommended for couples and for those valuing atmosphere.

San Cristóbal is the upper zone, above Saqsayhuamán. From here the city's dawn view is Cusco's best. The few hotels —Antigua Casona San Blas, JW Marriott's annex in San Cristóbal— offer isolation without distance. Altitude is higher (3,700 metres versus 3,400 of the centre), which matters for the more sensitive.

Modern Cusco, around Avenida El Sol and Plazoleta Limacpampa, is the functional zone: banks, shops, atmosphere-less international hotels. Recommended only if price or quick airport connection is the priority.

The hotels, in four steps

Belmond Monasterio occupies a sixteenth-century Hieronymite convent in the historic centre, three blocks from the Plaza de Armas. One hundred and twenty-six rooms, two colonial courtyards with seating beneath arches, a restored chapel used for weddings, library, Illariy restaurant. The masterpiece is the in-room enriched-oxygen system —extra oxygen injected into the air, authorised by the Ministry of Health— that reduces altitude effects during sleep. Worth the cost for that alone.

Belmond Palacio Nazarenas, sister property in a viceregal mansion one block from the Monasterio, is the more intimate version: only fifty-five suites, all with private pool or garden, mansion atmosphere rather than hotel. The main pool is the only heated outdoor pool in central Cusco. Recommended for honeymoon.

Inkaterra La Casona, in a sixteenth-century mansion two blocks from the Plaza de Armas, is the most considered hotel for travellers preferring intimacy over scale. Eleven rooms, no on-site restaurant (dinner at neighbouring hotels coordinated by concierge), inner courtyard, library. The most expensive per room in Cusco —and the one we most recommend for couples returning to Peru.

JW Marriott El Convento Cusco occupies the former sixteenth-century San Agustín convent, restored with archaeological care. One hundred and fifty-two rooms, international Marriott service, Pirqa restaurant with contemporary Peruvian cuisine. The international option for travellers seeking brand consistency.

For tighter budgets, Casa San Blas and Antigua Casona San Blas are the boutique options in the bohemian neighbourhood: twelve to eighteen rooms, private-house atmosphere, personalised service.

The tables, in order of seriousness

Four restaurants define contemporary Cusco cuisine for demanding travellers.

MIL Centro, by chef Virgilio Martínez (Central, Lima), sits an hour from Cusco —at the Moray archaeological site, in the Sacred Valley. Complete destination: a six-hour lunch with tasting menu based on Sacred Valley altitudinal tiers, ingredients gathered by the chef's team in neighbouring communities, and a tour of the medicinal garden before the meal. Reserve three months ahead. Visit at lunch, not dinner.

Map Café sits inside the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art (MAP), in a museum courtyard covered by glass. Relaxed atmosphere, contemporary Peruvian cuisine with Andean produce, view of pre-Columbian pieces through the glass walls. Casual lunch, romantic dinner.

Cicciolina is Cusco's longest-running Mediterranean restaurant, run by chef Theresa Bottger since 1995. Cheese boards, house pastas, European wines. The restful meal —when one has eaten Peruvian cuisine four days running and needs pasta.

Inkanto, the Belmond Sanctuary Lodge restaurant in Machu Picchu with a Cusco branch, is the international option of solid execution. Marcelo Batata, in San Blas, is the more informal traditional Cusco-cuisine option with good service.

The private experiences that matter

Three private experiences, outside the standard tour, deserve consideration.

Private San Pedro market. Cusco's central market receives six thousand daily visitors. The same market, at five in the morning before formal opening, is a different place: only vendors setting up stalls, produce unloading, the first coffee of the day. A one-hour tour with local guide —Cusco chef Florencia Aragón offers this tour followed by lunch at her home— equals a course in Andean anthropology condensed into seventy minutes.

Private dinner in a huaca. The Belmond Monasterio coordinates exclusive dinners at the Coricancha or in closed Saqsayhuamán sectors under Ministry of Culture permit. Table for two to eight, hotel chef, live Andean music, torch lighting. The most exclusive Cusco experience —between USD 600 and 1,500 per person— and the one we most recommend for honeymoon.

Andean shaman ceremony. In the communities of Patabamba or Chinchero, an hour from Cusco, paqos (Andean shamans) still perform despachos to Pachamama in pre-Incaic tradition. The ceremony —two to three hours, performed at dawn— is coordinated in advance through the community itself. Not theatre. Living practice, accessed only with respect and local guide. Recommended only for travellers with genuine, not photographic, interest.

Cusco is the only Peruvian colonial capital built on Inca stone. Every wall, every street, every corner carries the double reading. The city delivers itself only when one learns to read both.

Kada Travel

How to combine it

We recommend four to five nights for Cusco-Sacred Valley-Machu Picchu. Distributed: one Cusco night on arrival (acclimatisation), three Sacred Valley nights (better altitude, more terrain to explore), return for one more Cusco night at the end of the block before the Lima flight.

For the returning Peru traveller, five nights for Cusco-Sacred Valley alone are possible and recommended: two in Cusco at the start (acclimatisation plus private urban experiences), two in Sacred Valley (excursions, MIL, Maras), one in Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu over two dawns), Lima return via Cusco.

Three nights is the absolute minimum, and in that case we recommend sleeping all in the Sacred Valley and doing Cusco as a day excursion. But losing Cusco as base —its gastronomy, its markets, its private experiences— means losing half of what the Peru trip could offer.