Full day

Your guide will pick you up from your hotel around 08:30 am. You dive straight into the local feel by taking a local bus (25 mins) to our first stop, San Jeronimo market.

San Jeronimo market

This is a huge food and vegetable market on the outskirts of Cusco where most of the locals go to do their shopping.

Fruits, vegetables, chickens, flowers, and gardening supplies, and a lot more are on view at this market. We can taste fruits and vegetables unique to Peru such as passion fruit, lucma, and chirimoya. There are ingredients from the Amazon to the coast and all the mountains in between. This helps explain the richness of Peruvian gastronomy – which we’ll try later.

We also learn about the ingredients needed to make chicha, a corn beer that has been an important part of Peruvian culture since Inca times.

Chicha and chicheria

After visiting the local market, we visit a local chicheria, where local chichi beer is made. Most vendors have a small red flag posted outside so you can identify a chicheria.

Your guide will explain how the chicha is made (it’s a surprisingly fast process) before you try this emblematic drink. You’ll get to see guinea pigs, too, a common site in Peruvian kitchens; they are a delicacy often served on important occasions. Here, they’ll be scurrying around on the floor.

We will then return to the city center for lunch in a local restaurant and taste traditional Peruvian food.

Traditional weaving

After lunch, we visit the Centro de Textiles Tradicionales de Cusco. This is a non-profit organization founded to support the long-standing tradition of weaving in Peru and to help the locals that produce them.

There is a small but excellent museum where we learn the history of weaving. You can also see live demonstrations of traditional weaving and have a chance to purchase beautiful products. This is an excellent place to buy artisan products.

San Pedro market

No visit is complete without a visit to the San Pedro market. San Pedro Market is a full sensory experience. 

In addition to fruits, vegetables, meats, and cheeses, vendors sell a wide variety of unusual foods. You’ll find frog soup, reportedly a medication for anemia, and also sheep's head soup which is used to fortify your health. We also learn about and see medicinal plants that have been around since Inca times and are still in use today.

It has a different vibe to San Jeronimo market and is a must-see market. Bartering can be great fun and there are a variety of freshly squeezed juices from a dizzying array of fruits (make sure yours is made with bottled water to avoid an upset stomach).

Our guide walks you back to your hotel or perhaps you will want to explore Cusco further.

Don’t forget to read our FAQs, covering altitude, money, COVID, and more.

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