The Imperial City of Cusco

Written by: Sam Travel | 29 September, 2016

Celebrate Great Festivals in Cusco City

Cusco City is not just a highland hub for tours to Machu Picchu and other regional attractions. The city also hosts some cultural and colorful festivals. These festivities celebrate the past and the present, indigenous living, pagan traditions and the religious customs of the people.

Don’t be surprised when you arrive at a celebration in Cusco. No matter what time of year you visit the city, you’ll surely stumble upon a fiesta. If you’re planning to have some fun before your trek officially begins, here are a few festivals you can check out:

  • Fiesta de Las Cruces (Festival of the Cross) — This event usually falls on the second or third of May. You’ll see veiled crucifixes and crosses in Catholic sanctuaries, cathedrals and churches throughout Cusco. The usual partying and festivities take place and traditional food is served.
  • Corpus Christi — This celebration always falls on the ninth Thursday after Easter. The main event starts at 11 a.m., which involves taking out the statues of 10 saints from their respective churches and parading them around Plaza de Armas in a specific order. After the long procession, groups of chosen bearers bring the saints to the Cusco Cathedral where they stay for a week. On the eighth day, the bearers take the statues back to their churches, followed by fireworks, musicians and dancers.
  • Cusqueña International Beer Festival — This non-religious music and beer celebration happens in the second week of June. You’ll enjoy drinking locally brewed beer, called Cusqueña beer, and listening to some of the biggest names in the Latino jazz and pop music world.
  • Cusco Carnival and Inti Raymi — Thousands of visitors flock to Cusco to witness and be part of one of the largest festivals in the country. During the week building up to the festival, you’ll see the streets filled with traditional music and folk dancers. You can also watch folklore performances and re-enactments of sun worship that take place on the ruins of Sacsayhuaman.
  • Andean New Year — Aug. 1 marks Mother Earth Day, or Dia de la Pachamama. Locals pay their respects to mother earth by offering drinks, food and other precious items. They sprinkle yellow confetti outside businesses and homes to celebrate the start of the Andean New Year.

The Best Treks near Cusco City

Once you’re done celebrating with the locals, it’s time to trek to Machu Picchu using Cusco as your starting point. You have the option to take the famous and classic Inca Trail, which consists of a beautiful cloud forest filled with birds and a landscape with various ruins that date back centuries.

If you’re looking for something different, try an alternative trek:

  • Lares TrekNEW FOR 2023! This trek is available starting 1 March, 2023. SAM Travel Peru is the only tour operator with its own scenic and cultural trekking route, that treks COMPLETELY OFF THE BEATEN PATH with the LARES TREK TO MACHU PICCHU.
  • Salkantay Trek — This hike gives you the chance to check out the turquoise Salkantay Lake, enjoy fruit-bearing trees in the Peruvian cloud forest, and be in awe of the long valleys of the Puncuyoc Pass.
  • Rainbow Mountain Trek — This adventure allows you to see the natural, snap-worthy colors of the sandstone mountains.
  • Choquequirao Trek — This expedition will take you to two major archaeological sites: Choquequirao and Machu Picchu.

Learn more about our treks and tours that start in Cusco by calling (347) 480-1609.

Join the thousands of satisfied customers who rate us #1 on TripAdvisor

Bernie s 2023/03/02

Had a great trip with our guide Ray Herrera and driver Alfredo. Lots of good experiences in a short period of time 4 days. Learnt a lot not just about the main tourist destinations but Peru in general by Ray. Ray has a passion for Inca history and local produce. Ray knows all the good photo spots and we managed the sun out every day .. Good culture and if you want to get on a tour ask for Ray at Sams Travel = amazing

Tanya H 2023/03/02

Ray was our Tour Guide and Alfredo was our driver for a 4 day tour we did with SAM Travel Peru. Ray's knowledge of the history of Cusco and Machu Picchu was outstanding. Ray was very accommodating with all our needs. He stayed alongside us when trekking and helped where he could. His sense of humour was pleasant to be around. Ray spoke very good English. He is such a nice guy. I would strongly recommend Ray to be your tour guide to visit Machu Picchu. Ray explained everyday what the plans were for the next day, which was reassuring what we needed to take etc

Captanjack 2023/01/012

Our 1 day tour thru the Sacred Vally with Danny was wonderful. He was very knowledgeable and able to answer all our questions in detail. I would recommend asking for him personally if you are able.

Sherry 2022/12/26

We booked the Classic Cusco to Machu Picchu tour with SAM travel which we really had a good experience. SAM travel is very responsive during the communication and cater to our changes needed. Our guide is Ray who is also an very awesome guide. He is knowledgeable, patient, humorous as well reliable, he help us take many good photos and also go extra mile to help with our request. Thanks Ray! Thanks SAM travel that gave us good memories in Peru! Highly recommend if you consider booking any tour in Cusco.

Reviews by Trip Advisor

5.0 4,204 opiniones
See More
C Clark 2023/01/20

Wow. We had such an incredible experience in Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. Our guide, Dayvit, is the most knowledgeable guide we have ever had. He has such an extensive knowledge of the history and is very friendly and helpful. If you are planning a trip to Peru, I highly recommend SAM travel and be sure to request Dayvit!

Emma Dinzebach Clark 2023/01/10

2 day tour sacred valley / Machu Picchu highly recommend! David was the best tour guide. He knows an incredible amount about Incan culture and is personable and funny. He also kept us up to date on a political situation happening when we were there and was informative. Overall, this tour checks all the boxes. Thank you!

Nupur Joshi 2023/01/02

We used SAM Travel for a 2D/1N trip from Cusco to Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu on Dec 25-26, 2022. The team was good with communication from the start - both Saul and Junior were very helpful and professional with answering any questions and clearing up any misunderstandings. Our guide, Miguel, was prompt, pleasant, and quite knowledgeable. We enjoyed his company and insight over the 2 day trip and recommend him to anyone booking with SAM Travel.

Xueying Chen 2022/12/20

We booked the Classic Cusco to Machu Picchu tour with SAM travel which we really had a good experience. SAM travel is very responsive during the communication and cater to our changes needed. Our guide is Ray who is also an very awesome guide. He is knowledgeable, patient, humorous as well reliable, he help us take many good photos and also go extra mile to help with our request. Thanks Ray! Thanks SAM travel that gave us good memories in Peru! Highly recommend if you consider booking any tour in Cusco.

Reviews by Google

5.0 329 opinions
See More
Brandon Slater 2022/09/30

My wife and I just completed two excursions with SAM Travel Peru and we absolutely loved them. We did the 4 Day Salkantay Wilderness + Machu Picchu and then the 2-Day Rainbow Mountain + 7 Lakes trek with guide Carlos Estrada, chefs Nerio & Lucio, and horseman Unarato. Over the last 6 days we have learned so much about the Inca culture, discovered some of the most incredible sights, and ate delicious food every step of the way. We would definitely recommend SAM Travel (especially with Carlos!) to anyone that wants an incredible Peruvian adventure. The Wilderness trek is a much quieter trail than the standard Salkantay and goes a bit higher elevation, but camping at the base of Salkantay was incredible. Carlos's guided tour through Machu Picchu was so informative. We would have missed so much without him taking the time to share his knowledge.

Kellie Taylor 2022/04/06

Big thanks to David he was an amazing tour guide who really cared for our group. He allowed us to go at our own pace and was a brilliant photographer He was really funny and is full of interesting information & his passion for his inca ancestors is very obvious and warming. He also brought us to great restaurants! This company are very good and from what I can recall were cheaper than most. Thank you!

Mike Geelhoed 2021/06/10

They took care of everything! Saul the owner is very responsive and helpful. Johnny our guide was fantastic, as were our chef, assistant chef and horsemen. I can’t recommend them highly enough and will definitely use them again if we return to Peru!

Janice-Kaneki Chen 2020/01/28

Three of us decided to choose Sam Travel Peru, reason being is it is a local travel company that help indegenious communities. We picked Lares Trek 4D3N to have cultural experience while hiking. Good foods provided by talented Mario Chef! Johnny is our tour guide, very helpful tour guide. He even helped me to carry my daypack as I was too exhausted to carry it on day 1 hiking. Strongly recommend to those like to have local experience while hiking.

Reviews by Facebook

5.0 60 opinions
See More

Why you should travel with SAM Travel?

food on the inca trail to machu picchu - sam travel Peru

Best food in Machu Picchu hike

Inca trail porters

Our porters

best campsite on the inca trail

Best camping equipment

Empowering Women on the Inca Trail

Empowering Women

Safety on the Trail

Safety on the Trail

What Defines Us !