Pisac is a rural, colonial market village 32km north-east of Cuzco. On Sundays the market fills up with bus-loads of tourists on souvenir shopping day-trips. However, Pisac is worth an overnight stay if you have the time. Arrive early on Saturday and book a room on one of the many small hotels facing the main market square.

Saturday is a quiet time to look through what the market has to offer: weavings, ceramics, paintings, woolen clothing including ponchos, etc.

You can sit back on one of the cafes by the square and watch the locals in their traditional costumes.

In the evening all the stalls are taken apart only to be put up again at dawn.

Make sure to get up early enough to see the spectacle of the square coming back to life. Walk around the impressive Inca ruins of Pisac in the morning to enjoy them before the crowds and to see them bathe in a beautiful orange light.

There are regular buses from Cuzco to Pisac and back. Enquire about times in Cuzco.

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A long, narrow, cobble-stoned alleyway with everything from small commercial galleries, to little old men selling their own paintings. Original oil paintings are very cheap, and make a nice, unique and authentic souvenir that'll hang on your wall forever.

Beware - some of the shops lower down sell low quality fakes. These are usually the places that sell other souvenirs too.

To the right of the cathedral, up the hill.

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Nothing touristy here, Cuzco’s Central Market is dark, smelly and full of suspicious-looking produce. In other words, it’s a true Andean market. The delight of the place though is that this gloomy warehouse contains almost nothing of interest to anyone who isn’t local. Purple corn, dehydrated potatoes, and a “food court” featuring whole pig cooked in a variety of ways, it’s not for the faint of stomach.

Shamanistic potions, religious iconography and, of course, coca leaves, complete the offerings, with the ubiquitous day-glo Inka Cola T-shirts the only nod to Cuzco’s biggest cash cow. As genuine as an Inca wall.

Location: Avenidas Santa Clara and Tupac Amaru

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