Cusco: Qorikancha, Cathedral & San Blas with Private Guide

Three centuries of conquest and craft, stacked on top of each other in Cusco's oldest streets

You visit three of Cusco's most layered sites—the Temple of the Sun with its Spanish convent built on top, the Cathedral with its 400 colonial paintings and precious metalwork, and the bohemian San Blas neighborhood with its artisan workshops and steep cobbled streets. Your bilingual guide handles the history and logistics; entry fees and hotel pickup are included.

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Cusco's historic sites

• Visit Coricancha Temple of the Sun
• Tour the Cusco Cathedral
• See the Twelve-Angled Stone
• Panoramic visit to San Blas Church
• Walk through San Blas neighborhood

The Experience

Picture the moment the Spanish arrived in Cusco and saw the Qorikancha—the Temple of the Sun, its walls lined with gold sheets that caught the light like nothing they'd ever seen. They tore it down and built Santo Domingo Convent right on top of it. You stand in that same spot now, and you can still see the Inca stonework underneath the colonial structure, two empires occupying the same ground. Your guide walks you through both layers, explaining how the Inca fitted those massive blocks without mortar, and then how the Spanish extracted hundreds of stones from the Sacsayhuamán fortress to build the Cathedral just a few blocks away.

The Cathedral itself is enormous—shaped like a Latin Cross, took nearly a hundred years to finish (1560 to 1654), and inside there are about 400 colonial paintings from the Cusco art school hanging on the walls. The goldsmith and silversmith work is intricate enough that you'll find yourself standing in front of a single piece for longer than you expected. Your bilingual guide points out the details: how indigenous artists mixed European devotional styles with Andean symbolism, so the paintings don't look quite like anything you'd see in Spain or Rome. It's a hybrid thing, born from collision.

After the Cathedral, you head up into San Blas, the neighborhood that sits above the main square on steep cobblestone streets. The Church of San Blas is there—built in 1544 on top of an Inca sanctuary dedicated to Illapa, the thunder god—and the whole quarter is now full of artisan workshops and handicraft shops. The streets are narrow and white-walled, the kind of place where you can wander into a weaver's studio or a silversmith's workshop and watch someone work. Your visit to the church itself will be panoramic since it's closed for maintenance, but the neighborhood around it is where you'll spend time, and that's where the real texture of Cusco shows up. Hotel pickup and drop-off are included, so you don't have to figure out transport or timing yourself.

What’s included

• Professional bilingual tour guide in English and Spanish.
• hotel pickup and drop-off.
• admission to the Qorikancha (Temple of the Sun).
• admission to Cusco Cathedral.
• panoramic visit to San Blas neighborhood and its artisan quarter.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfants must sit on laps

Operated by LimaTours

Is this one for you?Best for travelers staying in Cusco who want to see the city's colonial and Inca layers without arranging their own transport or entry tickets—the guide handles the history and logistics, and the fixed pickup means you don't have to navigate to the first stop.

Top questions

Is the San Blas church open to the inside?

No. The Church of San Blas is closed for maintenance, so your visit to it will be panoramic (external view only). The neighborhood itself, with its shops and streets, remains fully accessible.

What's included in the price?

Professional bilingual guide (English and Spanish), hotel pickup and drop-off, and admission to both the Qorikancha (Temple of the Sun) and Cusco Cathedral.

Do I need to be fit for this tour?

The tour is suitable for all physical fitness levels. San Blas is on a hillside with steep cobblestone streets, so comfortable walking shoes are a good idea.

Can children go on this tour?

Yes. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Infants can sit on an adult's lap.

What language is the guide?

The guide is bilingual in English and Spanish.

Do I need to book in advance?

Yes. You'll need to provide your hotel name when booking so the operator can coordinate pickup with you.