The cultural and religious centre of the Inca world, Cusco was once an awesome city. The seat of the God-king, the Inca (‘Inca' technically refers to just the monarch, often called the Sapa Inca, who was revered as a divine ruler by the people), it was a city built to reflect the might of the Empire.
Despite its brutal sacking by the Spanish conquistadors, Cusco remains an exciting and vibrant place. Today it is a large commercial centre and the capital of Cusco Department as well as the undisputed archaeological capital of South America, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the continent's biggest tourist destinations.
Spectacular colonial architecture stands astride monolithic ruined Inca palaces made of perfectly hewn stone, which line atmospheric, scorched cobbled plazas. White-washed alleys and terracotta-tiled roofs are home to a rich mix of history, lively nightlife and a vast array of museums, sights and scenery. The collision and fusion of indigenous Andean and imported colonial cultures is interesting and always evident, even to those tourists who only come to the city as a staging post for the most famous trek in the Americas, the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
Despite the number of visitors it receives, Cusco remains relatively unspoiled and it is still easy to experience the city's beauty and ancient feel, which remains very tangible today. Although Cusco has embraced tourism and developed a sound infrastructure to support the influx of visitors, the city's magnificent historical past still has a powerful hold on its glorious present.
Peru’s capital, Lima, is a vibrant city whose grandeur may be faded but still lives on. Once the heart of Spain’s South American empire, modern Lima is a huge metropolis crammed with culture, and a history that pre-dates the Incas.