Find us in front of the Chicha restaurant in Plaza Regocijo (Heladeros Street 290), look for the yellow vest with the FWTP – IMW logo. Please, don’t confuse it with the Plaza de Armas!

Your free tour of bohemian San Blas begins with an air of knowledge and wisdom. In pre-Hispanic times, this area of Cusco was home to the Yachaywasi, or House of Knowledge, where the sons of noble Incas were educated.

Over the centuries, the square took on different names. Its current one appeared in the 19th century, when the rooms of the colonial Sierpes mansion — built atop the Yachaywasi — became the cloisters of the Nazarenas convent.

The square is crossed by the Siete Culebras, or Seven Snakes. This street is named for the 14 snakes carved by the Incas along the pre-Hispanic wall of the Amaru Ccata (“Serpent Slope” in Spanish), a creature that symbolised wisdom.

An old colonial church — one of the very first built in the city — and a wide, peaceful square that’s perfect for soaking up magnificent panoramic views of Cusco. That’s the winning combination at this strategic stop on your free tour.

From San Cristóbal Viewpoint you’ll get a bird’s-eye view of the Plaza de Armas, colonial churches with bell towers reaching for the sky, the city’s main neighbourhoods, and the mountains that guard ancestral Cusco.

Take the opportunity to admire the Church of San Cristóbal, built on Inca foundations. Here you’ll spot 11 pre-Hispanic niches, believed to have been created to house the mummies of the rulers of the Tawantinsuyo.

Legend has it that Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo emerged from Lake Titicaca to found a city and a civilisation. It was their father, the Sun, who gave them this mission, handing them a golden sceptre that would sink into the ground at the chosen place.

They fulfilled their task. They founded Cusco and laid the foundations of an empire. History tells us that Manco Capac was the first Sapan Inca (ruler) and that his palace stood on the slopes of San Cristóbal — one of the places you’ll walk past on this free tour.

Although the palace of Manco Capac, or Qolqapampa, was altered during colonial times, it remains a vestige of the legendary origins of the “Children of the Sun.”

Between the 17th and 18th centuries, the Jesuit order and the Cusco town council oversaw the construction of a hydraulic work over the P’ujru stream, with the aim of supplying fresh, healthy water to the fountains and convents of the viceregal city.

Sapantiana was built very close to the Inca huaca of the same name, where rituals and offerings to water were once carried out. In the Andean worldview, water was sacred for its vital role in sustaining life and agricultural fertility.

The colonial aqueduct features elegant stone arches and four levels through which the water flowed down. This remarkable work remained in operation until the mid-20th century. Today, it’s one of San Blas’s unmissable sights.

Cusco is such a beautiful city that it’s worth seeing from every possible angle. You’ll never tire of admiring its urban layout, colonial buildings, and the mountain landscape that cradles and protects the “Imperial City.”

In your quest for breathtaking views, the San Blas Viewpoint is a true gem. From here, you’ll take in — among other details — the typical red clay tiles that add colour and a unique character to Cusco’s rooftops.

The viewpoint is also a space where you can soak up the artistic and bohemian spirit of San Blas. So relax, take inspiration, and make the most of this stop to catch your breath. Just bear in mind — the streets here are steep!

Walking — step by step through gorges, valleys, mountain ranges, and forests. That’s how pre-Hispanic peoples, including the mighty Inca society, travelled and made pilgrimages — always on foot, as they had no horses to ease their journeys.

To connect the four suyos of their empire (as the regions of the Tawantinsuyo were called), the Incas organised a vast network of roads, improving upon routes created by earlier civilisations such as the Wari or Huari.

The branch of the Qhapaq Ñan (the Great Road) that descended to the Antisuyo (the Amazon) started from the Plaza de Armas and entered Toqokachi (“Salt Cave”), as the area of San Blas was known in Inca times.

Sheltered by the imposing presence of a colonial temple and surrounded by workshops and galleries showcasing the finest works of Cusco’s artisans, the main square of this neighbourhood is a haven of art, history, and faith.

The square and its church stand on the site where the Incas once worshipped Illapa (the god of thunder and lightning). The temple is famed for its baroque pulpit, carved from a single piece of cedar — a true jewel of colonial religious art.

It’s not a bad idea to explore it after the free tour — it will amaze you! The same goes for the nearby workshops and galleries; wander through them to admire and perhaps take home the works of Cusco’s master craftsmen.

The free walking tour of Cusco’s Historic Centre ends near Santo Domingo, just a 5-minute walk from the Plaza de Armas in the “Archaeological Capital of Peru”.