Cusco Historic Center Self-Guided Audio Walk: Qorikancha, the Twelve-Angle Stone and Inca Walls
1 hour and 30 minutes
About this experience
Cusco was the capital of the Inca, and the Spanish did not replace it. They moved in, built churches on Inca walls, carried Inca stone into their cathedral and cut the great Inca square into pieces. Start in the Plaza de Armas and the cathedral, then climb to the Twelve-Angle Stone, pass the convent built on the house of the Inca's chosen women and a restored Inca compound, and reach Qorikancha, the Temple of the Sun, and its curved Inca wall. Walk Calle Loreto, an Inca lane between two Inca walls, to La Compañía, then the carved front of La Merced, the quiet square of San Francisco and Plaza Regocijo, the other half of the Inca square. Twelve stops, about 2.4 km and 90 minutes, in English or Spanish at your own pace. Mostly level, at about 3,400 m. Entry to churches and museums is not included.
- Experience type
- Day tour or activity
- Duration
- 1 hour and 30 minutes
- Guide
- Spanish, English
- Audio guide
- Spanish, English
- Categories
- Walking tour · Cultural and theme tours · City tours
What's included
Self-guided audio tour in English and Spanish: 12 stops, 2.4 km, 1.5 hours Stops at cathedral, Twelve-Angle Stone, Calle Loreto and the curved wall of the Temple of the Sun GPS map and walking directions in your phone browser, no app needed Lifetime access: start any day, at any hour, and replay it
What's not included
A live guide: you set the pace and the pauses A fixed start time: begin whenever you arrive Museum and monument tickets, all optional extras Tip or gratuity Food and drinks Entry or admission fee
Please note
To start the tour, enter the ticket code from your confirmation on the Roamer redemption page linked there. Do this before you set off, while you still have signal. The tour then opens in your phone browser, with no app to download. Bring a charged phone and earphones. Mobile data helps; if you have none, open the tour on wifi before you set off. Best time: A weekday or Saturday morning, starting by about 9:00, so the churches are open when you reach them: La Compañía closes from 11:20 to 13:00, and Qorikancha is reported closed on Sunday mornings. Mid to late afternoon light falls well on the fronts of the cathedral and La Compañía. The rainy season runs from November to May (UK Foreign Office advice, updated 2 October 2026), so carry a rain layer then. On 24 June, the Inti Raymi, the Qorikancha esplanade and the Plaza de Armas are taken over by the festival. Cusco sits at about 3,400 metres (Peru's tourism board gives over 3,399 m). If you have just flown in, keep to mild exercise for the first two days (CDC advice): walk slowly, drink water and rest on a bench whenever you need to. Getting to the start: use a licensed telephone or app-based taxi rather than hailing one on the street (UK Foreign Office advice, checked 6 October 2026). The walk starts by the fountain in the Plaza de Armas. Entry fees, checked 6 October 2026: La Compañía 12 soles, or 25 soles for the Jesuits' four-church Ruta del Barroco Andino (official site); the cathedral about 40 soles, or about 50 soles on the archdiocese's religious circuit ticket (guides only, no official price list); Qorikancha about 15 to 20 soles (guides only); Kusicancha free. Carry soles in cash. Cusco's tourist ticket (Boleto Turístico) covers the Qorikancha site museum and the Museo Histórico Regional at the last stop: 70 soles for the two-day circuit II, 130 soles for the full ten-day ticket (COSITUC tariff, February 2025; checked 6 October 2026). Kusicancha is free: Monday to Friday 07:00 to 18:00, Saturday and Sunday 08:00 to 18:00 (Ministry of Culture, July 2024; checked 6 October 2026). Please do not touch the Twelve-Angle Stone. It was struck with a hammer in February 2025. The Museo Machu Picchu in Casa Concha, a few steps from stop four on Santa Catalina Ancha, shows the collection Yale returned to Peru. Its official site could not be reached; guides list Monday to Saturday 9:00 to 17:00, closed Sunday (checked 6 October 2026). La Merced's convent museum and San Francisco's convent museum each charge a small entry; no official price or hours are published, so ask at the door (checked 6 October 2026). The walk ends in Plaza Regocijo, a short walk from the Plaza de Armas. Steps: five at the foot of Calle Loreto (no handrail), a short flight up into the garden of Plaza San Francisco and six up into the garden of Plaza Regocijo. For a step-free route at the two squares, stay on the pavement around the garden; the churches and houses are still in view. Calle Maruri, between Calle Arequipa and Calle Romeritos, is busy with traffic and has narrow pavements. At the curved wall the route crosses the mouth of a one-way lane on a zebra crossing without lights, and cars turn in from Avenida El Sol: look before you step out. The route then follows Avenida El Sol's wide pavement and never crosses the avenue mid-block; it crosses only at the lights at the Plaza de Armas end. The garden below Qorikancha is not a public park: keep to the pavement. Since July 2026 the city has been restoring a mural on Avenida El Sol, which may put hoardings on parts of the pavement (reported 3 July 2026). Political protests and strikes in Cusco can close the center at short notice (UK Foreign Office, updated 2 October 2026; US State Department Level 2, 3 September 2026). Avoid demonstrations. Street crime and theft are a problem in Cusco's tourist areas (UK Foreign Office): keep phones and bags close on the plaza and crowded pavements. The cobbles are uneven and slippery when wet; showers are common in the rainy season from November to May. Public transportation nearby
Itinerary
- 1Day 0
Plaza de Armas: The Square of Sea Sand
Plaza de Armas, Cusco
The great Inca square of the founding. The Inca covered it with sand from the coast; the Spanish founded Cusco here in 1534 and executed Túpac Amaru here in 1572.
- 2Day 0
Cusco Cathedral: Built with Inca Stone
216 Hauqaypata, Cusco
A cathedral built of Sacsayhuamán stone. It stands on the site of an Inca hall, survived the earthquake of 1650 that wrecked most of the city, and gave Cusco its square bell towers.
- 3Day 0
Twelve-Angle Stone: The Wall Every Owner Kept
Hatunrumiyoc, Cusco
Twelve angles in an Inca palace wall. Every owner since the conquest built on the wall, and the house above it is now the Archbishop's Palace.
- 4Day 0
Plazoleta Santa Catalina: Chosen Women to Nuns
Santa Catalina Ancha, Cusco
From the Sun's chosen women to nuns. Nuns from Arequipa founded Santa Catalina here in 1605 on the walls of the Acllawasi, and Inca stonework still lines the lane beside it.
- 5Day 0
Kusicancha: From Barracks Back to Inca
Romeritos, Cusco
An Inca compound open to the street, once a barracks. Seen from pedestrian Calle Romeritos, Kusicancha is free to enter and was handed back from the army in 2001.
- 6Day 0
Qorikancha: The Temple of the Sun
Plazoleta de Santo Domingo, Cusco
The Inca Temple of the Sun underneath. The conquerors stripped its gold, and in 1950 its Inca blocks were the only ones in Cusco the earthquake cracked.
- 7Day 0
Qorikancha's Curved Wall: The Temple's Rounded End
Mut'uchaka, Cusco
The temple's curved wall of fitted stone. The Dominicans set their church on it; below it, terraces cleared of earthquake rubble step down to the avenue.
- 8Day 0
Calle Loreto: The Alley of the Sun
Loreto, Cusco
An Inca lane between two Inca walls, closed to traffic. Calle Loreto keeps its Inca line from the Sun temple to the plaza, between the Acllawasi and Huayna Cápac's Amarucancha.
- 9Day 0
La Compañía: Built to Outshine the Cathedral
Loreto, Cusco
A Jesuit church to outshine the cathedral. It stands on Huayna Cápac's Amarucancha, and inside a painting shows an Inca princess marrying a relative of Saint Ignatius.
- 10Day 0
La Merced: An Altar in Stone for the Square
Calle Mantas, Cusco
A church front carved like an altarpiece. Its upper tier was an open-air chapel for the crowd in the square, and a colonial mint later shrank that square to the one you see.
- 11Day 0
San Francisco: A Church on Inca Farm Terraces
Plaza San Francisco, Cusco
A plain church on Inca farm terraces. The Franciscans settled here on their third site, and for centuries the square was Cusco's Saturday flea market.
- 12Day 0
Plaza Regocijo: The Other Half of the Inca Square
Plaza Regocijo, Cusco
The second half of the great Inca square, Kusipata. Spanish shops and a mint cut it off from the Plaza de Armas, and Garcilaso's father watched bullfights here from his balcony.
Meeting point
Plaza de Armas, Cusco Plaza de Armas, Cuzco, Cusco, PE
Pick up
Pickup is not provided.
Cancellation policy · Cusco Historic Center Self-Guided Audio Walk: Qorikancha, the Twelve-Angle Stone and Inca Walls
Standard Viator policy
- Cancellation 0–24 hours before departure: 100% cancellation fee.
- Cancellation 24–24000 hours before departure: 0% cancellation fee.
Good to know
Operated by Roamer and sold by AGORA. Your voucher and booking reference arrive by email straight after payment.