Sacsayhuamán and Cristo Blanco Self-Guided Audio Walk: Inca Walls, Stone Channels and Down to the Plaza
2 hours
About this experience
The Spaniards called Sacsayhuamán a fortress, because they had to fight for it in 1536. The people of Cusco, a chronicler wrote, called it the House of the Sun. This walk starts on the hill and comes down the way its water and much of its stone came down into the city. Begin at Cristo Blanco, the white Christ over Cusco, then follow a stream the Incas lined with stone, down an old road beside it, past the old stone arches of Sapantiana to an Inca prince's church beside an Inca wall of eleven niches. With a ticket, step inside to the giant zigzag walls, a round tower's foundations and a slide of polished rock. The outside walk works on its own. Ten stops, about 1.3 km and 75 minutes (about two hours with the inside visit), nearly all downhill, in English and Spanish, at your own pace. Start with a short taxi ride up. Steep stone steps at high altitude, three road crossings with no signal. Sacsayhuamán entry (Boleto Turístico) is not included.
- Experience type
- Day tour or activity
- Duration
- 2 hours
- 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: 10 stops, 1.3 km, 2 hours Stops at Inca stone channels, Sapantiana arches, San Cristóbal's niche wall and 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: Morning, in daylight. The archaeological park is open daily from 07:00 to 17:30 (Ministry of Culture, Cusco, checked 6 October 2026), the hillside paths and stairways are unlit, and an early start leaves time for the inside visit before the park closes. Getting to the start: take a taxi from the Plaza de Armas up to Cristo Blanco, a short ride by road. Cusco's taxis have no meters, so agree the fare before you get in. A local bus line named Cristo Blanco also runs up the Pisac road. Walking up instead means about 170 meters of steep climbing: only if you are used to the altitude. Sacsayhuamán has no single-site ticket. The cheapest way in is the Boleto Turístico partial ticket for Circuit I: 70 soles for foreign visitors, valid one day, also covering Q'enqo, Puka Pukara and Tambomachay. The full ticket is 130 soles for 10 days. Both are sold in person only, at the sites and at the COSITUC office, Avenida El Sol 103, daily 07:30 to 18:00. Bring your passport or ID: the ticket is personal (COSITUC, checked 6 October 2026). The inside visit adds about forty-five minutes and about 45 meters of climbing. The official visitor circuit starts at the Llaullipata control on the far side of the walls and ends at Puqro, by stop 2. If a guard asks you for a ticket on the outside paths and you have none, there is a public way down that avoids the park: from Cristo Blanco take the stepped street called Calle Cristo Blanco down into upper San Blas, follow Tandapata, then take the Siete Borreguitos steps over the Sapantiana canal to the Pumacurco steps, where you rejoin this walk at stop 7, Sapantiana. It is a little over a kilometer, all public lanes and steps (Tandapata has no pavement: keep to the edge), and skips stops 2 to 6. The church of San Cristóbal (stop 8) has its own ticket, part of the archdiocese's religious circuit; prices and hours could not be confirmed from an official source on 6 October 2026, so ask at the door. The Sapantiana arches (stop 7) are about fifty meters along a footpath that leaves the steps; walk out to them and come back to the steps. Our Historic Center walk starts on the Plaza de Armas, where this walk ends. Altitude: the walk starts at about 3,570 meters. The CDC advises only mild exercise and no alcohol for the first 48 hours at high altitude. If you have a severe headache, nausea or dizziness, stop and rest, and go down. The walk is not step-free: most of it is steep stone steps, including a long stairway and the Pumacurco steps, which have no handrail. It is not suitable for wheelchairs or strollers. The footpath from Cristo Blanco is bare ground and can be muddy after rain. You cross one busy road, Don Bosco, three times with no crossing or signal: at the foot of the stairway, before the San Cristóbal terrace, after a few steps along its edge, and on the steps below the terrace, where they cross the road at a sharp bend with traffic coming round from both sides. Look both ways and cross quickly. Walk in daylight only. The archaeological park closes at 17:30, and the hillside paths and stairways are unlit and empty after dark. Inside the park, climbing on the walls is forbidden, as are food, alcohol, drones without a permit and animals (Ministry of Culture, checked 6 October 2026). Do not lean on or climb the Inca walls anywhere on the walk. Around 24 June the Inti Raymi festival uses the esplanade at Sacsayhuamán, and access may be restricted. Public transportation nearby
Itinerary
- 1Day 0
Cristo Blanco: The City From Above
Circunvalación, Cuzco
A white Christ stands with open arms over Cusco. From the free viewpoint below it, the red roofs of the whole city spread down to the Plaza de Armas.
- 2Day 0
Puqro: A Stream Lined in Stone
Parque Arqueológico de Saqsaywaman, Cuzco
A stream runs in a stone channel below Sacsayhuamán's walls. A megalithic wall rises beside the path, and the ticketed park begins just above.
- 3Day 0
Inside Sacsayhuamán
Parque Arqueológico de Saqsaywaman, Cuzco
Three stops inside on a ticketed visit that you play by tapping: Zigzag Walls, Muyuqmarka, Rodadero.
- 4Day 0
The Stone Channel: An Old Road Beside the Water
Parque Arqueológico de Saqsaywaman, Cuzco
A stairway follows an old road down beside the stone channel. The Incas built channels like it to water the city and its terraces.
- 5Day 0
Sapantiana: Inca Channel, Colonial Arches
650 Pumacurco, Cusco
Old stone arches carry a water channel across a ravine. A short side path from the steps leads to the free archaeological site.
- 6Day 0
San Cristóbal: An Inca Prince's Church
Resbalosa, Cusco
An Inca prince built this church beside a wall of eleven niches. The terrace in front looks out over the whole city.
- 7Day 0
Calle Suecia: Down Through Upper Cusco
380 Calle Suecia, Cusco
A steep stone lane drops toward the Plaza de Armas. It runs down through what the Incas called upper Cusco.
- 8Day 0
Plaza de Armas: Where the Stone Came Down
Portal de Harinas, Cusco
The walk ends on Cusco's great square, ringed by churches and colonial houses. Some of their stone came down from the hill above.
Meeting point
Cristo Blanco, Cusco Circunvalación, Cuzco, Cusco, PE
Pick up
Pickup is not provided.
Cancellation policy · Sacsayhuamán and Cristo Blanco Self-Guided Audio Walk: Inca Walls, Stone Channels and Down to the Plaza
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.