Cusco, Peru
Changed How I See
Ordinary Life.
Here’s everything my daughter and I did — and the money truth behind how we got there on a real budget.
📌 Photo tip: Wide shot from Cristo Blanco or a rooftop looking across the city toward the Andes. Red tile roofs in the foreground, mountains behind. Morning mist adds depth. This is your anchor image — use your clearest, widest shot here.
I’ve been to over 20 countries with my daughter. Cusco is one of the few places that genuinely stopped me — not just for what it looks like, but for what it reminded me. That the world is enormous, that most people never see it, and that the gap between those two groups almost never comes down to money.
This post covers everything we did while we were there — the top ten things worth your time, plus the two restaurants we’d go back to. But I’m also going to tell you how we got there, because that’s the part most travel blogs skip.
Cusco wasn’t on our itinerary six months out. It won. That’s how the Wander Window works. We keep a running list of our top ten countries we want to visit. Every week — about fifteen minutes — we check flight prices to all ten simultaneously. We record them. We watch for movement.
When Vienna’s winter break opened up, Peru had dropped to one of the lowest prices on the list. So Peru won. We booked months in advance and paid roughly half what most people pay for the same seats. That savings became our entire on-the-ground budget — food, transportation, experiences, everything.
This is F.A.T.E. in action. Financial Awareness Travel Early. You don’t decide where first. You decide when — and school breaks decide that for you. Then you let price help decide where. That one shift is the reason we’ve been to 20 countries on a regular income without going into debt. Not a special salary. A system.
The List10 Things You Can’t Skip in Cusco
1. San Pedro Market
Best for: food + souvenirsThis is your first stop for souvenirs and some of the best food in the city. The standout: strawberry and passionfruit smoothies blended fresh with orange juice. They aren’t cold. Doesn’t matter. Vienna still talks about them. For gifts, this is your spot — quality is good, prices are honest, and you’re buying directly from the people who made what you’re holding.
2. The Street Food
Must-stopIf you see a woman selling tamales, stop. They’re soft and warm and unlike anything you’ve had before. The beef skewers are excellent. So are the fried potatoes. One note: cow heart is on the menu. It’s chewy. No pressure if that’s not your thing. And skip the churros from walking vendors — they’re cold by the time they reach you. The picarones, though — fried dough rings with honey syrup, street food only — do not leave without having them.
📌 Photo tip: Candid shot at eye level of a vendor at her stall. Natural light, food in frame. Markets have incredible color and texture here — don’t shoot from above.
3. Machu Picchu Day Trip
Can’t missCar to train to bus to a short hike. It’s a process. Worth every step. The views don’t translate to photos the way they land in person — that’s the honest truth about this place. If you’re lucky, you’ll spot alpacas on the trail. We saw a mother and her baby. Vienna went quiet for a minute. That’s how you know a place is working on you.
📌 Photo tip: Use your widest, clearest Machu Picchu shot for this full-width placement. Morning light or mist both photograph beautifully. Alpaca in frame is a bonus — use it if you have it.
4. The Choco Museum
For chocolate peopleWorth it if you like chocolate at all. The dark chocolate with salt was the standout bar. The chocolate tea is something I didn’t expect to like as much as I did. Free samples throughout — which is always a good sign. This is a short stop, but a good one.
5. The Salt Mines
Best for photosOne of the most visually striking places in the region. Salt terraces cut into the hillside in a geometric pattern that looks almost engineered — because it was, by the Inca, over a thousand years ago. Buy the smoked salt. We bought a small amount. Mistake. It has real flavor and it’s only available here. Buy more than you think you need.
📌 Photo tip: Salt mines look best from a slightly elevated angle so the geometric pool pattern is visible. Early morning light makes them glow.
6. Sacsayhuamán Ruins
Ruins + views + alpacasLook up the pronunciation before you arrive — you’ll thank yourself. What you’re looking at is genuinely remarkable: massive stones of completely different shapes, fitted together perfectly without mortar. How it was done is still debated. The city views from up here are excellent. Alpacas show up here regularly. Let yourself slow down at this one.
7. Cristo Blanco (White Jesus)
Best sunset viewsSmaller than the one in Rio. Worth the visit anyway — for the panoramic view of the city below, not the statue itself. Sunset from this spot is hard to beat. This is also the best vantage point for the hero photo if you want the rooftop-and-mountains shot.
The driving in Cusco taught me something I wasn’t expecting. Our driver pulled calmly into oncoming traffic to get around a jam — no hesitation, no horn, just a decision made and executed. Everyone adjusted. It worked. I’ve thought about that moment more than almost anything else from the trip. Sometimes the system everyone else is following isn’t the only system that works. That’s worth sitting with.
8. Watch the Driving
Unexpectedly entertainingThis is not a joke entry. The traffic moves in ways that are genuinely hard to describe — chaotic in a way that somehow has its own logic. Being a passenger here is an experience. Pay attention to it.
9. Moray Incan Terraces
Bring a hatCircular terraces used by the Inca for agricultural experimentation — each level creates a slightly different microclimate. The science behind this is genuinely impressive. The visual is unlike anything else you’ll see on this trip. One honest heads-up: there’s almost no shade. We both got sunburned on our scalps. Bring a hat.
10. The Incan Museum
For the curiousEven if history isn’t your thing, the artifacts are interesting enough to hold attention. The Inca built something genuinely remarkable, and this museum gives real context to everything else you see around the city. Worth a stop — especially before you visit the ruins.
📌 Photo tip: For the 3-photo grid, use visually distinct shots — one architectural, one landscape, one with a person or detail. It makes the grid feel dynamic rather than repetitive.
Open Your Wander Window
Write down your top 10 countries. Watch prices once a week. Let the best deal win. That’s the exact system we used to get to Cusco — and 19 other countries before it. Download the free Wander Window printable and start your list today.
Download Free →Where to EatThe Two Restaurants Worth Your Time
Most of what you eat in Cusco should come from street vendors — that is genuinely the right move. But these two sit-down spots were worth it.
Before you leave: picarones from a street vendor. Rings of fried dough with honey syrup. Street food only — you won’t find them on a restaurant menu. Don’t skip them.
📌 Photo tip: Food photos work best with natural light and a slight angle — not directly overhead. For picarones especially, catch the syrup mid-drizzle. That’s the shot.
Peru does something to a person.
I can give you the logistics — what to see, where to eat, how to get around. But the part that actually sticks is harder to explain. It’s the moment you realize that what you thought was normal is just one version of normal. That the world operates in ways you were never shown. That you have been waiting for permission to go somewhere you could have gone already.
We got to Cusco because we plugged the holes in our budget, watched flight prices for months, and booked when the price was right. Not because we had extra money. Because we had a system and we were paying attention.
That’s what this blog is here to share — not the glamour of travel, but the real mechanics behind how an ordinary income gets to extraordinary places. Consistently. For nearly a decade now.
This is just what worked for us. You can choose to do what we did.
— Never Ending Travel Adventures · Vienna’s Mom · There is always more to explore.