Tambomachay & Puca Pucara

Discover two little-visited Inca ruins just outside the city of Cusco.

Just six miles out of Cusco are the lesser-visited Tambomachay ruins, which may have served as a military outpost, water shrine or bathing facilities for the Inca elite. It demonstrates how the Incas used interconnecting channels to transport water around their sites. Nearby to these is the Puca Pucara site, a red granite huge fortress which once protected Cusco from invaders from the east.

When returning to the city, there will be the chance to stop at a vantage point above Cusco, for a superb view of the city and the surrounding mountains.