Cuzco is a major backpacker melting pot, one of the main backpacking hubs in Peru and the staging ground for people contemplating doing an Inca Trail trek or visiting Machu Picchu. Whilst it was a major city for the Incas, the Spanish colonial style is firmly entrenched on the city.

Just take a stroll round La Plaza De Armas and check out the impressive colonial cathedral, and you soon get a sense that this city has had an interesting and varied past, especially when you see the ancient walls built out of huge stone blocks by the incans, thought to be the first earthquake proof construction in the history of mankind.

There is a great nightlife scene to Cuzco as well, as you would expect with backpackers having returned from successful three-day Inca Trail treks, loaded up on excitement and enthusiasm with travellers tales about where they’ve been and what they’ve seen, with plenty of other backpackers willing to listen to their stories in nervous anticipation of their own treks that lie ahead. You can easily spend a week here, even if you’re not going to do the Trail there are plenty of day trips that you can enjoy and is not a bad place to rest up if you’ve been on the road for awhile.

If you’re new in town, make sure you head to the Cross Keys pub located on the corner of the Plaza de Armas, you’ll be sure to meet some backpackers in there.

From Cuzco most people had South after the Trail to find Lake Titicaca and then end up in La Paz the capital of Bolivia.

With Xtreme gap years backpacking in South America trips, you will most likely end up in Cuzco on the following adventures:

Lima to La Paz via Cuzco, Inca Trail trek and round the world South America.