Shopping in Cusco

Cusco is a tourist town; there is no getting away from that. If you are there for any length of time, you will need to do some shopping, whether it is for food, clothes, gifts, or whatever.

Tourists are well catered for with minimarkets in the centre, or larger supermarkets such as Mega on Matará / Ayacucho, and loads of shops aimed just at visitors. The smaller shops in the centre are great if you want an English-speaking shopkeeper who sells overpriced tat to foreigners, but what if you want to see some of the real Peru?

For supermarket shopping, just getting a taxi or collectivo (“El Dorado”) to Wanchaq will take you to a large branch of “Mega”, where you can rub shoulders with Peruvians, and also buy pretty much anything you could want in complete safety. However, for a more authentic experience, try the San Pedro market opposite the railway station, above Plaza San Francisco (go through the arch walking away from the direction of the Plaza de Armas and keep going). Here, you will find all kinds of foods, and you can try some of the local fruits (try Tuna, like a weird flattened pomegranate).

Walk up towards Puente Grau (keep going in the same direction) and you will find many shops selling clothes, household goods and pretty much anything else you could want.

Under the bridge there used to be a market which was notorious for being full of pickpockets, this has been closed down and the traders have moved to “El Molino”, a purpose built covered market where most Cusqueñans shop for pretty much everything non-food, from CDs to baby high chairs. Again, this is perfectly safe, just keep an eye on your cash and try not to flash it about too much.

To see a good produce market, you need not leave Cusco – there is a good one on Saturdays behind the army barracks, about 1km west of the Pachacutec monument, in the bullfighting stadium. There you can see a genuine market, drink chicha and watch the world go by – not a gringo in sight, unlike Pisac’s more famous market.

If you are shopping for “artesania”, or local crafts, then only a few years ago you could have taken your pick from dozens of street traders lining Av El Sol and Espinar selling all kinds of knitwear, hats and the obligatory “Inca Kola” t-shirts. Nowadays, head for one of the purpose built indoor markets such as the large one next to the fountain below Qoricancha on Av El Sol, or to many of the smaller markets around there.

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