Cusco Open Top Bus Tour: City Highlights & Inca Archaeological
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Cusco, Peru
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Familiarize yourself with Cusco’s history and architecture on this affordable and comprehensive tour of the city center and outskirts. Panoramic views of the city are afforded on the top deck of the double-decker bus. In addition to navigating, your guide offers little-known facts and local stories about landmarks and ruins outside the city, including Sacsayhuaman and Qenqo.
- Panoramic views from double-decker bus
- Guide offers information often missed by visitors about top landmarks
- Visit archaeological sites outside the city center
What's Included
- Transport
- Bi-lingual guide
- Meals and Beverages.
- Any Private Expenses.
- Gratuities (Optional)
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Sta. Catalina Angosta 120, Cusco 08002, Peru
Very close to the main square. Important: enter the premises, to change the ticket.
End point
- C. Saphy 661, Cusco 08002, Peru
This street is located 2 blocks from the Cusco Main Square.
Itinerary
1
Plaza de Armas
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Calle Saphy (Pass By)
Sacsayhuaman (Pass By)
2
Statue of Christ
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
La Paccha (Pass By)
Great Mural Of Cusco (Pass By)
Qorikancha (Pass By)
3
Calle Saphy
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 24 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.3
based on 247 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
This bus tour was enjoyable and informative. My friends and I really enjoyed it. Our tour guide Paulo was very knowledgeable of Peruvian culture and historic sights.
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Thank you, our guides have very good historical information, and they like to share it.
The climb up to the Puca Pucara area was interesting. The long stop to have an Inca “religious” ceremony was uncalled for. The last 30 minutes riding through city traffic where it was difficult to hear the guide was not of much benefit.
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Thank you, the archaeological sites are very important, in our history, as are the iconic places within the city, we generally do not have much traffic.
Interesting finding out about culture and areas. Guide did not translate everything to English as promised in booking
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Thank you for your comment, our guides are perfectly prepared for the English language, they are constantly trained, please be careful to book with us, we are the only orange buses in the city of Cusco.
Great deal and tour!
With the high altitude in Cusco taking this tour gives you the opportunity to see a lot while being driven and allows stop points for taking great pictures.
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Thank you, our short circuit contains the most iconic and important places in our city. Complemented with the bilingual information provided by our tour guides during the tour.
A great trip. Very interesting sites. We really enjoyed it and definitely recommend!
Highly recommended!
Response from Host, Aug 2026
Thank you for your comment, in a short time we will show you the most iconic and important places in our city.
I booked this tour last minute and I was not disappointed. I didn't know how I was going to feel with the altitude on day 2 of arriving in Cusco. So I booked the morning of the trip. Excellent explanation of the capital of Inca reign.
Response from Host, Jun 2026
Thank you, this is the best tour, which you can take in the city of Cusco, while acclimatizing, sitting from the bus you can enjoy the best views,
We were told to sit upstairs even though it was very cold and rainy. The guide was difficult to understand in English. We also met at a pick up spot, then had to walk to a different spot to meet others, then walked a little around the plaza and then walked another 3 blocks to meet the bus. Several of the items in the itinerary were skipped without explanation including the market, mural, and Qorikancha. Lastly, we were unexpectedly taken to a local Shaman for a blessing, which was very interesting to witness but this made some members of our group uncomfortable.
Response from Host, Jun 2026
We are very sorry, we only sell the seats at the top. The ones on the first level are free, for people who want to rest.
This was a wonderful exploration of Cusco. You find out more "real" stuff about the city and the history of it, as well as the culture, the history, the significant places, and the deep spiritual side of the people who live here now, and before. Our guide, Paolo, was terrific!
Response from Host, May 2026
Thank you, for your comment, you consider us, as a business card for all our visitors.
This was not a Cusco tour, it was a ‘take you to their stores and ask you to buy stuff’. Would not do it again.
Response from Host, May 2026
Por favor recuerden, nuestros buses son de color anaranjado, los únicos en la ciudad del Cusco.
It was a nice experience. I don’t have any complaints. It wasn’t bad but not great either. I was expecting a little more, but for the price it’s a nice outing.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you for your criticism, it would have been good if you shared a photograph of the bus with us, to identify whether or not it belongs to our company. We are the only ones in Cusco who have this account on TripAdvisor.
It started to rain when we boarded the bus. The bus was equipped with rain gear, which was super helpful - since we were sitting upstairs.
However, after some time, we all had to go into the interior of the bus as it got too cold. Then, I felt like there were too many people on the tour. We had some interesting stops as well. All in all, worth the time
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Thank you for sharing your experience, despite the climate that is very changing in Cusco. I enjoy our service. we are Cusco Open Tour, the only orange buses in Cusco.
Not good experience. The tour guide took us to a place that asked for donations as much as you could give. And gift shop that sells poor quality stuff at higher price.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
We recommend buying tickets on our website, and Viator, not on the street because they take them to other companies, and we have these kinds of problems. We are the only orange buses in Cusco. Somos Cusco Open Tour.
Fantastic tour. So much more than the usual city tour you get. The guide was incredibly knowledgeable and fun. Learned a lot about Cusco and he made made the entire trip memorable. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone looking for a deeper connection with the city.
Response from Host, Dec 2025
Thank you for sharing your experience. It's a short tour of the most important places in our city.
Very good trip. Showed us the whole of Cusco and then went to a place where a Peruvian traditional man blessed us during some ritual. It was quite surreal but really cool! Liked the tour, our main guy Paulo was amazing talking 3 languages so quickly!
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Thank you, indeed on the open bus, it also leads us to participate and learn how our mother earth is thanked, with an ancestral ceremony, from us we still keep it as a living culture.
It was enjoyable to see Cusco from the bus, but the English commentary disappeared at one point, and the tour felt short on cultural or historical insight.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Thank you, what you say pushes us to improve in different ways.
The tour was completely in Spanish and because of the lack in communication the driver was attempting to leave others behind. I would not recommend English speaking customers with Hymen and Bruce
The bus leaves right on time and gives a great overview of the city
The guide was very informative and new a lot of information
The price was very reasonable
Response from Host, Nov 2025
Thank you, for your comment, our native guides are very prepared, and they love their work, so they share our story with you.
Very nice tour. The tour guide spoke English and Spanish. Very nice tour . We stopped a few times to see land marks.
Response from Host, Nov 2025
Thank you for your comment. Indeed, our guides are natives who know our history deeply.
They are also knowledgeable about the English language, which is why our tour is bilingual.
Great tour, however didn't realize it was beyond the city and up into the mountains. Passed several Inca sites, visited the white Jesus statue and tour shops.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you for your comment, the most beautiful thing about our city in a short time.
If you’re just looking for a bus ride around Cusco, it’s fine.
But calling it a guided tour is misleading.
The “guide” is just a pre-recorded audio track playing in the background, which is almost inaudible over the street noise and doesn’t account for traffic. So you might hear about a building you haven’t even reached yet due to traffic delays.
In short, it’s cheap — but you get what you pay for.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Please do not harm us because our buses are orange, we have bilingual guides.
Please remove this comment, it is not for my company.
thank you
Great fun riding on the top of the bus on the narrow Cusco streets. The guide was knowledgeable and spoke good English.
The Inka ceremony was very moving and spiritual.
One improvement could be blankets during the 3:30pm tour so people can enjoy seating at the top and appreciate the views and the stars.
Response from Host, May 2025
Thank you for your time and suggestion. We recommend coming dressed warmly to enjoy the afternoon.
Content of the Trip was good but organization not brilliant, the trip started an hour late, and we were forever stopping at areas that they were trying to sell you things, the areas visited were ok.
Wonderful experience! Very professional and friendly team. They took care of every detail, making our trip enjoyable. Highly Recommended
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Quedamos muy agradecidos, por darse el tiempo, nosotros continuamos en constante capacitación. Nuestra misión es clara , estamos para brindarle un servicio de primer nivel.
Temperature changes due to high elevation. Bring warm clothing. Great experience with shaman. Priceless.
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Gracias, por su comentario, generalmente, la temperatura, baja para el último turno.
Mostramos cultura viva.
We booked this tour as it the ad English translation. The guide said he spoke little English and asked if we understood Spanish. Unfortunately we don’t. We arrived at the meeting place on time We were led to the square where we waited 10 minutes. Finally they walked us about half a mile to catch the bus. The pace was too quick for some passengers. We were loaded on the bus which was running. We sat there for about 20 minutes. Finally we started, the bus made a loop around six blocks and back to where we boarded. The diesel fumes were making us ill so we got off the bus. Again there was no communication and everything was in Spanish. The tour was not as described on visitor. We would like a refund
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Dear Cindy,
We apologize for the inconvinience and do understand the lack of fluency as English is not our first language. However, we do assure you that we are taking all measures in improvising the linguistic skills and make the experience a memorable one.
Not good on timing had us waiting over an hour past the time we were told .
Customer service is really not there thing .
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Dear Guest,
We do apologize for the inconvenience. We have taken into consideration your feedback and have taken measures to improve our service quality.
Unfortunately I can't give this one good rating because the tour started one hour late, which affected enjoyment on return trip. As it took us on the higher elevation then Cuzco it was freezing cold and gave me sinuse infection. If it started on time we would have been back just as it was getting cooler, this way was not enjoyable at all.
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Dear Guest,
We do apologize for this. Safety of our passengers is our utmost importance. Unfortunately the delay was due to the delay in maintatence of our bus. However, we have added a bus to our fleet to offer an uninterupted service.
Not for me. Probably I misunderstood what it was. We spent most of the time seating in a bus and there are only two real stops. One at a place where they are trying to sell you alpaca textiles that includes an Inca ceremony using coca leaves. The other is at a view point with stoning views of Cusco. It does not include visiting any arqueological sites.
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Por favor, ttratamos de detallar nuestro itinerario, consideramos que nuestro tour , es cultural.
It was just weird. They took us in some back yard tin shed and they performed some pagan ritual over us without consent. Unless you’re into pagan religious practices then I don’t recommend it.
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Disculpas, esta demostración que realizamos es parte de nuestra cultura.
Uno es libre de participar.
The tour guide was angry and did not have customer service at all
Trouble finding location and chat was not helpful at all
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Mil disculpas, quedamos avergonzados de uno de los guias, ya resindimos su servicio, lo importante son ustedes.
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up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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