Sacsayhuamán

On the ridge directly above Cusco, at around 3,700 metres, three lines of terrace wall run in a long zigzag for several hundred metres. They are built of limestone blocks fitted without mortar, some weighing well over a hundred tonnes, with the joints so tight that the standard demonstration is a sheet of paper. What stands is only the base: the towers and buildings above were dismantled over the colonial centuries and their stone carried down to build the city below, which is why the site reads as walls and grass. The esplanade opposite hosts the Inti Raymi celebration each 24 June, and a chain of smaller Inca sites continues up the same road.

What you actually see

• The zigzag terraces - three tiers of megalithic wall running along the ridge.
• The individual blocks - single stones far taller than a person, fitted without mortar.
• The view over Cusco - the whole city and the valley laid out below.
• Q'enqo, Puka Pukara and Tambomachay - three smaller Inca sites further up the same road.

When to go

May to September for dry, clear weather. Early morning is quiet and the light hits the walls; by ten the tour buses arrive together and the terraces fill. On 24 June the site is given over to Inti Raymi, which is worth seeing but means crowds on a different scale and paid seating for the main enclosure.

Honest expectations

You cannot buy a ticket for Sacsayhuamán by itself. It is sold only inside the Cusco tourist ticket, a partial or full pass covering a list of sites, which is poor value unless you will use several. The climb from the Plaza de Armas is short but steep at 3,700 metres and unpleasant on a first day. There is no shade, and touts and photo llamas work the entrance.

Nearby

Cusco's centre is downhill; the Sacred Valley road continues north past the smaller sites.