What's a good 3-day itinerary for Cusco?

The altitude hits before the scenery does. Cusco sits at 3,400 metres, and your first afternoon will likely feel like moving through wet cement. Day 1 is deliberately slow. Fly into Alejandro Velasco Astete Airport, take a taxi 6 kilometres to Plaza de Armas for about 10 soles, and check in. Drink coca tea. Sit. Eat a light lunch at Mercado Central de San Pedro, where a bowl of sopa de quinoa costs 8 soles and the smell of roasting trout fills the aisles. Walk to Cusco Cathedral on the north side of the plaza by 3pm. It dates to 1559, and the interior is cold stone and dim gold leaf even when the plaza outside is warm. Buy the 130-sol Boleto Turístico at the COSITUC office on Avenida El Sol before it closes at 5pm. Dinner at Chicha on Plaza Regocijo, where Gastón Acurio's team does rocoto relleno for about 42 soles. Then bed.

Day 2 starts at Coricancha, the Inca sun temple built on foundations dating to roughly 1201. Arrive at 8:30am. The Dominican convent built over it charges a separate 15-sol entry, not covered by the Boleto. The stonework in the curved retaining wall has no mortar and no gaps. Run your fingers along a joint and feel nothing. From Coricancha, walk uphill 15 minutes into San Blas. The streets narrow to shoulder width. You might hear someone practicing charango behind a closed door. Brunch at Jack's Café on Calle Choquechaca, where the French toast runs 28 soles and the portions are large enough to skip a formal lunch. Spend the late morning in the San Blas workshops. Pablo Seminario's ceramics studio on Carmen Alto is the one worth entering. By 1pm, walk back down to Plaza de Armas for the Church of the Society of Jesus, finished in 1668. Its facade is better-looking than the Cathedral, which the Bishop at the time reportedly did not appreciate.

Day 3 is the archaeological circuit north of the city. Take a taxi from Plaza de Armas to Tambomachay, the highest site at 3,700 metres, for about 12 soles. Water still runs through the carved stone channels, cold enough to sting your hands. Work downhill on foot from there. Puka Pukara sits 500 metres south, a military lookout with dry brown walls that blend into the hillside. Two kilometres of road bring you to Q'inqu, where the carved rock surfaces are slippery with morning dew. Saqsaywaman is last, a kilometre further downhill, and the main event. The zigzag limestone walls use blocks weighing over 100 tonnes. Spend 90 minutes here. The wind at this elevation carries dust and the dry-grass smell of the puna. You can walk back to Plaza de Armas from Saqsaywaman in 30 minutes, all downhill. Late lunch at Morena Peruvian Kitchen on Calle Plateros, where the lomo saltado runs about 38 soles.

A few honest trade-offs. August is dry season, which means cold mornings. Expect about 5°C at dawn and perhaps 18°C by midday. Pack layers, not a single heavy coat. The altitude tends to suppress your appetite for the first 36 hours, so the deliberately light eating on Day 1 is practical, not overcautious. One US dollar currently gets about 3.4 soles, so a 40-sol dinner plate is under $12. Cusco's solo-traveler safety scores 6.2 out of 10 (see /research/solo-safety/), and the main risk is petty theft around San Pedro Market and unlicensed night taxis. Use registered taxis from your hotel, not street hails. The total walking distance across three days comes to about 18 kilometres, with most of it on the downhill archaeological circuit.