Museums and galleries in Cuzco

Museums and galleries in Cuzco

1. See

   ChocoMuseo

   A shop ("museum") explaining the history of cacao (free) and offering chocolate workshops (not free) as well as cacao farm tours (not free). Different recipes from around the world are available all made with chocolate from the factory inside the cacao and chocolate museum. Great artisanal and organically sourced hot chocolate.

   Open now · closes 7:30 pm·Free

2. See

   Machu Picchu Museum

   Museo Machu Picchu, Casa Concha

   The largest collection of Machu Picchu artifacts in the world. These artifacts were collected by Yale University researcher Hiram Bingham beginning in 1912 and returned to Peru in 2011. The museum is housed in a late 18th-century house called Casa Concha.

   Mon–Fri 09:00–16:00, closed Sat–Sun·Foreigners S/20, international students and Peruvians with ID S/10, Peruvian students S/5

3. See

   Museo Histórico Regional

   In the home of the Inca historian Garcilaso de la Vega, this 2-story museum has many paintings from the 17th and 18th century as well as historical displays chronicling the pre-Hispanic Inca civilization, the invasion of the Spanish and the role of Christianity in the post-conquest era. A tour is unlikely to take much more than an hour.

   Daily 08:00–17:00·Included in boleto turistico

4. See

   Museo Inka

   Extensive museum of pre-Inca, Inca, and colonial artifacts. Labels in English and Spanish, though the descriptions in English are sometimes pretty different from the ones in Spanish.

   Mon–Fri 09:00–16:00, Sat 08:45–13:45·S/20

5. See

   Museo Municipal de Arte Contemporáneo

   In the Municipal Palace at Plaza Regocijo, this museum has exhibitions of contemporary art. Admission with the boleto turistico

   Mon-Sat 09:00–18:00·Included in boleto turistico

6. See

   Museo del Centro de Textiles Tradicionales de Cusco

   A beautiful (and free) museum inside El Centro's textile store, featuring a gallery containing displays of traditional Quechuan and Andean textiles. The museum explains the historical significance of textiles and the techniques by which they are made. A must-see, and visitors can buy the traditional textiles as they come in. A large majority of the money goes to the women who produce them, and the textiles are of much higher quality than the synthetic and machine-woven textiles found throughout the city.

   Mon-Sun 8:00-19:00·Free

7. See

   Museo del Sitio del Qoricancha

   With information about the different pre-Columbian cultures and fragments of ceramics and textiles of the Inca culture. A very small museum, the showcase room includes three mummies and skulls modified by the Incas with holes or sloped foreheads. Allow an hour to an hour and a half. English explanations are present but lacking.

   Mon-Sun 9:00-18:00·Included in boleto turistico

8. Buy

   T'Ankar Gallery

   Good for well-made but pricey indigenous weavings and pottery. No obvious fakes or tourist junk.

   Mon-Sat 11:00 - 20:30, closed Sun

9. See Not mapped

   Natural History Museum

   Museo de Historia Natural

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Cuzco (CC BY-SA 4.0).