Cusco rewards thin wallets as much as thin air: half the Inca stonework stands in the open street, the markets feed you for the price of a coffee back home, and the best viewpoints over the old Inca capital charge nothing at all.
The twelve-angled diorite block sits in the wall of Inca Roca's palace on Hatun Rumiyoc, a pedestrian lane running from the cathedral up to San Blas. Free at any hour; come before 09:30 to shoot it without tour groups and touts.
A free weaving museum at Av. El Sol 603 where Quechua weavers from ten highland communities work backstrap looms in the open. Panels explain natural dyes and community motifs; the attached shop funds the co-op. Open 07:30–20:30 daily.
The Admiral's mansion holds Cusco's best-value archaeology collection: keros, textiles, Inca mummies and the largest assembly of carved wooden drinking vessels anywhere. Entry S/10, students S/5. Mon–Sat 08:00–18:00, Sat to 16:00.
A fifteen-minute climb up Cuesta del Resbalosa reaches the Colcampata terrace beside San Cristóbal church: the whole red-tiled centre below, Sacsayhuamán's walls behind. No ticket, no gate, and the light turns gold near 17:30.
Cusco's 1925 iron-framed market. The juice row pours a litre-sized 'especial' for S/6–8 and the caldo de gallina counters serve breakfast soup with a whole chicken quarter for S/6. Open roughly 06:00–18:00 every day.
A bakery whose profits fund a shelter for at-risk girls. Cheese empanadas S/3.50, ham-and-cheese croissants S/4, lemon meringue by the slice. Cash only, a queue out the door at lunch and a few free seats upstairs.
The market cusqueños use once San Pedro fills with visitors, fifteen minutes east of the centre. A menú of soup, main course and drink runs S/7–10, and the fruit aisle sells chirimoya and lucuma at half centre prices. 06:00–18:00.
Charcoal grills fire up along the plaza's south side after dark: beef-heart anticucho with potato and choclo for S/5–7, rellenos and salchipapa around S/4. Locals eat standing at the cart; stalls run until about 23:00.
The eight-metre white Christ, given by Palestinian refugees in 1945, stands on the hill above Sacsayhuamán. Its platform lies outside the ticketed archaeological zone, so the panorama across the entire Cusco basin costs nothing.
A carved limestone outcrop four kilometres north hiding a chamber with a rock-cut puma altar lit through a natural skylight. No gate, no ticket and no guard — follow the signposted trail past the Zona X turn-off.
Inca terraces, water channels and vast carved boulders above the San Sebastián suburb, restored in 2019 and still left off the boleto turístico. No booth, no shade and no shop, so carry your own water and snacks.
The terrace beside Santa Ana church, on the old road to Chinchaysuyo, faces east over the whole basin, so the sun drops behind you and floods the city red. Residential, free, and never reached by tour buses.