Buying a Boleto Turístico

Buying a Boleto Turístico

Offering access to 16 of Cusco's best-known tourist attractions, the boleto turístico is the all-in-one answer to your tourism needs. Or is it? The scheme, in which you pay S/70 (S/35 for ISIC student card holders), certainly has its critics. Most agree that the ticket represents good value only if you visit nearly all the sites included. Under the scheme, however, no site can charge its own entry fee—so if you want to visit one, you pay for them all! Certain big name attractions (such as the Cathedral) have withdrawn from the boleto turisico in order to levy their own fees. Regardless, if you want to see sites like Sacsayhuamán and Pisac, you have to buy the ticket, which can be purchased at either location of the Oficina Ejecutiva del Comité Boleto Turístico (OFEC, Av. El Sol 103. 084/227-037), open Monday through Saturday 8 to 5 and Sunday 8 to 2.

For S/40 you can buy a boleto parcial (partial ticket) good for admission for one day only at Sacsayhuamán, Qenko, Puka Pukara, and Tambomachay, the four Inca ruins nearest Cusco. Another partial ticket, also S/40, is valid for two days at farther-flung ruins of Pisac, Chinchero, and Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley and Tipón and Pikillacta in the Southeastern Urubamba Valley.

If you're interested in only Cusco's cathedral and Qorikancha, as are many short-term visitors, then the boleto turístico is of no use. The cathedral, the Church of La Compañía, the church of San Blas, and the religious art museum are now united under their own boleto intergral (integral ticket), which you can purchase at the cathedral for S/15 (S/7.50 with an international student ID). The ticket is valid for 10 days, and the price includes a headset audioguide at each location. If you're not interested in visiting all four, it's possible to pay individual admission prices, but the four-in-one price is a bargain, and the sights are close together.

The Qorikancha, arguably Cusco's most fabulous tourist sight, levies its own admission price; it's not a member of the boleto turístico partnership. The equally wonderful Museo Inka and Museo de Arte Precolombino also charge admission independently.