This guide is built from the live tour page of Cusco Food Tour on A Chef’s Tour — price, start time, group size, tastings and dietary notes come straight from the operator, never invented.

What the Cusco Food Tour Is — and Who Runs It

A Chef’s Tour runs small-group food walks in around 80 cities, led by cooks, chefs and local foodies. The Cusco page caps groups at eight and asks private groups and parties of nine or more to get in touch; it doesn’t name a guide.

The pitch is the city after dark: “The tour groups thin out, the air cools”, with “lantern light flickers against Inca stone walls”. The route winds through the historic centre between plazas, markets and backstreets for four hours. We quote the operator’s own words and add no first-hand colour.

How we wrote this: we are Joona and Alla, family travellers based in Rovaniemi, Finland, and we have not taken this tour. We research food tours from the live tour pages and send readers to the ones that hold up, so every fact below comes from A Chef’s Tour’s own page for Cusco — nothing is invented, and where the page is silent we say so instead of guessing. We also don’t repeat ratings or review counts we can’t check.

Cusco’s food is shaped by something the page calls out directly: the mix of pre-Columbian traditions with later influences, including Chinese cooking techniques that arrived with migrants and remain in dishes like arroz chaufa. The page says you will “understand why corn here is central to everything” and see how Inca-era traditions still shape the street. We like a tour that tells you what it is going to teach you, because it lets you judge whether the route fits your interests. Our reading is that this is a culture-and-food walk first and a pure eating challenge second — 15+ tastings is plenty, but the stories are the point.

What You Eat on the Cusco Food Tour

The page names a long menu, which we group by theme:

• Peru’s immigrant mix: pan con lomito and arroz chaufa, where Chinese technique meets Andean ingredients, plus highland trout ceviche
• Street grills: anticuchos (beef heart skewers brushed with chilli), pork crackling over coals, toasted maize and steaming tamales
• Andean staples: thick corn soups, stuffed peppers, papa rellena and cuy, roasted guinea pig
• Sweets and drinks: picarones (syrup-soaked), “king kong” confection, chicha morada and aguaje juice

The page notes that cuy is such an Andean staple it appears as the centrepiece of the Last Supper painting in Cusco Cathedral. It is a tasting, not a main course, and we assume you can pass if you wish — but the page doesn’t say, so ask.

Who the Cusco Food Tour Suits — and Who Should Skip It

It suits adults and older teenagers who eat meat, enjoy trying unfamiliar dishes, and want to spend an evening in Cusco without eating at a tourist restaurant on the Plaza de Armas. It suits those who have already done the daytime sights, because the tour starts at 4:30PM.

Skip it if you are pescatarian, vegetarian or halal (the page says unsuitable for pescatarians and halal; it lists no vegetarian statement), if you can’t face guinea pig, or if you are arriving from sea level the same day: Cusco sits around 3,400 metres, and a four-hour walk on your first afternoon can be hard going.

Honest alternative for the high-altitude-wary: book the tour for your second or third day, after acclimatising, and treat the first day as quiet.

Price, What's Included and What Isn't

The Cusco Food Tour costs US$65 per person. According to the live page it includes:

• 15+ tastings
• Bottled water and local drinks
• A walking tour of about four hours
• A group of no more than eight

Not included: getting to the meeting point. Guests come from all over the city, so there is one meeting point (sent with the booking) and “your guide can help you find transport back at the end of the tour”.

Value check: Cusco is a tourist city where a mediocre dinner can cost more than you expect, so US$65 for 15+ tastings is competitive — if you like the menu. It is cheaper than the Lima tours (US$69) and Mexico City (US$89).

Children: the tour page doesn’t list a child price or an age policy. Don’t assume a half-price rate applies — ask A Chef’s Tour (info@achefstour.com) before you book with children, and ask whether the route and food suit their age.

Dietary Needs: What A Chef's Tour Actually Says

The page lists three lines:

• Pork: “Possible, though pork is used in 1-2 tastings (out of 15 total)”.
• Halal: “Unsuitable for a halal diet as no vendors are certified”.
• Pescatarian: “Unsuitable as meat is used in 7-8 tastings (out of 15 total)”.

So about half the menu involves meat. The page lists no vegetarian, gluten or nut statement. Given the corn, cheese, potatoes and meat on the menu, we would ask A Chef’s Tour (info@achefstour.com) before booking if you are vegetarian or have an allergy. Street-food tours cannot guarantee allergen-free dishes.

Practical Bits: Altitude, Cold and Timing

• Altitude: around 3,400 metres. Go slowly, drink water and ask your doctor about altitude medication if you are worried.
• Cold: the page says the air cools after dark; Cusco evenings are chilly year-round, so bring a warm layer.
• Walking: historic-centre streets are steep and cobbled in places; wear shoes with grip.
• Late finish: 8:30PM end time; fine for most adults, long for small children.
• Meeting point: sent with your booking confirmation.

Questions worth emailing about: child price and age limit, whether you can skip cuy, and what the rain plan is in the wet season.

One more practical point: because the tour starts at 4:30PM, plan your day around it. A morning at a lower-altitude site such as the Sacred Valley is a common choice for visitors, but a long day trip followed by a four-hour walking tour is a lot, so we would pick a lighter day. Eat very little in the two hours before the start, take sips of water throughout, and don’t be shy about telling your host if you need to slow down or skip a tasting at altitude. Pack a hat, a warm jacket and a little cash for souvenirs or coca tea on the way home.

Guided Tour or Eat Alone? An Honest Comparison

You can eat anticuchos and picarones in Cusco for pocket change at street stalls, and trout ceviche at many restaurants. What you can’t easily do is get a sequence of fifteen tastings, explained, in a small group in four hours. That is the tour’s value, and its limits: a single route, a set menu and a group pace.

It is worth it if you have two or three evenings in Cusco, want a food-focused introduction to the highlands and travel as a pair or small group. It is less worth it if you have a long stay with time to explore markets slowly, or if altitude leaves you with little appetite on arrival.

A final comparison: the Lima tours (US$69) lean on seafood and markets, so if you can only pick one in Peru and you eat fish, Lima is easier to fit around diets. If you want mountain cooking and an after-dark atmosphere, pick Cusco.

How to Book the Cusco Food Tour

You book directly with A Chef’s Tour on achefstour.com — we never take payment. Open the Cusco Food Tour through our link, pick a date on the live calendar (evening departures), add your guests and pay. Confirmation is instant, and the meeting details come with your booking.

• Book early in your stay. Groups are capped at eight, so popular dates can fill; an early slot also leaves room to revisit favourite stalls later.
• Arrive hungry — skip a big meal beforehand; the tastings add up to a full meal.
• Flag diets and allergies when booking and email info@achefstour.com about anything the page doesn’t cover.
• Nine or more, or a private tour? Contact A Chef’s Tour directly.

Cancellation, from the tour page: “Cancel any time up to 48 hours before your tour and receive a full refund.”

We are an A Chef’s Tour affiliate and earn a commission on bookings made through our links — it does not change the price you pay.

FAQ

Our Honest Final Word

Is the Cusco food tour by A Chef’s Tour worth it? For meat-eating adults who want an evening of Andean food with some history, yes — US$65 per person for 15+ tastings in a group of eight is fair. The trade-offs: no pescatarian or halal option, guinea pig and beef heart on the menu, altitude and cold, and no child policy. We haven’t walked it ourselves; we send readers to it because the facts on the page add up.

Book the Cusco Food Tour once you’ve acclimatised. Pairing it with coastal cooking? The Lima Food Tour (US$69 per person, 14+ tastings) and the Arequipa Food Tour (US$59 per person) complete a Peru food trail.