Visit the 30,000-acre (12,000-hectare) park to pay homage to Peru’s favorite food staple:xa0the humble potato. Go on a hands-on tour to learn traditional growing methods, learn about medicinal plants, take a cooking class using a variety of potatoes, or journey to a native community near the sacred Kinsaqocha lagoon.
Tack on a visit nearby attractions: the famous market and Inca ruins in Pisaq; the elaborate Inca terraces of Tipon; Pikillacta, the epicenter of AD 900 Wari culture; or San Pedro de Andahuaylillas, known as the Sistine Chapel of the Americas, to see its polychrome murals.
Pisaq Potato Park is thirty minutes by road to Pisaq, where the market is, and straight up the mountain past the Pisaq Archaeological Park. Though the park is only about 26 miles (42 kilometers) from Cusco, expect the drive to take over one hour.
Pisaq Potato park is open weekdays until late-evening. Come to the region in June for Festival of the Sun (Inti Raymi) celebrated with vibrantly-costumed Inca folk dancers. Easter Week (Semana Santa) is one of the most festive times to visit, and in December, Peru’s biggest crafts fair (Santuranticuy) hosts hundreds of artists displaying their work in Cusco’s Plaza de Armas.
One of the largest and most picturesque indigenous markets is in the town of Pisaq, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Travelers from all over the world descend upon the little village to purchase all manner of handmade alpaca and llama clothing and textiles, ceramics, jewelry, ponchos, rugs, hats, gloves, Andean instruments, and ceramics.
