The town of Pisac, Peru is famous for its Sunday market. This is when many Peruvians do their shopping for fruit, veggies, and meat, but it is also a huge draw for tourists.
Tim and I wandered through the maze of shops, stopping occasionally to purchase something or pay one sol to have our photo taken with a Peruvian child. It is completely normal for children, as young as three or four years old, to wander through the market selling trinkets or asking to have their picture taken with you for one sol. Whether or not this is a good idea is up for debate, but for right now, that’s how things are in Peru.
One of my first purchases was a hand woven belt which I love!
We stumbled across a restaurant selling cuy (roasted guinea pig) and empanadas. Tim and I did not eat the cuy (although we were both interested in trying it) but we did eat the empanadas. They were so good we came back for seconds later in the day.
We eventually came to the area of the market where the food was being sold and this was the coolest part. The women here were buying and selling their food for the week. Corn, carrots, fruit, sacks of potatoes, fresh (hopefully!) meat and fish, and other foods we couldn’t recognize were being sold. Tim and I walked around in amazement.
One thing we did buy at the market were coca leaves. This was our first day in the Sacred Valley and we were feeling the effects of the high altitude. Having coca leaf tea or chewing the leaves lessens the adverse effects of being at a high altitude. The coca leaves are the precursor to cocaine and these leaves are illegal in the US. They were available for purchase almost everywhere we looked in the Sacred Valley. Tim and I chewed the leaves but never really felt a buzz or got high off of them. Really, we felt nothing at all, but our guide to Machu Picchu was happy to take them from us later on during our trip!
More Information for Your Trip to Peru
PLACES TO GO IN PERU: Explore the Sacred Valley near Cusco, walk the one day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, spend the day exploring Machu Picchu, and venture into the Amazon rainforest. Learn how to put all of this together in our 10 day Peru Itinerary.
ARGENTINA & CHILE: Find out how we combined Santiago and Mendoza into an awesome 12 day trip.
TRAVEL INSPIRATION: For more travel ideas, here are 10 unique destinations to put on your travel wish list. If Europe is calling your name, here are 25 itineraries that just take a week of your time. And if you have plans to visit the United States, don’t miss our article about the Best Road Trips in the USA.
TRAVEL INSPIRATION: Here are 30 great travel books and a list of the best travel movies to feed your wanderlust.
Are you planning a trip to Peru? Read all of our articles about Peru in our Peru Travel Guide.
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Comments 6
Hi Juli, I am planning on going to Peru the end of May 2023 (Memorial weekend). From what I read, you are saying that it is not worth visiting Pisac on a day it’s not Sunday, if you want to buy native clothes. I am planning on going on a Monday, and I want to buy 2 alpca sweatshirts (or the ones that look like Christmas sweatshirts but are not. How much are sweatshirts, hats, and backpacks that look like native clothing from Peru at the Pisac Market?
Author
Our visit was now quite a few years ago (2012) and I don’t know what prices currently are for sweatshirts or lunch, but I recall that everything was very affordable. I found this information about Pisac Market that might help answer your questions. It sounds like the handcraft portion of the market is open every day, it’s just Sunday that’s the main market day and a better chance to see the produce. Cheers, Julie
Seems like there’s a lot of similar markets around Cuzco… which one is the most interesting ?
Author
We only went to the market in Pisac. It’s a good one to go to because you can also visit the Pisaq Archeological Park, which is interesting. Chinchero isn’t so much of a market as a spot designed for tourists to learn about weaving and purchase products. Cheers, Julie
I’m from Peru.
Filling so happy to read all this about my Country.
Thank you for visited my Country
Author
Hello Leonor,
We love Peru…it’s one of our favorite places in the world. Tyler and Kara have not been there yet and we are planning on returning to your country within the next few years. -Julie