Mercado Central de San Pedro: Cusco Travel Guide (4.3★)

Under the iron roof

San Pedro is a single great hall with a riveted iron frame and high windows. Inside, the aisles are sorted by trade: juice counters in one block, soup and lunch counters in another. Potatoes, grains, meat and cheese run along the rest, with stalls of textiles and souvenirs around the edges.

The market dates from the 1920s. Guides like to tell you Gustave Eiffel designed it, but the attribution is disputed, so treat it as folklore. Expect it to be busy: this is one of Cusco’s most-reviewed sights, and both tour groups and residents shop here.

What to eat and buy

The juice section is the best introduction. You order at a stall, sit on a stool at the counter, and the vendor blends your fruit with milk or water. A good stall pours a refill from the jug once you’ve finished the first glass.

Worth seeking out:

• Jugos mixtos: papaya, mango, banana or whatever is ripe, blended to order.
• Caldo de gallina: hen soup, ladled at the food counters as a morning staple.
• Pan chuta: the huge flat rounds of bread from nearby Oropesa.
• Potatoes and corn: tables of native potato varieties, chuño (freeze-dried potato) and choclo with fat white kernels.
• Jugo de rana: frog juice, sold at a few stalls as a tonic. It’s the odd one out, so try it if you want to.

Allow 45 minutes to an hour to walk the aisles and have one snack. Add half an hour if you sit down for soup.

Timing your walk from the Plaza

From the Plaza de Armas, walk downhill along Calle Mantas and Calle Santa Clara. You pass the Arco de Santa Clara and the Iglesia de Santa Clara, and the market’s entrance faces the Iglesia de San Pedro across a small square. The walk takes about 10 minutes.

Currently it opens at 6:30am every day. It closes at 4pm on most days and 6pm on Saturdays, so arrive by early afternoon to catch the food counters still going. The quietest windows are 7am–9am on weekdays and 7am–8am on weekends. Try not to arrive on a weekend after 10am: the aisles stay packed from then until closing.

Paying, haggling and photos at San Pedro

Vendors here work in soles cash, and small notes make every transaction easier. Prices for food and juice are set, so don’t bargain over a glass of juice. Gentle negotiating is normal at the textile and souvenir stalls, especially when you’re buying several items.

• Ask before you photograph vendors or their stalls. A purchase first goes a long way.
• Sit where you order. The counter you buy from is your table, and moving off with someone’s glass or bowl confuses things.
• Keep valuables zipped. The tight aisles are a known spot for pickpockets, so wear your bag in front.
• Say “buenos días” before you ask a price. Here, a greeting first is basic courtesy.

Leave the market by the San Pedro side, and the streets towards Calle Santa Clara are full of small stores selling the same goods for household shoppers.