Cusco folk show: how to book Tunupa

Four ways to see an Andean folk show

Cusco has more than one way to see Andean dance and music, and they differ in what comes with them. The Tunupa package pairs dinner with a live folk show in a restaurant that faces the Plaza de Armas. You can also reserve at Tunupa directly, which means dealing with the restaurant instead of a booking platform. The Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo gives a daily folk show with no dinner. Informal music and dance also turns up for free at festivals and in public places, but nobody schedules it for you.

• Tunupa package: dinner and show in one booking
• Tunupa direct: the restaurant's own reservation
• Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo: the show without dinner
• Free music and dance: unplanned, unbookable

What the Tunupa package is

The package is a dinner and a folk show in one booking, run by Tunupa Restaurants. The meal is made up of traditional dishes from the region, and a vegetarian option is available. The show is performed on Andean instruments and presents Andean-Peruvian culture, and it begins while guests are settling at their tables. The whole evening lasts about two hours. The restaurant is on the second floor of a building on the Plaza de Armas, with a view over the square. Tunupa's own website says live shows of Cusco dances and Andean music run there each evening.

Booking through the booking site

The booking site lets you pick a date in English, and the calendar and your confirmation show the start time. You can reserve now and pay later, and you can cancel up to 24 hours before for a full refund. That flexibility is the main reason to book this way, especially while your Cusco plans are still moving around. Pick your date after you know your arrival day, and leave yourself a few days to adjust to the altitude before a big evening out.

Booking Tunupa direct

Tunupa's website has a reservations page and lists phone contacts, and the site comes in English and Spanish. The restaurant also runs an à la carte menu, so the direct route suits you if you would rather choose your own dishes. The website does not describe a fixed dinner-and-show package, so ask what the evening show covers and how drinks are handled before you assume it matches the package described here. Booking direct also means the restaurant's own terms apply, not the booking site's cancellation window.

The Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo show

The Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo is the first Cusco organisation devoted to regional and national folk art. It gives daily music and dance shows at a venue on Avenida El Sol, and it keeps a collection of traditional costumes and musical instruments. There is no dinner. The show is part of the Boleto Turístico del Cusco, the city's visitor pass run by COSITUC, so it is covered if you already hold the pass. COSITUC's page lists no show times, so check the current schedule with the venue. Children pay from age six.

Read next: Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo: Cusco's Folklore Institution

How to choose

The choice usually comes down to two questions: do you want dinner at the same time, and do you already hold the tourist pass? None of these options is the single right answer. If you have only one evening and want it to be simple, the package is the easiest to plan around. If you have several days and a tourist pass, the Centro Qosqo show costs you an hour and no dinner decision.

• Dinner and a show in one booking, in English, with free cancellation: the Tunupa package
• Your own choice of dishes, or questions only the restaurant can answer: book Tunupa direct
• Dance and music without dinner, or you already hold the pass: Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo
• No evening planned around it: keep an ear open for free performances

Before you pay: what to check

Whichever route you take, a few details decide whether the evening works for you. Read them on the booking page and again in your confirmation, because they can differ by option and by date, and the confirmation is the version that counts on the night. If anything is unclear, ask before you pay rather than at the table. This matters most for drinks, because the booking page lists more than one option and they are not all the same.

• The date and start time, which the calendar and your confirmation show
• Which drinks your chosen option includes, if any
• The vegetarian option, if you need it
• The cancellation deadline, 24 hours before for the booking-site package
• The meeting point: the restaurant on the Plaza de Armas, in front of the main church

Altitude and the evening

Cusco is about 3,400 metres above sea level, and the CDC advises avoiding alcohol for the first 48 hours at high altitude. Symptoms such as headache and tiredness usually start within 2 to 12 hours of arriving, and the first three to five days are when your body adjusts. A seated dinner show is a gentle evening, but it is worth planning for a date a few days into your stay if you can. Drink water through the day, and go easy on the drinks until you feel settled.

Read next: Fitting a Folk Show Into a Cusco and Sacred Valley Trip

On the night at Tunupa

Tunupa Cusco is at Portal Confituría 233, on the second floor, facing the Plaza de Armas. Your confirmation shows your start time, so go by that and not by a general opening hour. A vegetarian option is available. Drinks depend on the option you pick, so read what yours includes. The restaurant is on the second floor and the booking does not mention a lift, so if stairs are a problem, contact the restaurant before you book. The square itself is worth arriving a little early for: Cusco was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983, Spanish chroniclers described the Inca capital's great square, and the cathedral was built facing it.

What free music can and cannot give you

Informal performances come and go, and none is timed around your plans. A bookable show gives you a seat and a programme, which matters if you only have one or two evenings in Cusco. If you want to hear what Andean instruments sound like before you commit, our listening guide to the quena, zampoña and charango explains what to listen for and how to tell the instruments apart.

Read next: Quena, zampoña, charango: listening guide

Who this isn't for

If you want a quiet dinner where conversation is the point, a stage show running through the meal will not suit you. If you want to choose every dish, book the restaurant direct. If you only want the folklore, skip the dinner and see the Centro Qosqo show. If you are still adjusting to altitude and plan to drink, pick a later night. And if stairs are difficult for you, check access with the restaurant first.