Cusco & Machu Picchu, Peru
The Inca Trail, the Sacred Valley, and altitude that will humble you. Dry season May to September.
Best time to visit
Weather by month
Cost
Serves travellers at Backpacker→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $100 a day on the ground.
Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.
What's on
Inti Raymi June
Festival of the Sun at Sacsayhuamán, 24 June
Worth knowing
Cash for markets, taxis and the valley towns; cards in Cusco hotels and larger restaurants. Small notes are worth hoarding.
money · editorial
Cusco is at 3,400 metres and most people fly up from sea level; the first day is not a sightseeing day. Machu Picchu runs on timed tickets with fixed one-way routes, capped and bought in advance.
know before · editorial
The wet season turns the trails to mud and puts cloud over the ruins. The Inca Trail itself closes for maintenance every February.
when not to go · editorial
The centre around the Plaza de Armas is convenient and noisy. San Blas above it is quieter with more stairs. The Sacred Valley towns sit a thousand metres lower, which makes them a better first night.
where to stay · editorial
Cusco centre is walkable and steep. The Sacred Valley runs on colectivos and taxis; a self-driven car is more trouble than it is worth.
getting around · editorial
Fly to Cusco, usually via Lima. Machu Picchu is a train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, then a bus or a steep hour on foot up the switchbacks. No road reaches the site.
getting there · editorial
Quests
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Plaza de Armas, Cusco
The Inca square turned colonial. Three thousand four hundred metres: go slowly.
Sacsayhuamán
Twelve-tonne stones fitted without mortar, above the city.
Qorikancha
The sun temple with the convent built on top of it. Both still standing.
Machu Picchu
Timed entry on a fixed circuit. Buy well in advance.
Ollantaytambo
The only Inca town still inhabited on its original street plan.
Písac
The terraces on the hillside and the Inca cemetery across the valley.
Moray
The concentric terraces dug into the ground. Each ring has its own temperature.
Salineras de Maras
Three thousand salt pans on the hillside, worked since before the Incas.
See
Arrive at Machu Picchu on foot, through the Sun Gate
Eat
Eat a ceviche at the San Pedro market at midday
Eat chicharrón in the morning, with big white corn
Altitude food, and it makes sense up there.
Drink coca tea on your first day, before you walk too much
It does not fix everything, but it helps.
Moment
Lose a whole morning simply acclimatising in Cusco before climbing anything
Spend the whole first day climbing nothing
Acclimatising is part of the trip, not a waste of it.
Be at Machu Picchu when the mist opens
It opens and closes several times through the morning. Wait.
Trail
Walk the classic four-day Inca Trail
Forty-three kilometres, a pass at four thousand two hundred metres, and a permit bought months in advance.