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Cusco & the Sacred Valley

Peru · South America · southern hemisphere

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Cusco & the Sacred Valley is at its best for hiking in May to August. Good but not prime in April and September.

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No reliable monthly crowd data for this destination — the proxy used elsewhere did not pass its checks here, so nothing is shown rather than a guess.

Swipe the table sideways for the rest of the year.

primegoodpossibleoff-seasoncrowds, on this place’s own scale

The short version

The Inca Trail closes for the whole of February every year for maintenance and reopens on 1 March. Machu Picchu itself stays open and is reachable by train — so February is a fine month to see the ruins and an impossible one to walk to them

What the walking is like

The Inca Trail must be guided by law; most other routes need neither guide nor permit. Acclimatise two or three nights in Cusco first.

When not to come

February for trekking. The Inca Trail itself shuts for maintenance and it is the wettest month — but the walk still works: Salkantay, Lares, Choquequirao and Ausangate stay open, and Machu Picchu is open year-round by train.

Busiest

May through August, and the days either side of Inti Raymi on 24 June, with a daily cap on Machu Picchu entries

With children

Cusco sits at about 3,400m, and children are as susceptible to altitude as adults — they just describe it less clearly. Most itineraries that start high should start in the Sacred Valley instead, which is a thousand metres lower.

Where to stay

Sleeping in the Sacred Valley rather than Cusco for the first night or two is the single best altitude decision available. Ollantaytambo also puts you on the train line.

What can go wrong

Wet season

The Inca Trail closes for the whole of February every year for maintenance, and the rains make the alternatives slippery.Jan · Feb · Mar · Dec

Kept out of the score on purpose. Averaging a rare catastrophe into a monthly number would tell you something false; the warning is the honest form.

Dates that matter

  • Inti Raymi (24 Jun) — the winter solstice festival, and the busiest single day of the Cusco year
  • Inca Trail closed for maintenance (all of Feb)
  • Señor de los Temblores, Easter Monday — the city’s own procession

Walks

  • The classic Inca Trail — four days, 500 permits a day including porters, released about a year ahead and gone in days
  • Salkantay — higher, wilder, no permit cap, and open in February when the Inca Trail is not
  • Lares — shorter and through working villages rather than ruins

Permits are the whole planning problem here. Only licensed operators can issue them, independent walking is not allowed, and March departures sell out first because everyone displaced from February moves there.

See everything else at its best in Jun

Elsewhere in South America

Torres del PaineMendozaRio de JaneiroBarilocheGalápagos IslandsPortilloPantanalValle Nevado & the Chilean Andes