Best time to visit Cusco region
The Cusco city is located in the Central and Southern part of Peru. With an elevation of 3,400 m (11,000 ft.) above sea level. The city was the capital of the Inca Empire from the 13th until the 16th-century Spanish conquest. In 1983 Cusco was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is one of the main tourist destinations in Peru and South America. Cusco is under the influence of big masses of air that come from the Southwest jungle.
Also from the Plateau of Lake Titicaca and even from the far away region of the Patagonia. South jungle winds imply immense masses of humid air that are moved by east winds determining the weather at this region. In general in our region, we can distinguish 2 big seasons. The rainy season, which goes from December to March and the dry season starts in April and ends in November.
Great tours in Cusco
Best time to visit Cusco or Machu Picchu: It is definitely dry season or winter time. We suggest you to accommodate your travel dates around those months. The weather in the area of Cusco in the dry season is very nice and especially for hikers of the alternative trails to Machu Picchu. as: Salkantay trek, Lares trek, Ancascocha trek, Choquequirao trek, Huchuy Qosqo trek, Cachicata trek and Pumamarca. But other day tours as: City tour, sacred Valley tour, Salt mine & Moray day hike are open the year-round.
The classic Inca Trail hike, has flat stones on the ground. So even in the wet season is manageable. But in February is closed for maintaining of campsites and cleaning. The Inca Trail trek gets sometimes landslides in the wet season. Which is not a surprise around Machu Picchu.
The Rainbow Mountain trek full day is still open for the wet season. But it will be better to take the 2 day Rainbow Mountain Cusco as the ideal trip option to the Rainbow Mountain. Some of the longer hikes as the Ausangate Rainbow Mountains 4 day and Vinicunca trek 3 day are only available in the dry season. So before planning to visit Vinicunca you should check the weather conditions even for the dry season. Now for 2025 we also have available the 6 day Ausangate trek + Vinicunca expedition in the same trip. This is probably the most challenging trek in the Peruvian Andes.
There are many places in the area of Cusco, where students can apply for a discount (ISIC) to enter to the sites, especially to the archeaological sites, but also in some of the tourist attractions there is no any discounts for students and young kids. The best time to visit Cusco, also works for visiting Peru and especially for the area of Machu Picchu.
