Guide · Cusco
When to go to Cusco
Cusco can be visited all year round, but the month matters. Here is what changes between January and July, and which dates to seek out or avoid.
Dry season: May to September
Sunny days, clear skies and almost no rain. This is mountain season and the only time the high mountain scenery really shows. The trade-off is the night-time temperature: in June and July it drops to zero or below in Cusco, and considerably lower at the high camps.
Rainy season: November to March
It rains mostly in the afternoon, not all day. There are fewer people, prices drop and the landscape is green. Machu Picchu operates as normal, with mist that can take a while to lift. What does get difficult are the mountain passes and the dirt roads, through mud and landslide risk.
The two best months are May and September
They sit inside the dry season but outside the July and August peak, which concentrates the heaviest traffic of the year. Same weather, between a third and half fewer visitors at the sites, and more room to secure permits and tickets.
The dates that fill the city
Inti Raymi on 24 June is the biggest festival of the year and pulls the whole month with it, with Corpus Christi a few weeks earlier. Easter week, with the Señor de los Temblores procession on Holy Monday, and the national holidays of 28 and 29 July do the same. On those dates hotels and trains need booking well ahead, and prices rise.
Month by month
| Month | Rain | Crowds | What to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | High | Low | Rain most days, mainly in the afternoon. Low prices and everything green. |
| February | Highest | Lowest | The wettest month of the year. Mountain routes are often closed in the morning. |
| March | High | Low | Still raining, but the city is empty and the landscape is at its greenest. |
| April | Transition | Medium | Green landscape and rain easing off. Easter week fills the city. |
| May | Dry | Medium | One of the best months: the rain has stopped and the crowds have not arrived. |
| June | Dry | High | Sub-zero nights. Corpus Christi and Inti Raymi on the 24th; the city fills. |
| July | Dry | Highest | The busiest month. Peru’s national holidays on the 28th and 29th add domestic travel. |
| August | Dry | High | Clear skies and cold nights. Everything needs booking months ahead. |
| September | Dry | Medium | The other great window: still dry with far fewer people than July. |
| October | Transition | Medium | The odd isolated shower. A good balance of weather, price and crowds. |
| November | Starting | Low | Afternoon rain returns. Almost everything still runs. |
| December | High | Medium | Wet, but Christmas and New Year move prices and availability. |
Temperatures run between 5 and 20 °C in Cusco all year, and between 10 and 25 °C at Machu Picchu, which sits almost a thousand metres lower. What the season changes is less the daytime than the nights and the amount of rain.