How Many Days in Cusco Do You Need?

I visited Cusco for 6 days in May and honestly, I think it wasn’t nearly enough time. Luckily I didn’t have any symptoms of altitude sickness in Cusco at all. So, all my time was spent doing tours and activities instead of lying in bed with a headache and nausea. Normally, when you arrive in Cusco, many people recommend chilling for a few days to get used to the high altitude before doing the fun activities and hikes. But, I dove straight into it.

I arrived in Cusco with a huge expectation because of all the things I saw that I could do there and it actually exceeded that expectation by a lot. Knowing what I know now, I would definitely add a few more days to my Cusco itinerary.

Many people use Cusco city as a base for all the tours and day trips in the Andes region. Almost every tour I did was basically a full day trip from Cusco. Even activities really near to Cusco lasted from morning to evening because there are just so many things to do and so many options to choose from. Machu Picchu alone can be several days hiking or 15 hours if you take the train. Other day trips like Rainbow mountain and Humantay Lake are also a full day trip.

On top of spending hours in a bus ride to the location, then hours again on the ride back, you are exhausted and tired from trekking for so long with way less oxygen than you are accustomed to. I took a day in between activities to recoup a little bit. Take into consideration these things when figuring out how many days to spend in Cusco.

In this guide, I want to break down how many days in Cusco you’d actually need need to do most of the main activities and what you can realistically fit into each day consecutively.

How many days to spend in Cusco: My firsthand experience

When I visited Peru, Cusco was my first stop before going to Miraflores and spending the second half of my trip. If you don’t think you’ll have any altitude sickness in Cusco, I recommend you start here too.

I spent 6 days in Cusco. The very first day I just stayed in the city, walked around the local markets and did a tour on horseback of Sacsayhuamán. It was a fun half day trip. Honestly, Cusco was a lot to take in at first. Tourists everywhere, tour guides trying to get you to do their tours everywhere you go and amazing food everywhere.

My second day was all taken up by doing the Humantay Lake tour. Tours in Cusco start extremely early. I had to wake up at 4 am and leave by 4:30 to get the tour bus. It was very exhausting, but at the same time, one of the best experiences and views of my life. We arrived back in Cusco at around 5 pm.

The fourth day, we did Rainbow Mountain. I was surprised by how much easier it was compared to Humantay Lake even though it was much higher and colder. I had a gap day in between when we just visited some bars and restaurants in Cusco along with doing a little local sight-seeing and relaxing.

The 6th day was basically just a chill day before flying out to Lima. Honestly, in all those days there I was never bored one time. There was always something to do, something amazing to eat and it was fun meeting new people from different parts of the world.

Less than 5 days in Cusco

I think the minimum amount of days someone should stay in Cusco for is 4 or 5 days. Anything less than that and you’re really losing all the value for your trip. Ideally you’re looking for 7 to 10 days. The day that you arrive is never a full day and the day that you leave can literally be just a few hours until your flight.

If I had only 4 days in Cusco, I’d only do 2 tours and then knock about the city doing some more laid back stuff. I’d go on Viator and look for either a full Cusco city tour with food. This kind of timeline will make you have to cut most things out and take no breaks to slow it down.

I’d try to do Rainbow Mountain on the 2nd day and one other hike or activity the day after. Leaving the day you arrive and the day you have to fly out open for free exploration or simpler activities.

One of the reasons I don’t think less than 4 full days is good is because you have no idea how you will feel physically when you arrive in Cusco. I am talking about altitude sickness. Luckily, I had no symptoms whatsoever and I am very physically fit, so there was no acclimatizing needed.

When you are experiencing altitude sickness in Cusco, it can get very bad. Especially if you exert yourself a lot like walking up hills and many flights of stairs. It can even leave you laying in bed all day wasting all your precious time in Cusco. This is the main reason you should spend more days in Cusco than less days. I can assure you that you won’t regret it. There are too many things to do in Cusco to get bored.

7 + days in Cusco

This is the amount of time I spent in Cusco, although the last day won’t really count because it’s not a full day. So, I spent more like 6 full days in Cusco. I personally think 7 full days in Cusco is decent enough to go on 3 or 4 amazing day trips, have a rest and relaxation day and feel like you had a fulfilling experience.

I did the horseback riding tours through Chacan mountain and Temple of the Moon, that I loved and was really glad we did it. I explored ancient cave systems where they found Mayan burial sites. I also hiked to Humantay Lake on a full day trip, which was the hardest hike I ever did and also Sacred Valley. I also relaxed at bars and restaurants while eating some of the most amazing alpaca meat and exploring the markets in Cusco city.

Humantay Lake

This was the 2nd tour on my Cusco itinerary and was one of the most popular activities everyone was talking about doing. This is my best hike and it was also the most difficult hike I’ve done. The view at any given moment on the hike was breathtaking. I got so many great videos for my Instagram of the snow covered mountains, the scenery and the lake. A lot of people rode horses up to the Lake, but I decided to walk the entire thing. It was brutal to say the least, but worth it 100. Do not skip this hike in Cusco. It’s a full day trip starting really early at 5 am and ends about 4 pm.

Rainbow Mountain

I did Rainbow Mountain the following day after Humantay Lake hike. This is another beautiful place. I’m sure you’ve seen all the epic pictures online about this place and how colorful the mountains look here. I was so exhausted from the Humantay Lake hike that I ended up using a horse on this one. Don’t be ashamed to take a horse. Rainbow Mountain is even higher than Cusco and Humantay lake. It sits at 5200 meters and it gets really cold and windy. Rainbow Mountain is another full day trip from Cusco.

So, if you plan to include Rainbow Mountain and Humantay Lake in your Cusco itinerary, your trip is already 4 days minimum. One day for each hike and one day for your arrival and departure days. Every day trip you do you have to add another day. And you also don’t want to get burnt out and end up feeling really sick. Remember this is high altitude and altitude sickness in Cusco happens to a lot of people. So, you might need an extra day just to do chill stuff for a little bit.

Horseback riding tour: Chacan mountain & Temple of Moon

This was the very first proper activity we did in Cusco and on the very first day. We were out exploring one of the popular Cusco lookouts, when a tour operator came up to us offering us a simple tour. It turned out to be one of the coolest things I did in Cusco.

This was a full day 3 part activity. He drove us to the horse stable, we rode horses through amazing hills, open fields and mountains and we would stop off at some ancient sites and have a look inside for about 10 minutes each.

Then, after horseback riding for about 3 hours, we hiked on foot to some underground caves that the guide said ancient Mayan remains were found. At this point, I was surprised by how the day was turning out.

The third part of this tour, he drove us to one of the highest villages in Cusco. There he took us to a textile shop and Alpaca farm. A very educated Mexican guy who came to Cusco to teach English spoke to us about some fun stuff like how to tell real alpaca fur from fake, how to test it, why it’s called baby alpaca, where it comes from and many different things about Cusco in general.

The fourth part of this totally random day trip was at a restaurant where we ate some of the best meat I’ve tasted. We ate Alpaca, corn and potatoes

Machu Picchu

If you have more than 7 days in Cusco and already acclimated to the high altitude, you can add the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu hike in your Cusco itinerary. This takes several days by the way. I think it’s really hardcore. I didn’t do that. You can also do a day trip via train. This tour is much more expensive than the others. It costs about $400 USD.

7 days and more is where your trip starts feeling like a real adventure and not a rushed checklist just for the sake of doing something. Some people hate rushing through a new place just to say “I did that”. I totally agree and I like to take my time with places. But on the other hand, I like to do physically hard stuff that requires a little bit of adventure and risk.

Where to stay in Cusco

When people ask me where to stay in Cusco, I always tell them to stay close to the city center if they are doing many tours. This is because the tour buses will pick you up almost outside your hotel door if you are central enough.

I stayed at the Anata Hotel in Cusco and it was comfortable and affordable. It’s not a hostel and you get free breakfast. You can do laundry there and it’s super quiet with access to everything nearby.

Final Thoughts

It usually all comes down to how much time you’ve got and your budget. The longer you stay the more hotel costs will rise. If you only have 2 or 3 days, then make the best use of that and try to squeeze 2 tours out of that and try to focus on what you want to do the most. If you have more time, like 7 days or more, I think that is a great amount of time to do a good set of activities and still have some downtime.

What I really loved about Cusco are all the amazing attractions there are right within the Cusco area. You don’t have to always go on a big full day trip. I love how the city is walkable and you can get anything you want easily. I also really loved how friendly all the people were, we spoke to so many people on the lunch breaks on the hikes and the staff at restaurants and bars. Shout out to the guys at Loki.