Honestly, I feel like Cusco is a place you could visit literally at any time. I visited Cusco in the shoulder season when the weather is great, but it’s not overcrowded with tourists. From an adventure traveler’s perspective, I think Cusco is definitely one of the best cities to visit in Peru.
When I visited Cusco in May, it was cold at night and early morning and warm during the day. It wasn’t really like experiencing winter in a typical winter destination. We were perfectly fine with this and just dressed appropriately. Cusco has a cultural and wild or rugged vibe and understanding to it that feels different from other places I’ve been to. It’s like if everyone in Cusco is here to experience the exact same kind of things and everyone knows it, so everyone is on the same wavelength.
But, actually May and September are 2 of the best months to visit Cusco. I basically had all the advantages of the dry season and there were no crowded areas or tours.
With the cobblestone hilly streets, constantly meeting new people, amazing food and epic day trips, it’s impossible not to want to come back here.
Because I loved Cusco so much and plan to visit again and because I know so many people plan to visit Cusco at different times of the year, I thought I’d write a guide on the best time to visit Cusco Peru and my own personal opinion.
The best time to visit Cusco: My experience
I really think that no matter what time of the year you visit Cusco, you’ll have a blast and return home with the best memories and a camera full of epic pictures.
My favorite thing about Cusco itself is how walkable the city is. Cusco is very similar to a European town where everything is in walking distance. The cobblestone streets, tourists and vendors all combine to add to the ambience of a fully alive city where you could never get bored.
The most important thing and what everyone comes to Cusco for are the day trips, tours and excursions. Some of my favorite things to do in Cusco were visiting Humantay Lake, Hiking to Rainbow Mountain and riding through the Sacsayhuamán trail on horseback. Even walking around and finding random places to eat was an adventure in itself.
When is the best time to visit Cusco?
Cusco has a dry season and a rainy season. It doesn’t have 4 normal seasons. The dry season runs from April to October and the rainy season is from November to March. The strange part about Cusco is that the dry season is also the coldest time of the year. So when you’re deciding when to visit Cusco, you’re choosing between dry season with sunny days but cold nights. Or warm nights, cloudy grey skies and more rain.
Dry season in Cusco: April to October
This is the season I find is the best time to visit Cusco and I think May is the best month for the most ideal situation for me and what I like. My everyday experience for the dry season in Cusco was; I would wake up in the morning and it would be very cold. I’d need to put on my warmest clothing and layers with a puffer jacket if I’m going outdoors. In Cusco, you’re always outdoors doing cool and amazing activities. So, make sure to remember to pack an outer jacket that can block the wind.
During the day from around 10 am to 6 pm it gets much warmer. I honestly felt like I was back home in the Caribbean at this time in the day. It got a lot warmer compared to the early morning time. I would basically have to strip off all my layers and I could basically dress in a regular t-shirt and jeans with no worries about feeling cold.
When the sun goes down and it gets dark, it starts to get cold again for the entire night until about 10 am the next day.
For all my hikes and tours I did on this trip, there were clear skies and no rain at all. I loved that about coming here in May. This also made for really high quality lighting and I just got the best pictures and videos. The mountains were mostly clear and you could easily see the snow-tipped mountains.
The hiking conditions were easy and dry. No muddy and wet paths. I can’t imagine being high in the mountains, cold and wet all at the same time. Hiking Humantay Lake was difficult and I imagine if it was raining and had grey skies that I wouldn’t have enjoyed the experience as much.
Rainbow Mountain is one of the day trips from Cusco that really benefits from having clear skies and great weather. The entire trail is basically dirt and I could imagine it gets pretty muddy when it rains. Also, rainbow mountain is all about the colorful stripes in the mountains. Some of my best photos and videos from my entire Peru trip was from here on Rainbow Mountain. If the sky was very rainy and grey then the mountains would look so dull compared to if there were clear skies. Good thing we went in the dry season and had great weather all around.
During this time, being 5200 meters up in Rainbow Mountain was really cold. The freezing temperatures combined with the wind was wild. I’m really glad I walked with a good outer layer puffer jacket to block the wind. I think that’s important for doing rainbow mountain during the cold dry months. I really recommend wearing full layers, gloves and a scarf if you have one, when doing Rainbow Mountain.
So, if you want the best conditions for amazing content for your Instagram or YouTube videos, then make sure to come here in the dry season. Preferably May.
Peak Season in Cusco: June to August
Cusco gets most of its tourists and visitors between June and August. July is usually the busiest month and it gets so crowded. Honestly, the difference in crowds from May to June is huge. It’s just 1 month apart but everywhere gets much more crowded.
Machu Picchu tour availability is tight and even the other tours around Cusco get booked out faster. When we booked all our tours online for May, there was no rush at all and the trails didn’t have many people compared to when it’s July and August.
Machu Picchu’s official high-season calendar is different from Cusco’s regular peak season. Peru’s Ministry of Culture sets specific high-season periods for Machu Picchu, partly because visitor capacity and available routes change during those periods.
Because of the high demand, hotels and accommodation will cost much more than they usually would. Cusco has a lot of hostels and affordable places to stay though. I stayed in a tiny hotel called Anata Hotel. It’s located really close to the city center. I booked this specific hotel because the tour buses could pick us up right in front of the hotel easily. If you are located further away on the outskirts, you’d have to walk from your hotel to the city center at 4 in the morning when it’s freezing and dark.
The main point I am trying to make is: You don’t have to visit during the peak season just to get good weather in Cusco. The month of May or September would still have great weather and be just outside the peak months.
Rainy Season in Cusco: November to March
Whenever I do research before traveling to a place, the general consensus is to not go during rainy season. Honestly, I love to travel during the rainy season to many countries. You just have to understand the trade-offs.
There is more rain and grey skies. But, much fewer tourists crowding up the city, tours and Machu Picchu slots. I’ve experienced more than once, that hotel rates drop by a lot during the rainy season. I saw this particularly in Costa Rica and the Caribbean. I would assume in the rainy season that Cusco is the same.
Sometimes you don’t only want to visit Cusco, you might want to visit the Amazon region of Peru too. This gets lush and green during the rainy season. And I actually think that the moody clouds and mist actually make some of the scenery look extra cool. I love lowering my exposure on my camera and taking pictures of dark and gloomy cozy looking places.
During the rainy season, it’s going to be tough doing rainbow mountain or Humantay lake. Rainbow mountain especially because the clearer the sky the better the whole experience. A lot of the other trails will be muddy and less dependable.
Best time to visit Cusco for Machu Picchu
I realize that Machu Picchu is one of the main reasons a lot of you will be going to Cusco. Honestly, I have to mention May and September again as the best months to visit. They both are in the drier part of the year and will have a much better chance of clear mountain scenery.
I visited Cusco in May, and this is one of the main reasons I think it’s the best month for a first trip.
Is Cusco worth visiting during the rainy season?
Yes, 100%. You can save a lot of money during the rainy season, it’s going to be much warmer and it might not even rain as much as you’d expect. For me, I didn’t spend much time in the city itself. I spent most of my time on tours and hikes. So, May was the best month for me. But, if you plan to spend a lot of time in the city, the rainy season is actually the absolute best time for you to visit Cusco. There will generally be crowds, cheaper prices and warmer weather.
What is the rainiest and driest month in Cusco?
January and February are the rainiest months in Cusco. If you plan to come here during the rainy season, try to push it as far to the end of the rainy season as possible, rather than smack in the middle of it.
The driest month in Cusco is July and part of August. This is also peak tourist season for this reason. July is also the coldest month in Cusco. I would agree that this time is the coldest in Cusco. I was here only a few weeks before July and it was freezing.
Related Article: How to prevent Altitude sickness in Cusco?
