Best time to visit Cusco

Peru · Latin America

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in Cusco

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Sweet spot
Good
OK
Avoid
Busy

Good for

Hiking Apr–Sep · fair Oct

Go in Jun or Sep — 17C max, 1 rainy day. May is the next best.

Dry season: May–Sep, 6 or fewer rainy days a month.

Plan this trip

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Where to stay

Things to do

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Things to do in Cusco

Sacsayhuamán The closest and largest of these ruins is the amazing Sacsayhuamán…
Qoricancha The central site of worship for the Incas.
Piedra de los doce ángulos A large stone in one wall has 12 sides and 12 angles.
Cusco Cathedral Elaborate large cathedral full of colonial-era religious paintings.
Plaza de Armas The park square has churches, shops, restaurants and bars surrounding it…
Qenko The second site up the road from Sacsayhuamán.
Tambomachay The most distant ruin on the route from Cuzco.

Tours and tickets in Cusco

Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank

Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Cuzco), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.

Month by month

No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.

Month	Max °C	Rain days	Humidity	Sun h/day	Verdict	Why
Jan	16°	22d	75%	9.5h	ok	16C max, 22 rainy days
Feb	16°	22d	77%	9.2h	ok	16C max, 22 rainy days
Mar	16°	21d	77%	9.5h	ok	16C max, 21 rainy days
Apr	17°	9d	74%	10.2h	good	17C max, 9 rainy days
May	17°	3d	67%	10.5h	good	17C max, 3 rainy days
Jun	17°	1d	62%	10.5h	sweet spot	17C max, 1 rainy day
Jul	18°	1d	59%	10.9h	goodbusy	busier than usual
Aug	19°	3d	61%	11.1h	goodbusy	busier than usual
Sep	19°	4d	63%	11.0h	sweet spot	19C max, 4 rainy days
Oct	19°	11d	64%	10.7h	good	19C max, 11 rainy days
Nov	18°	18d	68%	10.2h	ok	18C max, 18 rainy days
Dec	17°	20d	72%	9.6h	ok	17C max, 20 rainy days

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

Weather read at the centre: ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest in July and August; quietest in February.

Then and now

Cusco's July days now average 18.0°C, 3.9°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 12 of 12 months are clearly warmer.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1981–90	14.1°	14.3°	14.4°	14.4°	14.3°	13.7°	14.1°	14.7°	14.9°	15.5°	15.1°	14.7°
2017–26	16.5°	16.3°	16.2°	16.6°	17.2°	17.3°	18.0°	18.5°	18.8°	18.7°	18.4°	17.4°
Change	+2.4°	+2.0°	+1.8°	+2.2°	+2.8°	+3.6°	+3.9°	+3.9°	+3.8°	+3.2°	+3.3°	+2.6°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

How far Cusco is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Type A and B and C plugs at 220 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the Nuevo sol. UK Foreign Office: avoid all but essential travel to parts. Everything for Peru: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.

Being there

On arrival

Paying — Cards work in chains and upmarket hotels, restaurants and shops, sometimes with a surcharge, which must be shown on a sign; carry soles elsewhere. Many locals pay by Yape QR code.
UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
Tipping — Not usual in basic restaurants, but 10% for good service is polite.

Getting around Cusco

Apps — Rides: Cabify, DiDi, inDrive, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: WhatsApp. Street taxis have no meters: agree the fare before you get in, or book through an app or a taxi company.

The center of Cuzco is small enough to walk around, although you will probably need to catch a bus or taxi to the bus station, Sacsayhuamán or the airport. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Cuzco, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Help

Emergency — police 105 · ambulance 106 or 116 · fire 116.
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 7 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (24)

Cusco in pictures

Plaza junto al Palacio de Justicia, Cusco, Perú, 2015 07 31, DD 71 — i

Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Museo de Arte Religioso del Arzobispado, Cusco, Perú, 2015 07 31, DD 60 — i

Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cusco Cathedral IMG — i

Kızıl, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cusco skyline October 2025 — i

WMrapids, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Cusco is like

Cuzco or Cusco (Qosqo in Quechua, Cusco in Spanish), in the Southern Sierras, is a fascinating city that was the capital of the Inca Empire. More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing: Museo Municipal de Arte Contemporáneo. In the Municipal Palace at Plaza Regocijo, this museum has exhibitions of contemporary art. Admission with the boleto turistico Included in boleto turistico. More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing: Plaza de Armas. The park square has churches, shops, restaurants and bars surrounding it, and is a great place to spend an afternoon. More on Wikivoyage
Getting in: Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ IATA), Av Valesco Astete S/N (5 km east of the Centro Histórico via 28 de Julio and Av Valesco Astete; approximately 16–20 min east by taxi from the Centro Histórico). More on Wikivoyage
Staying safe: Law enforcement related to drugs is very severe in Peru - that is, years in prison and no pleasure. Consider that many "long resident tourists" are part of the scene. More on Wikivoyage
Staying healthy: For most travellers, at 3,400 meters, Cuzco is the highest point on their trip (or any trip for that matter); altitude sickness is a big problem - you may become winded after even minor exertion… More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Cuzco, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around Cusco

Also in Peru

Nearby

Kind of place

Cusco is in Peru, Latin America. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

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