Best time to visit Machu Picchu

Peru · Latin America

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

The year in Machu Picchu

Tap a month for its page

Sweet spot
Good
OK
Avoid
Busy

Go in Jun or Aug — 21C max, 6 rainy days. May is the next best.

No dry season: more than 6 rainy days in every month.

Plan this trip

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Things to do in Machu Picchu

Inca Trail to Machu Picchu Ancient trail in Peru
Huayna Picchu Towering above the north end of Machu Picchu is this steep mountain…
Moray Archaeological site in Peru, Place of the Incas
Salcantay Mountain
Intihuatana, Urubamba Archaeological site in Peru
Temple of the Moon Peru
Ancasmarca Mountain in Peru

Tours and tickets in Machu Picchu

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 (Machu Picchu), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata; 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	21°	28d	84%	8.4h	avoid	monsoon: 28 rainy days, 336mm
Feb	21°	26d	85%	8.1h	avoid	monsoon: 26 rainy days, 290mm
Mar	21°	28d	84%	8.9h	avoid	monsoon: 28 rainy days, 286mm
Apr	21°	21d	82%	9.9h	ok	21C max, 21 rainy days
May	21°	11d	78%	10.3h	good	21C max, 11 rainy days
Jun	21°	6d	74%	10.2h	sweet spot	21C max, 6 rainy days
Jul	21°	6d	72%	10.7h	goodbusy	busier than usual
Aug	22°	10d	74%	10.6h	sweet spot	22C max, 10 rainy days
Sep	22°	18d	77%	10.4h	ok	22C max, 18 rainy days
Oct	22°	23d	81%	9.8h	avoid	monsoon: 23 rainy days, 225mm
Nov	21°	25d	83%	8.7h	avoid	monsoon: 25 rainy days, 256mm
Dec	21°	27d	84%	8.4h	avoid	monsoon: 27 rainy days, 291mm

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

Weather read at Aguas Calientes, below the ruins: 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

About as busy all year round.

Then and now

Machu Picchu's July days now average 21.3°C, 2.7°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	19.6°	19.9°	20.1°	20.3°	20.0°	19.2°	18.6°	19.3°	19.8°	20.5°	20.3°	20.1°
2017–26	21.0°	21.0°	21.2°	21.4°	21.4°	21.0°	21.3°	21.5°	22.0°	21.6°	21.4°	21.2°
Change	+1.4°	+1.1°	+1.1°	+1.1°	+1.3°	+1.8°	+2.7°	+2.3°	+2.2°	+1.2°	+1.1°	+1.1°

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

Fly into Cusco (CUZ), then drive. The flights under Where to book are to Cusco.

The drive from each airport is the road's, from openrouteservice.org by HeiGIT: typical, not a schedule.

How far Machu Picchu 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 Machu Picchu

You cannot drive to Machu Picchu: take a PeruRail or Inca Rail train from Cusco or Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Pueblo); PeruRail checks that your passport matches the ticket. Buses up to the ruins run from 5:30 am: buy the ticket from Consettur in person at its office by the bus stop in town, or walk up in about two hours.

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.

There are no vehicles of any kind in the park, so bring some comfortable walking shoes, especially if you plan to do any of the hikes such as Huayna Picchu. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Machu Picchu, 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)

Machu Picchu in pictures

Machu Picchu, Perú, 2015 07 30, DD 52 — i

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

Machu Picchu, Perú, 2015 07 30, DD 47 — i

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

MachuPicchu Residential (pixinn.net) — i

you f- XtoF, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

99 Machu Picchu Juin 2009.edit3 — i

Martin St-Amant (S23678), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Genealogie des empereurs incas du Machu Picchu (Aguas Calientes) — i

Pierre André Leclercq, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Machu Picchu is like

Machu Picchu is the site of an ancient Inca city, high in the Andes of Peru. More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing: All the views from above, but be sure before you do it that there are no clouds (early in the morning is always cloudy, it is recommended to do it at noon). More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing: If you got some energy in you, there are a few great hikes involving a bit of legwork. More on Wikivoyage
Getting in: Visitors to Machu Picchu typically either hike the Inca Trail or leave by rail from Cuzco or Ollantaytambo, either on a day trip, or overnighting in Aguas Calientes. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Machu Picchu, 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 Machu Picchu

Also in Peru

Lima best Feb, Apr, Oct

Nearby

Kind of place

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

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