What's on in Cusco (Cuzco), Peru through the year

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Summer / year-end holidays in Peru

• Rule

  Machu Picchu circuits and time slots

  1 Jan – 31 DecBook early

  Entry is a numbered circuit at a fixed hour, capped daily and sold online well ahead; Huayna Picchu and the mountain add-ons go first. There is no ticket office at the gate worth queueing at. Source ↗

Still on: Andean rainy season (1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Summer / year-end holidays in Peru, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Closure

  Inca Trail closed

  1–28 Feb

  The Ministry of Culture shuts the whole route for February every year for maintenance of the steps, bridges and campsites. Machu Picchu itself stays open, and the Salkantay and Lares treks run. Source ↗

Still on: Machu Picchu circuits and time slots (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Andean rainy season (1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, Señor de los Temblores

• Opening

  Inca Trail reopens

  1 MarTrail season

  The trail opens again on 1 March, into the greenest and least crowded weeks of the year. The rain has not quite finished, which is the trade. Source ↗

• Festival

  Señor de los Temblores

  16 Mar – 19 Apr · usuallyEaster & Holy WeekCrowded

  On Holy Monday, the day that opens Holy Week, the blackened Christ is carried around the Plaza de Armas under showers of red ñucchu petals, the one procession in Cusco that is entirely for the city itself. Source ↗

Still on: Machu Picchu circuits and time slots (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Andean rainy season (1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, Señor de los Temblores

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Machu Picchu circuits and time slots (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Señor de los Temblores (16 Mar – 19 Apr (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, Andean dry season

• Season

  Andean dry season

  1 May – 30 Sep · usuallyDust seasonCrowded

  Bright still days, hard frost at night at 3,400 metres, and dust on the trails by August. It is the reliable half of the year and everybody knows it.

• Festival

  Qoyllur Rit'i

  30 May – 4 JunMajor festival

  Tens of thousands walk up to a glacier sanctuary above 4,600 metres for three days and nights of dancing in the cold, in the week before Corpus Christi. A pilgrimage rather than a spectacle, and altitude no visitor should take lightly. Source ↗

• Festival

  Corpus Christi

  3–11 JunMajor festivalCrowded

  Fifteen saints and virgins are carried in from the parish churches to the cathedral square and stay for a week, and the city eats chiriuchu on the steps. It opens Cusco's month of festivals. Source ↗

Still on: Machu Picchu circuits and time slots (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Andean dry season

• Festival

  Inti Raymi

  24 JunMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  The Inca festival of the sun re-enacted at Sacsayhuamán above the city on the winter solstice, in front of a paying grandstand and a hillside of everyone else. The city is full and priced for it. Source ↗

Still on: Machu Picchu circuits and time slots (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Andean dry season (1 May – 30 Sep (usually)), Qoyllur Rit'i (30 May – 4 Jun), Corpus Christi (3–11 Jun)

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Andean dry season

• Rule

  Inca Trail permits sell out

  1 Jul – 31 AugTrail seasonBook early

  Only 500 people a day may start the trail, guides and porters included, and the June to August dates go five or six months ahead. Machu Picchu's own timed circuits sell out in the same window. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Fiestas Patrias

  25 Jul – 2 AugNational holidayCrowdedBook early

  Peru's national holidays fall inside the driest, busiest weeks and put domestic travellers on top of the foreign ones. Lima-Cusco flights and Machu Picchu slots both go early. Source ↗

Still on: Machu Picchu circuits and time slots (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Andean dry season (1 May – 30 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Andean dry season

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Machu Picchu circuits and time slots (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Andean dry season (1 May – 30 Sep (usually)), Inca Trail permits sell out (1 Jul – 31 Aug), Fiestas Patrias (25 Jul – 2 Aug)

Busy — between the peaks, Andean dry season

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Machu Picchu circuits and time slots (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Andean dry season (1 May – 30 Sep (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, October break in Peru

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Machu Picchu circuits and time slots (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Quiet — the editor's quiet month

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Machu Picchu circuits and time slots (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Santurantikuy

• Season

  Andean rainy season

  1 Dec – 31 Mar · usuallyMonsoonRisk

  Heavy afternoon rain and low cloud over the ruins, with the mountains greener than at any other point and the trails close to empty. Landslides close the rail line to Machu Picchu occasionally, usually for a day or two.

• Festival

  Santurantikuy

  24 DecChristmas & New YearCrowded

  On Christmas Eve the Plaza de Armas becomes a market of hand-carved nativity figures brought down from the villages, and it runs from dawn until the small hours. Source ↗

Still on: Machu Picchu circuits and time slots (1 Jan – 31 Dec)