5-Day Machu Picchu Tour & Cusco Highlights

5-Day Machu Picchu Tour & Cusco Highlights

Here is a great 5-day guide for adding on Machu Picchu and the highights of Cusco. You can design a trip to the Cusco area OR consider this an add-on to a larger trip in South America. We did this trip as a pre-cruise back in 2019. Included in this guide is a detailed day-by-day itinerary with tours as well as hotel and restaurant recommendations based on budget. Hotel options and restaurant recommendations are listed at the end of the itinerary.
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Machu Picchu is open year-round. October through April is the official rainy season, but it can rain at any time. Peak season is July and August, with more crowds. We went in late March of 2019 and found both the weather and the crowds delightful. Sundays at Machu Picchu can be the most crowded, as that's when people who live in the Cusco province are allowed into the site for free, in addition to the daily visitor limit.  

TIP - Due to high elevations, it is important to acclimate so you can avoid the dreaded altitude sickness. Thus, this itinerary factors in time to get your body used to the high altitude before heading to Machu Picchu.

Hotel options, restaurant recommendations and 

Day 1 - Cusco Arrival

Arrive in Cusco and transfer to your hotel. 

The quickest way to get to Cusco is by plane from Lima, Peru. There are some bus options which are more budget-friendly, however, the trip can take over 20 hours.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Have passport - will travel. I am a certified licensed and insured Exploration Specialist and running a women-owned travel agency, working with many vetted premier travel industry vendor partners. A little about me: - Acquired over 27 years experience in the hospitality and tourism industry, - Traveled to 7 continents, 64 countries and crossed both polar circles, - Have an odd propensity in finding Irish Pubs in foreign cities throughout the world, - Successfully combined these experiences and habits into helping individuals discover exciting adventures throughout the globe. My passion is travel. I live it, I work it, I love it. My page offers straightforward, no unnecessary fluff*, day-by-day travel itineraries that you can easily save and follow or customize to your liking. Uniting my project management skills and attention to detail with my passion for travel and cultural immersion, I design and curate journey's which create memories that last a lifetime. *What does "No unnecessary fluff" mean? Well, you know those extraneous online recipes you try to sort through just to get to the recipe? But, you have to work through personal background details, stories about puppies and varuious types of flour; and then you get all those pop-up ads....well, my itineraries don't have all that "extra". They are just extra in their simplicity. Day-by-day itinerary with recommendations, insight, and a step-by-step guide. Simple. "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." -Leonardo da Vinci
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