Best Time to Visit Machu Picchu: Weather, Seasons and Least Crowded Months

Machu Picchu can be visited all year round: the citadel opens every day, February included. The driest months are May to September and the wettest, December to March. The largest number of visitors arrives from July to October, and the quietest month is February, when the Inca Trail closes. If you are looking for good weather with somewhat fewer people, our recommendation is May and the first half of June. Here you will find the weather, the official visitor figures month by month and what is worth knowing about each season.

Data as of 22 October 2026. The Ministry of Culture has not yet published the 2027 high-season dates or daily places; we will update this article when they come out. The sources are listed at the end.

• May – Septemberthe driest months
• 162,479visitors in October 2025, the busiest month
• Februarythe month with the fewest visitors: the Inca Trail closes

The two seasons of Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu lies in the high jungle (ceja de selva), at about 2,430 m, in a cloud forest: cloud cover is frequent all year and the average temperature of the citadel is 18 °C, according to the Master Plan of the Sanctuary. It rains much more than in Cusco: about 2,000 mm a year, according to SENAMHI, compared with about 670 mm in the city of Cusco.

• Dry season. The Master Plan places it from April to August, and in Cusco and the Sacred Valley the rain almost disappears from May to September. There are more clear days, but the nights are cold in Cusco.
• Rainy season. In the high jungle of Cusco it lasts 5 to 7 months: it starts between October and December and ends between March and April, and in that period 67% to 82% of the year’s rain falls, according to SENAMHI. The rainiest months are January to March. With the rain, trails become slippery and the risk of mudslides (huaicos) on the access routes increases.

April, October and November are transition months: it rains more than in the middle of the southern winter, but much less than from December to March.

Weather month by month in Cusco and the Sacred Valley

Almost every trip to Machu Picchu goes through Cusco or the Sacred Valley, and that is where you spend the nights before. These are the official SENAMHI averages (1991–2020) at the Granja Kayra station (Cusco, 3,214 m) and at Urubamba (2,850 m), in the heart of the Sacred Valley:

The temperatures are averages of the daily minimums and maximums. Machu Picchu is almost 1,000 m lower than the city of Cusco: it is milder (18 °C on average), but it rains much more.

Busiest and quietest months

These are the visitor arrivals at the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu (citadel and Inca Trail), according to the Ministry of Culture and MINCETUR:

• The months with the most visitors are July to October, with about 150,000 to 170,000 a month: August came first in 2024 and October in 2025. Foreign visitor numbers stay high in all four months, and Peruvians come mainly in August, coinciding with the mid-year holidays.
• February is the quietest month (fewer than 80,000 visitors), followed by December, January and March.
• May and June receive about 130,000 to 140,000 visitors: it is already dry season and there are somewhat fewer people than from July to October.

High season and regular season

Besides the weather, every year the Ministry of Culture sets a high season, with more places and more routes. In 2026 it was 1 January, 2 to 5 April, 19 June to 2 November, and 30 and 31 December; the rest of the year is regular season. The 2027 dates have not been published yet.

If you want to walk to the Sun Gate (Intipunku) or the Inca Bridge, you have to go in high season. The routes and what each one includes are in our guide to visiting Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu month by month

• January: the middle of the rainy period, with moderate visitor numbers. High season only on the 1st.
• February: the least crowded month. The citadel is open, but the Inca Trail closes for the whole month for maintenance, as it has every year since 2002 (the 2027 closure has not been announced yet). It is one of the rainiest months.
• March: the heavy rain continues and there are few visitors. In 2027, Holy Week (Semana Santa) falls at the end of the month (Thursday 25 and Friday 26 March); in 2026, those days were high season.
• April: a transition month: the rain drops sharply compared with March and visitor numbers start to rise.
• May: the dry season begins in Cusco and the Sacred Valley, and visitor numbers are moderate. It is regular season: the four high-season routes are not on sale.
• June: dry days; June and July have the coldest nights in Cusco. Inti Raymi is held in Cusco on 24 June, and in 2026 high season began on 19 June. In June 2026 Huayna Picchu mountain was closed for the whole month for conservation work; check that the route is on sale for your date.
• July and August: dry season and high season, among the busiest months of the year (Fiestas Patrias, the Peruvian national holidays, on 28 and 29 July). Buy as far in advance as possible.
• September: still dry in Cusco, although according to SENAMHI September usually marks the start of the rainy season in the highlands and the jungle. Very busy, though somewhat less than in August.
• October: the rain returns, but visitor numbers stay very high: it was the month with the most visitors in 2025.
• November: high season ends on 2 November (in 2026). It rains more, but the number of visitors drops considerably.
• December: frequent rain and one of the months with the fewest visitors; the 30th and 31st are high season.

Traveling in the rainy season: what you should know

The rain mainly affects the access routes, the Inca Trail and the mountains. Some recent examples:

• On 25 January and 30 March, mudslides (huaicos) in the Mandor sector cut the route from Hidroeléctrica to Machu Picchu Pueblo; train service on that line resumed within a few days (on 26 January and 6 April). The train route from Ollantaytambo was not affected.
• Between August and September, heavy rain, unusual for that time of year, damaged several sections of the Inca Trail, which was closed for almost three weeks.
• In 2025, Huayna Picchu mountain reopened on 29 April, after a landslide caused by heavy rain damaged its access trail.

For the southern summer of 2027, the official commission that monitors El Niño (ENFEN) forecast in October 2026 normal to below-normal rainfall in the southern highlands, which include Cusco. It is a forecast, not a guarantee: leave a one-day margin in your itinerary if you travel between December and March, and if you go via Hidroeléctrica, check the notices before setting out. The access routes are explained in our article How to get to Machu Picchu from Cusco.

What to wear in each season

• All year: sunscreen and warm clothing, as PromPerú recommends, and comfortable walking shoes. Dress in layers: mornings can be cool and midday hot.
• December to March: a waterproof jacket or rain poncho and shoes with a good sole, because the stone stairs get wet.
• May to August: a heavy coat for the nights and early mornings in Cusco and the Sacred Valley, where the minimum drops below 0 °C in June and July.

To print: download the checklist What to Pack for Machu Picchu and Cusco (PDF) and tick it before you leave.

Keep the altitude in mind too: Cusco is much higher than Machu Picchu; read how to acclimatize in Altitude of Machu Picchu and Cusco.

Our recommendation

• Good weather with somewhat fewer people: May and the first half of June. It is dry season and there are fewer visitors than from July to October, although without the high-season routes.
• To do Intipunku, the Inca Bridge or the Great Cavern: high season, from late June to early November, buying in advance.
• To avoid crowds: February, March or November, accepting more rain (and no Inca Trail in February).
• To combine with the Sacred Valley: May to September, when the valley is dry (see our Sacred Valley guide).

At any time of year, the ticket is bought on the official platform with a date, route and time, and the most limited places are those for the mountains (see Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain). Check availability by date in this calendar, with data from the Ministry of Culture:

If you prefer an organized trip, see our Machu Picchu Full Day tour and the 2-day train tour. You can compare all the options in Machu Picchu tours from Cusco.