The Perfect 9-Day Peru Itinerary

The spine of any good Peru trip is the same loop: Lima, up to Cusco, down to the Sacred Valley, on to Machu Picchu, back to Lima to fly home. What separates a sharp itinerary from a punishing one is the height profile, so here it is up front.

• Lima sits at sea level. One night, mostly to shake off the long-haul flight.
• Cusco is the high point at 3,400m. You'll fly in, but the smart move is to leave town fast rather than sleep here first.
• The Sacred Valley sits lower at 2,800m. This is your acclimatisation base for two nights, and it's no consolation prize: Pisac, Maras, Moray and Ollantaytambo are some of the finest sights in the country.
• Aguas Calientes, the town below Machu Picchu, is lower still at around 2,040m. One night here.
• Machu Picchu itself is 2,430m, lower than Cusco, which surprises everyone.

The logic running through all of it: you arrive high, drop straight down to sleep lower, and only return to Cusco's full altitude near the end, once your body has had three or four days to adjust. Most well-run small-group tours build the route exactly this way. The ones that park you in Cusco from night one are the ones to query.

Here's the nine-day route, leg by leg, with the altitude you sleep at each night.

• Day 1 — Lima (sea level). Land, transfer to Miraflores or Barranco, and do nothing strenuous. A wander along the clifftops and a first ceviche is plenty. You're here to reset your body clock, not to sightsee hard.

• Day 2 — Lima to the Sacred Valley (sleep at 2,800m). The morning flight to Cusco is 1h 20min, but you don't stop in Cusco. A waiting transfer takes you straight down to the Sacred Valley, an hour's drive that drops you 600m. Settle in, drink coca tea, walk slowly. This single decision is what saves your trip.

• Day 3 — Sacred Valley (2,800m). A full, gentle acclimatisation day. Pisac market and its hillside ruins in the morning, the dazzling white Maras salt pans and the strange concentric terraces of Moray in the afternoon. You're being a tourist at altitude without yet asking much of your lungs.

• Day 4 — Sacred Valley, Ollantaytambo (2,800m). The great terraced fortress of Ollantaytambo, then an easy afternoon. By now the headache that hit on day two has usually lifted, and you're properly acclimatised for what's coming.

• Day 5 — Train to Aguas Calientes (sleep at 2,040m). The Vistadome or Expedition train winds 90 minutes down the valley from Ollantaytambo, following the Urubamba river. You drop lower again. Afternoon free in Aguas Calientes, early night before the big day.

• Day 6 — Machu Picchu (2,430m), then back up to Cusco (3,400m). The early bus up the switchbacks for sunrise, two or three hours with your guide as the cloud lifts off the citadel, then a free afternoon for the Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain climbs (around €75 each, booked a couple of months ahead). Afternoon train and transfer back up to Cusco — and crucially, you hit Cusco's full 3,400m only now, on day six, fully adjusted.

• Days 7-8 — Cusco (3,400m). Two nights to enjoy the city you skipped at the start: the Qorikancha sun temple, San Pedro market, the Sacsayhuamán fortress above town, and the best food on the whole route. No altitude drama, because you earned this height the slow way.

• Day 9 — Cusco to Lima to home. Morning flight back to Lima to connect with your long-haul, or a final Lima night if your flight leaves late.

This is the one real fork in a Peru itinerary, and the honest answer is that both end in the same place.

The classic 4-day Inca Trail is 45km of original Inca stone path that delivers you to the Sun Gate at dawn, looking down on Machu Picchu before the day-trippers arrive. It's the romantic choice, and it earns the reputation. But it comes with strings: permits are capped at 500 a day (around 200 for trekkers, the rest for guides and porters), they sell out four to six months ahead for the May-September peak, and it adds four days and €700-€900 to your trip. On a nine-day frame, the trek effectively becomes the trip, leaving little room for Cusco or Lima.

The train is the pragmatic choice, and there is no shame in it. The 90-minute ride from Ollantaytambo sets you down a short bus ride from the entrance, you sleep in a real bed the night before, and you see the exact same citadel. For most people doing nine days, the train is the right call. It's the ruins you came for, not the walk to them.

If you want a taste of the trail without surrendering four days, the Short Inca Trail (two days, one night) does the final stretch to the Sun Gate for €400-€550, with permits far easier to come by. And if you've got two weeks, the five-day Salkantay trek is wilder, more spectacular and carries no permit cap, which is why most longer trips lean on it. But on a tight nine days, take the train and spend the saved time in Cusco.

The short version: May, June and September are the pick for this route. The dry season runs May to September across the Andes, which means clear skies over Machu Picchu, dependable footing in the Sacred Valley and cold but bright Cusco days. June and July are the busiest and priciest weeks, and Inca Trail permits for those dates can vanish six months ahead, so May and September hand you almost the same weather with more breathing room and prices easing 10-15%.

The wet season, November to March, drops prices 25-35% and empties the citadel, but brings afternoon rain, muddy trails and the chance of cloud swallowing the famous view. The Inca Trail closes entirely every February for maintenance, though the train and Machu Picchu stay open year-round.

One date to dodge unless it's your reason for coming: Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun, falls on 24 June 2026 and fills Cusco to the rafters. For the full month-by-month breakdown, including the Amazon and the coast which keep their own calendars entirely, see our guide to the best time to visit Peru.

Almost everyone reaches Peru through Lima's Jorge Chávez airport (LIM), which got a new terminal in 2025 and takes long-haul comfortably. Fares depend on where you start: from Europe you'll usually connect once through Madrid, Amsterdam or Paris for around €550-€850 off-peak; North America has the shortest hop and the most choice, with US gateways like Miami running nonstop from roughly US$500-US$900; from Australia reckon on A$1,800-A$2,800 via a US or South American connection. All climb 40-60% across the June-August peak. The Cusco hop from Lima is a quick 1h 20min on LATAM, Sky or JetSmart, at €80-€180 one way. Where you can, book the international and domestic legs as one through-fare — LATAM's combined tickets to Cusco often beat stitching them together yourself.

The small-group operators who run this route well are the usual reliable names: Intrepid, G Adventures, Exodus and On The Go, at €1,400-€2,200 for nine or ten days before flights. They build the altitude-paced sequence by default, file your Inca Trail permit application against your passport if you're trekking, and hold your Machu Picchu entry slot and train tickets so you don't have to chase them. If you're set on the Inca Trail, book the moment next year's permits release, usually in October, and lock your dates before anything else.

The reason to bundle the tour with the flight rather than book them apart is simply seeing the real number. Multiday.tours prices the nine-day tour together with the return flight from your airport, so the all-in figure — typically €1,900-€2,700 per person — is in front of you before you commit, then hands you off to book the tour and the flight directly. For the full price anatomy, tier by tier, see our guide to what a Peru tour actually costs.