5 Days in Peru: Cusco & Machu Picchu

A day-by-day itinerary for Cusco, Peru: real activities, restaurants and hotels with prices and booking links. Copy it and make it yours.

Cusco, Peru · 5 days · 22 activities · free to copy and customize

Day 1 — Arrive high — take it slow

11:00 Taxi from Cusco airport (CUZ) (30 PEN). ≈30 PEN official taxi. Cusco sits at 3,400 m — plan NOTHING strenuous today; altitude does not negotiate.
12:00 San Blas guesthouse, 2 nights (600 PEN). ≈300 PEN/night in the artisan quarter. Ask for coca tea on arrival — it genuinely helps.
13:30 Light lunch: sopa de quinua (25 PEN). Eat light at altitude — soup, not steak, on day one. Hydrate constantly; skip alcohol for 48 hours.
15:30 Plaza de Armas & San Pedro Market stroll. Free, flat, gentle — exactly what day one should be.

09:30 Qorikancha (Temple of the Sun) (15 PEN). 15 PEN. Inca stonework with the colonial church built directly on top — the whole conquest in one building.
11:30 Cusco Cathedral (40 PEN). 40 PEN including the audioguide.
13:00 Menú del día near the plaza (20 PEN). A three-course set lunch runs 15–25 PEN.
15:00 Sacsayhuamán (70 PEN). Entry via the 70 PEN partial Boleto Turístico (keep it — it covers the Sacred Valley too). Taxi UP (≈15 PEN), walk back down: the altitude-smart direction.
18:00 Confirm Machu Picchu & train tickets. Machu Picchu entry is TIMED and sells out WEEKS ahead (≈152 PEN for foreign adults); PeruRail/IncaRail trains prebook too. Confirm both tonight — everything after this depends on them.

08:30 Colectivo to Pisac (15 PEN). Shared colectivos leave when full, ≈10–15 PEN.
09:30 Pisac ruins & market. Covered by the boleto. The terraces climb the whole hillside — start at the top and walk down.
13:00 Lunch in Urubamba (30 PEN).
15:00 Ollantaytambo fortress. Included in the boleto. The town below still runs on its original Inca street grid and water channels.
18:00 Ollantaytambo guesthouse, 1 night (200 PEN). ≈200 PEN. Sleeping at 2,800 m — lower than Cusco — is the textbook acclimatization move, and tomorrow's train leaves from this village.

07:00 Train Ollantaytambo → Aguas Calientes (240 PEN). ≈240 PEN one way (Expedition class), 1h45 down the Urubamba gorge. Passport required — it is checked at boarding.
10:00 Bus up to the citadel (45 PEN). ≈45 PEN return. The alternative is 1,700 vertical steps.
11:00 Machu Picchu (timed circuit) (152 PEN). 152 PEN, passport + ticket checked at the gate. Circuits 1–2 give the classic postcard terrace view. Entry time is enforced and there is NO re-entry — bathroom before the gate.
16:00 Aguas Calientes hotel, 1 night (250 PEN). ≈250 PEN. The town is walkable end to end in ten minutes.
19:00 Dinner on Avenida Pachacutec (40 PEN).

08:00 Hot springs (optional) (20 PEN). The town's namesake baths, ≈20 PEN. Skip if the queue is long.
10:30 Train + colectivo back to Cusco (260 PEN). Arrive Cusco mid-afternoon. Book any onward flight for TOMORROW morning — same-day connections after Machu Picchu are how people miss planes.
17:00 Farewell picantería dinner (35 PEN). Cusqueñan classics: rocoto relleno if you're hungry, chiriuchu if you're brave.

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