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Having traveled to over a dozen countries, Peru remains one of my favorites. It is full of kind, hardworking people, rich history, vibrant culture, and stunning landscapes. It was my first foray into South America and I am already aching to go back.
This 10 day Peru itinerary includes 1 travel day, 4 days in Cusco, a 4 day trek on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, and an extra day at Machu Picchu.
If you’d rather take the train to Machu Picchu, that will save you 3 days to either shorten your trip or spend them elsewhere. If you have more than 10 days, you could easily add a day or two in Lima on your way to Cusco, or add a visit to nearby sites like Lake Titicaca or Colca Canyon to round out your Peruvian adventures.
10 Day Peru Itinerary
Click on the links within the itinerary to see more about each place. Items marked with a ★ are highly recommended by yours truly.
Fly to Peru
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Arrive and Get Settled
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Clockwise from top left: Early morning arrival in Cusco, San Cristobal church, Coca tea, Plaza de Armas
Explore Cusco
Things to See and Do in Cusco
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Clockwise from top left: Sacsayhuaman, Plaza Regocijo, Plaza de Armas parade, a Peruvian cooking class
Sacred Valley (best on a Sunday)Read about it here: Choose Your Own Adventure in the Sacred Valley
Note: If you’re sick of seeing Inca ruins, and want a more authentically local market, you could skip Pisac and try visiting Chinchero in the morning. It has a smaller, less touristy market, full of locals.
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Clockwise from top left: Pisac ruins, Pisac market, driving through the Sacred Valley, Ollantaytambo ruins
Inca Trail – Day 1I recommend the classic 4 day Inca Trail Trek ★. We went with Peru Treks and they were great! If you aren’t doing the Inca Trail, skip to Days 8 and 9 for Machu Picchu and see the Add Ons for other places to visit Distance: 12 km
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Day 1 on the Inca Trail
Inca Trail – Day 2: Dead Woman’s PassThis is the hardest day of the trek. The lack of oxygen at that altitude is what really makes it tough, but the feeling you’ll get at the top makes it worth all the huffing and puffing! Distance: 11 km
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Day 2 on the Inca Trail
Inca Trail – Day 3: The Gringo KillerDay 3 on the Inca Trail is full of alpine ponds, gorgeous Inca ruins, and lush green cloud forest. Oh, and about a million downhill steps. Distance: 16 km
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Day 3 on the Inca Trail
Inca Trail – Day 4: Machu PicchuThe final day on the Inca Trail begins long before sunrise. Trekkers march to the Sun Gate to catch the first rays hitting Machu Picchu. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience that you’ll always remember. Distance: 6 km
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Day 4 on the Inca Trail
Machu Picchu MountainsTake a second day to explore some of the other offerings at Machu Picchu. Not only does it improve your chances of seeing Machu Picchu in good weather, but you’ll get to hike some of the most scenic trails in the world. Read about it here: Machu Picchu Mountains: Getting Up and Away
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Hiking up Machu Picchu Mountain
Last Day
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Add Ons:
If you are lucky enough to have more than 10 days in Peru, there are some great options to add to your Peru itinerary. Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, would be a great addition to any Peru itinerary, and offers lots of opportunities to experience the local culture.
Colca Canyon is another popular add on, and is accessible by bus from the town of Arequipa. While I didn’t have enough vacation days to make it to Lake Titicaca or Colca Canyon, I heard great things from other travelers, and I hope to visit them next time I find myself in the beautiful country of Peru.
A local girl on Lake Titicaca. Photo taken by my friend, Neel Rangnekar.
If you are looking for a place to stay: We stayed at Hostal Wara Wara in Cusco and loved it for it’s incredible view and especially sweet owners. In Aguas Calientes we stayed at EcoPackers, a backpackers hostel that was cheap and got the job done when we didn’t really care where we stayed as long as it wasn’t expensive. Feel free to book your stay using these links. At no extra cost to you, a small percentage of the booking will go toward keeping this site up and running. Thanks for your support!
Did you find this itinerary helpful? Please share with your friends and subscribe to the Breadcrumbs Guide mailing list to receive more travel advice. I’d love to help you plan your own Peruvian adventure, so ask me questions in the comments!
Thank you so much for this post!
Peru is number one on my list of places to go when I set off on my trip later this year, and this one was very helpful! 🙂
I’m glad you found it helpful! You’re right to be excited about Peru – it is an incredible country!
I am going in a few weeks to Peru with a tour, so everything has been arranged for us. What I’d like to know, how much cash should I take with me for 9 days?
And thank you for the above, its helped me get ready for the trip 🙂
Thanks
Penelope
You should bring a small amount of cash from your home country $50-$100 just for emergencies, but not to use. Otherwise, you can get cash from ATMs in the local currency once you are there and as you go along. Whatever you do, don’t get all your cash at a money-exchange counter, they rip you off. Just bring your debit card and use ATMs. I typically got a couple hundred soles every few days and that was more than enough for Garren and I. You can see our Peru Budget for more detailed costs.
This is a great detailed itinerary! I haven’t had the pleasure of visiting yet, but when I do I’ll have to keep this in mind!
Thanks! You’ll love it!
Wow! This is an amazing itinerary, sounds like you had a great adventure. This post is so detailed and organized, all I have to do is book my flight. Great job and thank you.
It was an incredible 10 days! Can you tell one of my dream jobs would be travel agent or tour guide?
Awesome itinerary! I was lucky and had plenty of time to spare in Peru, but in 10 days I think you covered a lot of the highlights. I did the Inca Trail with Peru Treks as well, and it was incredible (despite pretty awful weather half the time). I miss that place!
I’m glad to hear you also had a good experience with Peru Treks! I would love to have had more time like you. What other things did you do that you’d recommend?
A few of my other favorite Peru activities were sandboarding and dune buggying in the Huacachina desert and visiting the islands (the floating islands of the Uros people are particularly awesome!) on Lake Titicaca! Then, of course, there’s hiking in La Cordillera Blanca if you can make it further north, but I know a lot of people don’t have that kind of time!
That sounds so cool! I would have loved to try sandboarding and really wanted to see Lake Titicaca! Next time 🙂
This sounds like a fantastic trip and plan. I haven’t been to Peru yet will indeed consider this itinerary in the future!
It was great! I highly recommend visiting Peru, it’s a great country for travelers.
Cool guide! I love the design too. We were in Peru a few years back, and the Sacred Valley was closed due to flooding. So we ended up going to the Nazca Lines instead, and they were awesome as well.
Thanks! I have a lot of fun with the design of the site and of the resource guides. That’s a bummer you missed the Sacred Valley due to floods. Sometimes no matter how well you plan, you just have to be able to go with the flow in the end. Sounds like you made the most of it and got to see some cool stuff!
I love this post. Love the details. Peru seems like a very beautiful country and somewhere I must go. I have bookmarked this article, as it is a great guide if you are going to Peru.
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Glad you found it useful! I can’t recommend it highly enough. Visiting Peru and especially seeing all of the history and scenery along the Inca Trail is truly the experience of a lifetime.
First of all, let me say that you do beautiful work, Sonja! Your pictures are great and this post is so well-organized and easy to read. As soon as I started reading I thought, I need to pin this article to my Destination: Machu Picchu board. The more I read and snooped around your site, I decided to follow all your social media. And for the record, that doesn’t happen very often. Keep up the great work, and I look forward to reading your work in the future!
Howard, thank you so much for the heartfelt compliment! That means more than you can know. Thanks for following along, see you in the comments!
Some of my favourite posts are itineraries! This one is informative and cohesive and something I will be referring to when I finally get myself to Peru to hike Macchu Picchu and to explore the surrounding regions (which I guess sometimes gets overlooked by the masses)! Woman’s Pass frightens me though *gah*! Thanks for the tips, maps and suggestions (might have to book with Peru Treks!)
Thank you Andrea, I’m glad you found it helpful! I was afraid of Dead Woman’s Pass for months before our trip (hey, I even went running, and that never happens). But I am so glad I made myself do it anyway. If you prepare, stay positive, and take your time that second day you will be surprised what you can do! Reaching the top of Dead Woman’s Pass remains one of the highlights of my travels.
This itinerary should come in pretty handy! Nicely done. And beautiful photos too! Looks like hiking up Machu Picchu Mountain is the way to go!
Thank you! Yes, I’m so glad we did it despite it being the less popular option!
I’m thinking about Peru for 2016 so your guide is very handy for me.
Great! Oh I am so excited for you! I have tons of Peru posts on the blog if you’re looking for more information, or feel free to message me with questions.
Hi, you get some great photos over here:) They really make me to come to Peru. I have been planning to go to Latin America and seems like I should not miss Machu Picchu and take picture with lam:)))
Thank you Veronika! You’ve got that right. If you’ll be anywhere near Peru, it’s worth your time to go pay a visit to Machu Picchu and do the Inca Trail if you have time.
I’ve wanted to visit Peru for a long time, so this looks perfect for me. You have some gorgeous pictures here, too – thanks for posting.
It’s one of those countries that had been on my list since I was a kid scrolling through National Geographic magazines. I’m so glad I finally got to go!
Great post. My husband and I are planning on going for our anniversary this year. We got married on New Years Eve/Day.
I have a question. We are NOT going to hike the trail. What would you recommend to do to fill those 4 days?
Congratulations! To answer your question, it really depends on what you already have built into your schedule. I’d first focus on seeing Cusco (they have a great new years eve fireworks display, I’ve heard). Spend a few days there, and at least one day touring the Sacred Valley. If you’ve got those bases covered, then you could add a trip to Lake Titicaca for a couple days or Arequipa and Colca Canyon. Off the top of my head, I know that Kiara from Gallop Around the Globe and Gemma and Craig from Two Scots Abroad visited both places and you could see whether you prefer a visit to Colca Canyon, Lake Titicaca, or both. There’s Lima, too. So many options. I can help more if you tell me what you’re already planning on doing.
This is a great post.
All information we need to plan our trip to the Machu Picchu and really nice to read. Thank you very much!
Great, glad it was helpful!
Hey read your story and sounds like it was a lot of fun. Few questions! How expensive was it to trek up to Machu Picchu? Did you have all your own gear and food, like ten sleeping bag and what not? Or was that part of the expense? Also we were thinking about going next year and we wanted to take our 3 year old, is this crazy idea or what, can it be done with the 3 year old?
Thanks for your help
The trek is somewhat expensive, mainly because all of your costs are covered (food, tents, gear, etc) and they keep the porter to trekker ratio pretty high to help carry all of the stuff. I’ve detailed all my expenses in my Peru Budget. You can see all that I brought on the trek in my Inca Trail Packing List. If it’s not on the list, then it was probably provided!
As for bringing your 3 year old, I don’t want to burst your bubble, but I think that would be incredibly challenging. You should check on the health effects of bringing children to high altitudes, especially for a multi-day trip. Also, check on the rules with trekking operators for bringing children. Some may not allow it at all. Even if it’s allowed, remember this is a very challenging trek at times and carrying a 3 year old up a mountain may not be so fun…
Hi Sonja,
great website! Just planning my stay in Peru in a few weeks and this was by far the best source for in depth information!
Can see how much work you put in there, having all the links and additional infos embedded!
Great work! Hope you keep on traveling so there is more to follow 😉
Keep exploring,
Florian
Thanks Florian! Glad you found it useful! Have a blast in Peru!
Hi Sonja,
Your blog on Peru is both so helpful and personable. I am using your Peru itinerary as a guide for our upcoming trip to Peru in December. Our trek departs on December 20 and arrives at the citadel on the 23rd. We plan to take the late train 4:00 ish back to Cusco that night with the guide group. Our flight head back to the United States on the 24 at 5:00 pm. However, after reading your itinerary I want to have two days at MP but that has us leaving on the December 25 (which means we’ll miss Christmas with the family). I missed that you had two days at MP when I first read your blog. So even though we have only have one day at MP we still want to do Machu Picchu Mountain. We have a two hour tour of the citadel and then time to explore and hike before the 4:00 train departure. Do you think it’s all possible? We won’t have time to explore Agua Calientes? Will we miss much? By the way, we are a relatively fit couple (late thirties). Thanks!
Hi Lynn! I’m so glad you’re finding the blog helpful for your trip planning! If you are arriving at Machu Picchu at sunrise like we did, then I think you can do MP Mountain as long as you head straight up after your 2 hour tour of the citadel. Check the time when you finish with your tour to make sure. Allow 4 hours for the hike to be safe. Don’t forget to give yourself time to bus back down to Aguas Calientes and catch the train as well. Don’t worry about missing out on touring Aguas Calientes – it isn’t anything special. Your time will be better spent up at Machu Picchu. Best of luck!