Peru Itinerary: 7, 10 and 14 Days, Day by Day, with the Route Logic

A good first Peru itinerary takes about 10 days: enough for Lima, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and Cusco, plus one more region such as Lake Titicaca or the Amazon. With 7 days, stay with Lima and the Cusco area; with 14 days, add the south (Arequipa, the Colca Canyon and Puno) or the coast at Paracas. Whatever the length, fly into Cusco in the morning and spend your first Andean nights lower down, in the Sacred Valley.

• 7 / 10 / 14 daysLima and the Cusco area only / plus one region / plus two regions or the slow southern route.
• ≈500 m lowerUrubamba (2,871 m) and Ollantaytambo (2,792 m) sit well below Cusco (3,400 m / 11,150 ft): the place for your first nights in the Andes.
• 1 h 15 min–1 h 40 minflight times from Lima to Arequipa, to Juliaca (for Puno) and to Madre de Dios, according to PromPerú.

How many days you need in Peru, and the route logic

International flights land in Lima and the main sights are far apart, so every first trip shares one spine: Lima → Cusco and the Sacred Valley → Machu Picchu → Cusco. That core needs 5 to 7 days. Each extension adds a region and, in our itineraries, 3 to 4 days: Lake Titicaca and Puno, Arequipa and the Colca Canyon, the Amazon at Tambopata or Manu, or the desert coast at Paracas and Huacachina.

Based on how our own multi-day routes are built from Cusco.

Acclimatization: sleep low first, then go up to Cusco

The flight from Lima lifts you from sea level to Cusco, at about 3,400 m (11,150 ft), in under two hours. The CDC lists Cusco among the destinations where travelers are at risk of altitude illness, and its altitude guidance notes that in Cusco you can go down to sleep lower for one or two nights before going higher. That is why all three itineraries below drive straight from Cusco airport down to the valley: about 1 h 25 min to Urubamba and 1 h 55 min to Ollantaytambo without stops, by our route map. Machu Picchu is lower again (2,430 m, with Aguas Calientes at about 2,040 m), so you only sleep in Cusco after it.

Keep the highest day trips, such as Rainbow Mountain or Humantay Lake, for the end. Details are in our guides to altitude sickness around Cusco and Machu Picchu and Cusco elevation. This is general information: ask your doctor before you travel.

7-day Peru itinerary: Lima, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu

Our Lima–Cusco–Aguas Calientes 7-day route covers the same places, with Paracas and Huacachina on day 2 (ask us for a quote). Our 8-day Lima, Paracas, Huacachina, Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu trip adds a free day in Cusco and runs from US$1,119, with domestic flights included. Both currently spend the first Andean night in Cusco; if you would rather start in the Sacred Valley, ask us when you book.

10-day Peru itinerary: add Lake Titicaca (or the Amazon)

Lake Titicaca lies at 3,810 m (12,500 ft), according to PromPerú, higher than Cusco, which is why it comes after your Cusco days and not before. Our Lima–Cusco–Urubamba–Machu Picchu–Lake Titicaca 10-day trip covers the same ground (ask us for a quote).

The Amazon instead of Titicaca: replace days 7–9 with a flight from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado and two lodge nights in Tambopata, with Sandoval Lake and a dawn clay lick in our itineraries. Our Tambopata vs Manu vs Pacaya Samiria guide helps you choose the area. See your doctor first: the CDC recommends the yellow fever vaccine for travelers 9 months or older going below 2,300 m, including Madre de Dios (not for trips limited to Lima, Cusco city, the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu), and lists malaria below 2,500 m east of the Andes, including Puerto Maldonado. Our Inca Trail and Amazon 10-day trip, from US$1,635, does this with the trek instead of the train.

14-day Peru itinerary (2 weeks): the southern route

With two weeks, the classic route runs south from Lima and reaches Cusco last: coast, Arequipa, the Colca Canyon, Puno, then Cusco and Machu Picchu. Mostly by road, it brings you to Cusco after several nights in the mountains instead of straight from sea level. Colca and Puno are high too, so take the Arequipa days gently; the altitudes are in our Colca Canyon guide.

Our Lima–Nazca–Colca Canyon–Titicaca–Machu Picchu 12-day trip follows this route with a flight over the Nazca Lines instead of Paracas (ask us for a quote). If you prefer the rainforest to the canyon, our Lima–Cusco–Amazon–Inca Trail–Titicaca 13-day trip, from US$2,220, swaps Arequipa and Colca for Tambopata and the Classic Inca Trail.

Getting between regions: flights and buses

Flights turn a day on the road into a morning; in the southern highlands the road works because the stops are part of the trip. For Machu Picchu itself, you take the train to Aguas Calientes or hike.

Lima–Cusco: our Lima to Cusco guide. Arequipa, Puno and Madre de Dios: PromPerú (peru.travel), approximate times. Cusco–Puno, Paracas and Ollantaytambo: our own itineraries and route map.

Leave at least 3 hours for an international-to-domestic connection in Lima, and book your flight home for the day after Machu Picchu or any trek, never the same evening. Our guide to getting back from Machu Picchu explains the timing.

If you want the Inca Trail, and when to go

The Classic 4-day Inca Trail replaces the train ride to Machu Picchu, so plan about two more days than the train version, plus a night in Cusco before you start. Permits are limited and issued in your name with your passport number: the steps are in how to book the Inca Trail, the release dates in our 2027 permits tracker, and the lead times in how far in advance to book. If the 4-day trek is too long, compare the 2-day and 4-day routes. Our Cusco–Inca Trail–Titicaca 10-day trip, from US$1,699, is the 10-day plan above with the trek. Flying from the United States with the trek at the center? Our guide to planning the Inca Trail from the USA has a 9-day plan built around it.

For the Andes, the dry season runs from May to September. Peru’s weather service SENAMHI records about 51 mm of rain at Machu Picchu in June, the driest month, against 341 mm in January and March. The citadel is open all year, but the Inca Trail closes in February. Machu Picchu tickets are named and timed, and the Ministry of Culture allows 5,600 visitors a day in high season and 4,500 the rest of the year, so buy them and your train early (see Machu Picchu tickets). Month-by-month detail is in the best time to visit Machu Picchu.

Organized trip or on your own?

• On your own worksfor the 7-day route with flexible dates, if you are happy to buy the Machu Picchu ticket on the Ministry of Culture’s website, book the train and arrange transfers; also for slow overland travel in the south.
• Organized helpswith the Inca Trail (an operator requests the permit with your passport details), and when a missed flight or train would knock over the next bookings on a trip with fixed days and several regions.
• Something in betweenBook the flights yourself and let a local operator handle Cusco, the train and Machu Picchu.

All our routes, from 5 to 16 days, are on our multi-day Peru trips page, and any of them can be changed: the Sacred Valley night first, a spare day, Titicaca swapped for the Amazon. Where no price is published, ask us for a quote.

Frequently asked questions

About the author

Raquel Sánchez

CEO and co-founder of Terra Quechua Peru · Cusco

Raquel Sánchez co-founded Terra Quechua Peru in Cusco in 2012 together with Edwin Medina, both with extensive trekking experience. She writes our Inca Trail guides from the day-to-day work of securing permits and organizing every departure with our guides, cooks and porters.

Published October 29, 2026 · Updated October 29, 2026