It was the beginning of November when I had just booked a flight to Cusco, I would be spending the next 10 days in Peru. In a few hours I’d be waking up in a tent in a tiny Peruvian village with coca tea at my feet and donkeys calling out in the distance. I’d be spending my days high up in the Andean mountains, hiking through ancient Incan ruins on my way to Macchu Picchu. And before that, I’d be staying in capsules 1000 feet in the air and sharing a bottle of wine with my best friend while overlooking the Sacred Valley.
So if you’re looking for the perfect itinerary for 10 days in Peru, you’ve come to the right place.
This 10 day Peru itinerary includes: Cusco, Sky Lodge, the Inca Trail, Machu Picchu & Rainbow Mountain
Getting To Peru
I found that the easiest place to center our trip around would be Cusco. I had a few friends that also had time to fit Lima into their trips, but I found with only 10 days in Peru, flying to Cusco would be the best option. A lot of the tours are based around there and to put it lightly, I fell in love with the city.
Day 1: Fly into Cusco
On the first day, we flew into Cusco. We decided to stay in San Blas which is a neighborhood on the hill over looking the town. San Blas is known as the “artisans’ neighborhood”, and it’s filled with art galleries and cute cafes. I would highly recommend staying in this area, plus the walk home at night gave me a little preparation for all of the hiking to come.
We booked Hotel Encantada Casa Boutique Spa which was mid range priced and had a large balcony overlooking Cusco.
On our first night we explored the main square and grabbed some ceviche in town at Ceviche Seafood Kitchen. The food in Cusco was seriously top notch, I wasn’t expecting it to be this big of a foodie city but I was pleasantly surprised! Another notable restaurant we visited was called Local.
After dinner and some Pisco sours, you can hike up to Saqsaywaman. This area is made up of ancient ruins from an old citadel overlooking the city. If you are staying in San Blas, the walk here is quite close.
Day 2: Sky Lodge
Since we were making our Peru itinerary pretty last minute, I was stoked when we got reservations for Sky Lodge. Sky Lodge is a hotel made up of 6 different capsules strapped to the side of a cliff…. more than 1000 feet in the air.
You can make a day out of it and hike or via ferrata up to them. Being an adventure junkie and a lover of unique accommodation, this was right up my alley.
Sky Lodge can arrange for a driver to pick you up from Cusco, so the entire process is pretty simple. Once you arrive at the cliffside, you will do a series of via ferratas up to your capsule for the evening. The stay also includes dinner and breakfast.
Day 3: Zipline & Prepare for the Inca Trail
We woke up in the morning and made our way out of our capsule for a breakfast with a view. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to function without coffee but you’d be surprised how much adrenaline wakes you up on the way to the “cafeteria capsule”.
After that, we experienced a set of the fastest ziplines I’ve ever taken in my life. My favorite was the duo one where I had to wrap my legs around my best friend’s stomach.
Once we had legs on the ground again, we hopped in the shuttle for the ride back to Cusco. We would spend the next few hours preparing for our Inca Trail Trek, aka we just ate ourselves into an oblivion.
The first stop was the Morena Peruvian Kitchen, which had the most amazing tapas. We also stopped at Bardon, a cute pizza place overlooking Cusco.
Day 4: Start the Inca Trail: ~5 hr. trekking 7.5 miles
Our trekking guide met us in the hotel around 6:30am and we started our drive to the trailhead for the first day. The drive was around 3 hours.
We decided to carry our own packs for reasons that I don’t now understand, but you can also hire porters to carry your packs as well. There are a lot of different companies that you can go with for hiking the Inca Trail. We ended up booking with Inca Trail Reservations since we found an open booking with them last minute and they ended up being great (shout out to our tour guide Carlos).
A lot of the tour groups seem to be really similar (camp at the same spots and have similar set ups), but our group size was really small (4 people) which I loved. I saw a few other groups with 20+ people which I assume would get pretty congested.
All of the tours include breakfast, lunch and dinner, so you really don’t need to bring much along when it comes to food.
The trail begins by crossing a suspension bridge and a very gentle climb. After this the trail is mostly flat with incredible views of a snow capped mountain in the distance ( I later found out this is the peak of Wakay Willka). Each day there will be a break where the porters set up a lunch tent. Needless to say I ate way more than I normally would if I were packing myself lunch!
After lunch we passed our first ruins ( Inca settlement of Llactapata) and then set up camp in the village of Wayllabamba.
Day 5: Inca Trail: 6-7 Hours of Trekking
The second day started with an early wake up call and Coca Tea. Day 2 is considered the hardest day of the trek because it includes reaching an altitude of 13779 feet at Warmi Wañuska pass. I think I remember this day the best…because of all the stairs but also because of the amazing views of the Andes. This was the most scenic day for mountain views and my favorite part (especially coming down from Dead Woman’s pass). We got a bit of rain here and I had to stop to put on my rain gear.
This night we stayed at a campsite in Paqaymayu at 11811 feet above sea level.
Day 6: Inca Trail: 7 Hours of Trekking
I think this was the longest day on the trail but the best day in terms of viewing the ruins. And many of them we got to see with little to no people!
The day started with a steady incline and I would highly recommend trekking poles for this part! What followed was the Sayacmarca ruins (11472 feet above sea level ) which is where I took some of my favorite photos of the trip. You can also see several snow capped peaks including Salkantay. Close to the pass you will find the impressive ruins of Phuyupatamarca.
Day 7: Inca Trail: Macchu Picchu!
The last day of the trail started at 4am, can’t say I was happy about that one. But if there’s one thing I’ll get out of bed for, it’s an epic hike. Everyone waits at a checkpoint until they open the gates at 5:30am. Headlamps are important this day.
After we were through the checkpoint, we followed a narrow path through a forest of giant ferns and climbed an almost vertical set of stairs to the Gate of the Sun.
The weather here is always a bit of a gamble, and you’re never sure if you’re going to be able to see Machu Picchu from the Gate of the Sun when you arrive. It was very cloudy for us, so we waited and unfortunately weren’t rewarded with this view. But later on the clouds did part!
Seeing Macchu Picchu was incredible, but you learn to really enjoy the uncrowded ruins of the Inca Trail after you see the crowds here.
Afterwards we took a shuttle bus from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes. Aguas Calientes has a few restaurants and bars where you can grab a celebratory meal and beers.
Cheers to being back in civilization. Forewarning: it is very easy to get drunk at this altitude after doing nothing but hiking for the last four days. I speak from experience.
From there, we took the train back to Cusco.
Day 8: Cusco:
We used this day to recover from the 26 miles of hiking. We grabbed food at Organika restaurant and wondered the streets of San Blas in search of souvenirs and art. Luckily, we found both. We also signed up for Rainbow Mountain this day, since you don’t need to book this one ahead of time.
Day 9: Rainbow Mountain:
Wake up early to catch your ride to Rainbow Mountain, it’s a 12 hour day but you can sleep on the bus. We got picked up from our hotel around 3-4 am and I remember the bus through the mountains being one of the craziest rides of my life.
Rainbow mountain is 17,060ft. high, and while the hike isn’t very difficult, just being at that altitude could pose a problem for a lot of people. There’s less oxygen so walking to the summit will take longer than you think, especially if you’re susceptible to altitude. I would recommend drinking a ton of water and taking your time.
There’s only one steep hill at the end (the final push to the peak of mountain opposite Rainbow). And don’t let these photos fool you, there is definitely a crowd.
The trek time was around 3 hours, and then we hopped on a bus back to Cusco.
Day 10: Fly Home
Sadly, the end of your 10 days in Peru, and probably about the time you’ll start planning to come back 🙂
Have any questions about the Peru itinerary? Feel free to comment below.
Packing List for Peru
A good pair of hiking socks, wool works the best. I only buy Darn Tough.
A comfy pair of hiking boots, Teva doesn’t make my favorite pair anymore so I now have these Merrels
Long sleeve shirts, I typically buy Merino Wool base layers
Leggings: I started only buying ones with pockets to hold my cell phone for pictures while hiking. My favorite options are from Athlete, Lululemon and Vouri.
Hiking backpack (if you aren’t using porters): My all time favorite is the Osprey Eja.
Daypack (if you are using porters): I have this one from Osprey
Raincoat: I’d recommend getting a gore-tex one like this one.
Lightweight down jacket: I have the Patagonia Down Sweater.
Hiking sandals (will always love my Tevas!)
Sports bras
Tank tops
Shorts
