Done Machu Picchu in late March?

[4774Papa]

We have a cruise out of Chile on 24 March and are doing a private tour of Cusco and Machu Picchu from 19-22 March.

I know that the rainy season doesn't end until the end of March.  I can see on the internet that the chance of rain during that period is about 32%.  Has anyone done Cusco and Machu Picchu in late March and what was their experience regarding rain?

 

If it rained, did it ruin your visit in any way?

[PurpleTraveller]

I was in the Sacred Valley on March 16 and 17, Machu Picchu on March 18 and 19 and Cusco on March 20, 2018 after a cruise on Emerald Princess. The weather was mostly warm and partly cloudy and made for very pleasant walking tours.

 

At Machu Picchu on the first day it was warm and partly sunny and I was wearing a T'Shirt. We had a small shower in the mid afternoon but we were able to take cover for the 10 -15 minutes it lasted and then spent another couple of hours exploring the ruins until closing time when there was almost no-one there. On our second day it was misty and cloudy and then started raining as we were making our way back down from climbing the smaller mountain. It rained quite heavily and we got quite wet even though we had rain jackets but we didn't mind as it was not cold and we had already seen everything we wanted to see. The queue for the bus was quite long at midday as many people were leaving due to the rain but the buses came quickly and the wait wasn't too bad. By the time we caught our train back to Ollantaytambo that afternoon the sun was out again. 

 

In Cusco the weather was warm and fairly sunny in the morning and I was again wearing a T'Shirt. Later in the afternoon it became cloudy but didn't rain. 

 

The rain we had did not ruin our visit at all (but it would probably have been a bit disappointing if we had total rain for both our visits) and we had a wonderful time.

 

Here are a few photos. 

 

 

Machu Picchu Day One

 

 

Machu Picchu Day Two

 

 

Cusco

 

No matter your weather you will have a wonderful time. Just make sure you have a rain jacket with you, just in case. 

 

Hope you have a wonderful visit to Machu Picchu and a great cruise!