Peru for Indian Travellers: Machu Picchu Permits, Cusco Altitude and the Best Flight Route

Getting to Peru from India means crossing two continents with no direct flight in existence. The routing that works best for most Indian travellers is Delhi or Mumbai to Madrid or Amsterdam, then onward to Lima on Iberia, KLM, or Air France. The Madrid connection is the cleanest: Iberia operates a direct Madrid-Lima leg that lands you at Jorge Chávez International Airport in roughly 12 hours from Europe. Total travel time from Delhi, including layover, typically runs between 22 and 28 hours depending on the connection. The alternative via the United States, connecting through New York or Miami, adds immigration complexity for Indian passport holders who need a US transit visa unless they hold a valid US visa already. The Europe routing sidesteps that entirely. Book the Lima leg first. Seats on the Madrid-Lima route fill faster than the India-Europe segment, and Lima is the entry point everything else depends on.

Most itineraries treat Lima as a transit stop. That is a mistake, and not only because the food in the Miraflores and Barranco districts is genuinely worth the time. Lima sits at sea level. Cusco sits at 3,400 metres. Spending two nights in Lima before flying to Cusco gives your body a gentler start before the altitude hits. The Lima-Cusco flight takes about 90 minutes and operates multiple times daily on LATAM and Sky Airline, with fares typically in the range of 80 to 180 USD one-way depending on how far in advance you book. Fly in the morning when possible, afternoon services are more likely to be delayed by weather over the Andes.

Soroche, the local word for altitude sickness, is not a story travellers tell to seem adventurous. At 3,400 metres, the air carries roughly 30 percent less oxygen than at sea level, and the body takes between 24 and 72 hours to begin adapting. The most common symptoms are a dull headache that starts behind the eyes, fatigue disproportionate to what you have done, and nausea that arrives without warning. Serious altitude sickness, pulmonary or cerebral oedema, is rare but requires immediate descent and medical attention. For the vast majority of travellers, the practical protocol is: arrive, eat light, drink coca tea (freely available and legal in Peru, not to be confused with processed cocaine), avoid alcohol for the first 48 hours, and sleep. Acetazolamide, sold as Diamox, is prescribed by doctors in India and many travellers carry it as a precaution; whether it suits you is a conversation for your own physician before you travel. Cusco's hotels at the higher end will have supplemental oxygen available. Ask when you book.

This is not an exaggeration. The Peruvian Ministry of Culture limits daily entries to Machu Picchu to 4,500 visitors across four time slots. In peak season, June through August and the weeks around Christmas, permits for the most popular slots sell out three to four months in advance. The official booking portal is machupicchu.gob.pe. You will need your passport number to complete the booking, and the name on the permit must match your passport exactly. There are three circuit options inside the site; Circuit 1 covers the classic panoramic viewpoints and is the one most photographs come from. If you want to climb Huayna Picchu, the steep peak that appears in the background of those photographs, that requires a separate permit capped at 400 people per day and sells out even faster. The train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of the site, runs on Peru Rail and Inca Rail; book those at the same time as your entry permit. The bus from Aguas Calientes up to the ruins takes 25 minutes and runs from around 5:30 in the morning.

Peru's currency is the sol. At the time of writing, one Indian rupee buys roughly 0.043 soles, so 10,000 rupees converts to approximately 430 soles, enough for two or three days of mid-range meals and local transport in Cusco. ATMs in Lima and Cusco are reliable; carry some cash for markets and smaller towns. Bitel and Claro offer tourist SIM cards at Lima airport; a local SIM with data costs around 30 to 50 soles for 10 to 15 GB and saves considerably on roaming. Vegetarian food is easier to find than many Indian travellers expect, Peruvian cuisine has a strong tradition of potato and grain-based dishes, and Cusco has several restaurants that cater specifically to it. The one thing that catches almost everyone: tipping is expected in restaurants (around 10 percent) and is the primary income for many guides. Budget for it.

The permits, the altitude, and the routing each require a decision before the others can fall into place, which is why Peru rewards the traveller who plans in the right order. Sort the Machu Picchu date first. Everything else arranges itself around that morning on the mountain.