What Weather Should You Expect on your Peru Holiday?
Peru's highly varied geography means that working out what the weather will be like during your Peru holiday can be quite tricky: usually when it's warm and sunny on the coast, it's wet in the mountains, and the rainforest climate can be different again. The good side to this is that you can always be sure of finding sunshine somewhere on your holiday in Peru...
Four Seasons? Four Climates!
The four major climate regions in Peru are the Southern & Central Coast, the Equatorial North, the Amazon Jungle and the Andes Mountains. On the coast and in the north, the weather really depends on whether it's winter or summer, but in the Andes and the Amazon the difference between the dry and rainy seasons can be more important.
South & Central Coast
Major Holiday Locations: Lima, Paracas, Trujillo
In November through to around April, Peru's southern and central coast is bathed in sunshine, making it a great time for the beach at the Paracas pensinsula. However, from May to October, the whole coast from around Trujillo southwards is covered with a misty haze known as garua, which really keeps temperatures quite low.
Andes Mountains
Major Holiday Locations: Arequipa, Cusco, Puno, Machu Picchu
The main thing in the Andes is to avoid the rainy season, which runs from November to March. Although this is the Peruvian summer, so it's not cold, the rain can be quite heavy and you won't see much sun. Most people visit from April to October when the skies are clear, but the downside is that the nights can be very cold - getting down to freezing at night in Cusco and Lake Titicaca, although less extreme further north in places like Chachapoyas and Cajamarca.
North Coast
Major Holiday Locations: Mancora, Punta Sal
Up near the Equator, you don't need to worry too much about the weather: you're looking at temperatures in at least the high twenties all year-round. You might have a touch more rain in the Peruvian autumn (Feb-Apr) but when it's this warm we'd suggest it's not much of an issue...