Most people arrive in Cusco in a hurry — it is the gateway to Machu Picchu — and the mountains quietly punish them for it. At 3,400 metres the thin air can bring headaches, breathlessness and sleepless nights to the fittest travelers, often within hours of landing.
The fix is unglamorous but effective: arrive a day or two early and do almost nothing. Walk slowly, drink water, go easy on food and alcohol, and let your body catch up before you tackle anything strenuous. The local remedy, coca tea, genuinely helps and is offered everywhere.
The city is worth the pause
Treating acclimatisation as part of the trip rather than an obstacle has a happy side effect: it forces you to slow down in Cusco itself, a city of Inca stonework and Spanish arches that most visitors rush straight through on the way to somewhere else. Give it the day it demands and it repays you.
