I'm considering a vacation to Cusco and Machu Picchu in 2008. My schedule is flexible.

In every photo I've ever seen, Machu Picchu is the most amazingly vivid color of green. So I'm wondering if it is truly that green all year round? Or are there drier months when it fades to brown?

I'd prefer to plan my trip for the time that it is most green while avoiding the high season crowds. What months would you suggest?

I've been to MP several times, most recently this past weekend. By now I've seen it during every season of the year. I think there are gradations of green, but it always seems green to me. Even now, at the end of the dry season and the very beginning of the rainy season, when I would expect it to be brown, it was green, although not as brilliantly so as at other times of the year.

Cusco and the Sacred Valley, on the other hand, DO look pretty parched right now. They have a higher, dryer climate, although the rains are just beginning here.

For what you're looking for, I'd say April or May will give you that post-rainy season green before the high-season crowds arrive.

That should be "higher, drier climate."

Great Info! Thanks!!