Peru Overview - August to October 2024

Angela and I have wanted to go to Peru for ages; now that we are retired, we put together a two-month trip to see as much of the country as possible, but still at a reasonable pace. We also wanted to do a few guided trips, specifically:

1. An eight-day trip to the Manu Rainforest
2. The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
3. A ten-day circuit of the Cordillera Huayhuash

For the rest of the trip, we would either manage on our own or buy one-day guided tours for various sites, like the Scared Valley near Cusco.

Money

Most places accept credit cards (Master Card and Visa, less American Express). Cash is pretty common as well and easy to get at ATMs. We found a national bank that always worked for us and just kept going there. Withdrawing cash felt very safe. Often, there were guards, and even if there wasn’t a guard, it still felt fine.

You will have to tip guides in cash, and smaller places might not take cards, so it is good to have some on you.

Mobile phones

Since we had been in the country for so long, I got a local SIM card with unlimited data. It was very reasonable in price, but it was complicated to get, pay the monthly fee, and cancel. We rarely had to make an actual phone call, so I think that next time, I would just get a travel SIM with mobile data. Angela did this and was just as happy. It was only marginally more expensive. She used Airalo.

Getting around

We mostly used buses. In Lima, we even used the local buses as Google Maps could plan routes and stops well. We used tourist buses for intercity travel, mainly from Crus del Sur, but occasionally used other companies as they didn’t go everywhere we needed. We also did two internal flights that were very straightforward to figure out.

Occasionally, we used cabs and used Uber and InDrive apps to call them. They were reasonable and felt safe; we just didn’t need them very often. We could walk nearly everywhere and picked central hotels.

Hotels

We used Booking.com for almost all our hotels. We did pre-book a few of them, but we generally only booked places a few days before travelling. It was the end of the tourist season, and there was a lot of availability.

Tours

We had pre-booked the three main tours before visiting Peru and planned the rest of the trip around them. For our day trips and smaller trips, like to Amanatani Island in Lake Titikaka and Colca Canyon, we just found companies online or by walking into offices of the many tour companies in most towns.

So much of the economy is based on tourism; it is pretty easy to plan only a few days ahead. The Inca Trail is not one of them. You need to plan that month ahead as they heavily restrict the number of people on the trail.

Power

Peru uses the USA-style two-prong plugs. You can buy inexpensive USB adapters everywhere.

Language

While some English is spoken, having some Spanish phrases is very useful. Angela speaks Spanish, so we were mostly fine. Google Translate helped us to get the 15% we needed.

Food

Peruvian food is excellent in quality and generally reasonably priced. Of course, the world’s best restaurant is in Lima, and that is very expensive. But outside of the big cities, food tends to be more moderate to inexpensive. There are a lot of Asian influences in the food, so fried rice is a common dish, and soy sauce is a common ingredient.

There are also a lot of burgers, pizza and Chinese restaurants in most towns.

Also, tap water isn’t safe to drink, so you need to buy bottled water, or bring a filter. We brough a Sawyer Squeeze that we use camping and it was very easy to refill bottles every other day or so.

Costs

Peru is fairly inexpensive for American and European tourists. You could do things very cheaply with hostels and street food, or go higher end, but it is all reasonable.

Altitude

Since many people ask, I thought I would mention altitude, especially if you are hiking. The Andes are high, and most tourist towns in Peru are mountainous and high. The key is to acclimate. We took things slowly and moved from sea-level Peru to Arequipa, Puno, and Cusco. I realise we had a lot of time, but even if you are on a week-long trip, do the Inca Trail after at least two days in Cusco.

I hope this helps.

Read our day by day notes on our 2024 trip to Peru >