Peru
Peru11 guides across 2 destinations — where to go, when, what it costs and what to eat.
Destinations in Peru
Practical essentials for Peru
Peruvian sol (PEN)
Spanish, with Quechua and Aymara also official where they prevail; English is limited outside hotels and tour operators.
Type A/B/C, 220V 60Hz
Long-distance buses and domestic flights cover the distances, PeruRail and Inca Rail run the tourist trains to Machu Picchu, and cities have their own networks — Lima has the Metropolitano busway.
Tourist restaurants often add 10% as servicio; otherwise about 10% is normal, and taxi drivers are not tipped.
Tap water is not safe to drink; use sealed bottled or purified water and avoid ice you cannot vouch for.
Right-hand side; a photocard national licence is valid for a tourist stay, though rental firms often ask for an International Driving Permit.
105 police, 116 fire, 106 ambulance (SAMU); a unified 911 is being phased in from Lima
Country-level guidance, checked against official sources. Currency, fares and entry rules change — confirm anything time-critical before you travel.
Recent stories from Peru
Where to Stay in Lima: Neighborhoods and Classic Hotels
Miraflores clifftops, bohemian Barranco, stately San Isidro, or the historic centre — Lima's best neighborhoods and its famous grand-dame hotels.
Cusco at First Light and After Dark: The City Before and After the Tour Groups
Most visitors treat Cusco as a staging post for Machu Picchu. Stay put at dawn and dusk, and the old Inca capital becomes a different city entirely.
Cusco and Machu Picchu: The Classic Route Done Right
A four-day route that uses the Sacred Valley's lower altitude to acclimatise on the way down — so you reach Machu Picchu breathing easily, on the first bus of the morning.
Three Days in Cusco: The Complete Route
The former Inca capital deserves more than a stopover on the way to Machu Picchu. Here is how to give Cusco and the Sacred Valley three properly paced days.
Cusco's Most Photogenic Corners, Ranked
Cusco's thin Andean light and its hillside geometry make it a photographer's city — here are its eight best frames, ranked, with the tickets, timings and weather that make each one work.
A Market-to-Table Food Day in Cusco
From juice stalls at San Pedro Market to alpaca and pisco sours after dark, this is how to eat your way through the old Inca capital in one glorious day.
A Wet Day in Cusco: The All-Indoor Route
Andean rain arrives over Cusco most afternoons from November to March — here is the all-indoor route through its churches, convents, museums and roofed market, ordered so you are sitting down when the sky opens.
Choosing Your Base in Cusco: A First-Timer's Guide
Plaza-side convenience, the steep artisan lanes of San Blas, or the lower air of the Sacred Valley. In a city at 3,400 metres, where you sleep matters more than usual.
Breakfast to Midnight: Eating Your Way Through Lima
One of the great food cities on earth, ordered by the clock. Sandwiches at dawn, ceviche strictly at lunch, and pisco after dark.
Cross Lima Once a Day, Not Four Times
Lima's sights sit in four clusters separated by up to an hour of traffic in each direction, so the only itinerary that survives contact with the city takes one cluster per day, in this order.
The Backstreets and Local Markets of Lima
Past the Miraflores clifftops: a pre-Inca pyramid between apartment blocks, a market that supplies the famous kitchens, and Barranco after dark.