How much does it cost to visit Peru in 2025?

Peru is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited (and that’s saying something). I loved every minute of it (this blog post goes into more detail why). Besides being incredible, it’s also a very affordable place (as long as you limit your fine dining in Lima and guided hikes).

If you’re headed to Peru and wondering how much you’ll need to spend, look no further. In this post, I’ll explain how much I spent, where I went wrong, the average price, and how you can save money.

How Much Did I Spend?

In the sixteen days I was in Peru, I went to Lima, Arequipa, Cusco, and walked around the Sacred Valley. I spent $4,992.63 USD or $312 per day. That breaks down as follows (in USD):

• Place of residencePrice: $1,246.51
• FoodPrice: $795.96
• Guidance tipsPrice: $45.90
• Tours / ActivitiesPrice: $162
• TransportationPrice: $80.96
• Private tour (see below)Price: $1,770
• Domestic flightsPrice: $480.06
• Travel insurancePrice: $73.92
• GearPrice: $337.32

Now, I spent a lot more than you could do in the same amount of time. That’s for a few reasons:

First, Lima is one of the gastronomic hubs with the best restaurants in the world. I ended up eating at a few of these places and that increased my food costs.

Second, I did a private tour for my guided tour in Cusco for work-related reasons and that increased my expenses a lot (it’s impossible to pay private guides when you travel). Without that trip, my expenses would have dropped to $200 USD per day!

Third, given the short time I had in the country and the distance I had to travel, I would also fly between most destinations rather than take long overnight buses. In addition, because, again due to work, I had to change some flights at the last minute, I had to pay a change fee.

Finally, I stayed in a really fancy hotel in Cusco for a few nights, which covered 50% of my accommodation costs. YOLO!

So how much would you, the average traveler, need if you wanted to visit Peru? Well, I’m not as sure as I am! Here are some suggested reasonable budgets for Peru:

Budget Backpacker
If you want to backpack Peru, I can plan for $50–80 USD per day (185–300 PEN). On this budget, you’ll be staying in hostel dorms, eating at hole-in-the-wall restaurants and cafes, limiting your drinking, riding public transportation and night buses, and doing a few paid activities and tours. If you will be attending a lot of events, you will be at the lower end of this range.

Average budget
If you want to follow what I did (minus the private tour), you will need $150–200 USD per day (560–750 PEN). This can get you private rooms in hostels or two- or three-star hotels, a few of the world’s most famous gourmet meals, all the drinks you want, domestic flights, and any tour and activity your heart desires.

From there, you can add or subtract $30–50 USD per day depending on whether you stay in brand hotels (or not), take domestic flights (or not), or party a lot (or not).

You can use the price list below to help you budget.

Standard Prices

How much are things in Peru? Below are the standard rates (written in Peruvian currency, abbreviated PEN). The higher-end numbers are what you’ll pay at fancier, higher-end restaurants (and sometimes more). Many other areas in Peru are on the low end.

• Hostel cabins: 40–100 PEN per night
• Private room of the hostel: 100–250 PEN per night
• Budget hotel: 110–300 PEN per night
• Global chain hotel: +375 IPEN overnight
• Appetizers: 20–30 PEN
• Ceviche: 40–60 PEN
• Main dishes: 40–60 PEN
• Cuy (guinea pig, delicacy): PEN 55
• Burgers: 20–28 PEN
• Sandwiches: 12–15 PEN
• Fast food combinations: PEN 15-20
• It’s pizza: 25–60 PEN
• Dessert: 20–40 PEN
• Water (at the restaurant): 4-10 PEN
• Soda: 4–7 PENS
• Coffee: 5–10 PEN
• Iced coffee: 13–15 PEN
• Tea: 5–12 PEN
• Beer: PEN 15
• Wine: 29–45 PEN
• Cocktails: 25 PEN
• Entering the museum: 10–20 PEN
• Ubers: 10–20 PEN
• Taxis: PEN 15–30
• Domestic flights: 150–300 PEN
• Machu Picchu guided walking/tour: 3,000–6,000 PEN

Tips for Keeping a Budget

It is very easy to avoid spending a lot of money in Peru. Your biggest expenses will be accommodation, domestic flights, multi-day guided tours, and fine dining. If you limit any of that, you’ll be fine as public transportation is cheap, Ubers are insanely cheap, and Peruvian restaurants are really affordable.

Here’s what you can do to reduce your expenses and save money in Peru without limiting your experience:

Bring a water bottle – The tap water here is not safe to drink, so bring a reusable water bottle with a filter to save money and reduce your use of plastic. LifeStraw is my go-to brand, as their bottles have built-in filters to ensure your water is always clean and safe.

Offseason travel – The cheapest times to visit Peru are the shoulder months of January to April or November and December, as prices tend to drop during these months.

Take the the colectivos – These are small shared vans that cost about 10 PEN to ride. They run when they are full and are the cheapest way to travel from city to city (think within two hours).

Use Uber – Uber is in every major city in the country and is really cheap. You don’t pay more than a few dollars for a trip and they are often cheaper than taxis.

Book tours at the last minute – If you want to do the Inca Trail and have more time to wait for a deal, arriving in Cusco and booking a last minute tour can save you a lot of money. (But I wouldn’t recommend this if you’re short on time as you might have to wait days for a spot to open up.)

Go on a free walking tour – This is a great way to learn the history of the places you see and avoid missing any must-see stops. Free Walking Tour Peru has really good tour offers in all the major cities.

Get student discounts – If you are a student, be sure to carry your student card to get great discounts (up to 50% off) at archaeological sites and museums in and around Cusco.

Cut back on your good food – Peru is one of the gastronomic centers of the world, with the best restaurants in the world here (in fact, the best restaurant in the world, Central, is here). Eating out is often on people’s to-do lists. But meals often cost $100 USD or more (375 PEN), so avoid this if you want to save money.

Book LATAM flights using the New Zealand website – LATAM has cheaper rates if you use the NZ version of their website (instead of the US site). System paleness. Even if you are not a NZ resident, you can book on the site without any problems.

Take the Peru Hop – Peru Hop is a backpacker hop-on/hop-off bus that travels on fixed routes throughout the country. This includes a lot of work and the guides are great. And, unlike most regular buses, they run on time and have free Wi-Fi. Many locals also take them, because they are really good value.

Hit happy hours – In all major locations, you can find two and one happy hours as well as food specials and other discounts. Check with your hostel or hotel or Google for the latest information on which places are currently offering specials.

Peru can accommodate any budget. It has some of the best restaurants in the world, luxury resorts, private guided hikes, and high-end jungle lodges that will blow your budget. But there’s also amazing local transportation, affordable hotels and restaurants, and inexpensive group tours. We hope this post helps you make the most of your visit, wherever your budget falls on that spectrum.

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