Peru

Honestly, it depends — and where you are makes all the difference.

Lima has some seriously sketchy neighborhoods that are best avoided altogether. Stick to the tourist areas, especially after dark.

Popular destinations like Cusco, Arequipa, or Paracas are pretty safe — but even there, stay close to the central areas rather than wandering into quiet side streets.

Poverty is widespread in Peru, and walking through a deserted alley as an obviously foreign tourist makes you an easy target. Stay aware of your surroundings.

Keep a close eye on your bag and valuables at all times — phone theft in particular happens quickly and easily.

Follow these basic precautions and you’ll have nothing to worry about on your Peru trip!

Not at all — Peru is one of the most affordable travel destinations out there. A good hotel room for two starts at around $30 a night.

Dinner at a decent restaurant runs from about 30 soles (roughly $8). At market halls, you can get a full meal for as little as 10 soles (around $2.50).

Supermarkets are a bit of a mixed bag — some products are cheaper than back home, others are comparable or slightly more expensive.

Peru’s currency is the Sol. One Sol is roughly 0.25 euros (or about 25 US cents).

Card payments are accepted in many places, but plenty of accommodations and smaller stores are cash only — so always keep some soles on you.

The official language is Spanish. English isn’t widely spoken, but at the main tourist spots you can generally get by with English and a bit of pointing.

Peru also has a number of indigenous languages — Quechua being the most widely spoken — used by communities throughout the country.

Peru runs on GMT-5 year-round. It doesn’t observe daylight saving time, so the offset from the US East Coast is zero hours (same as EST) and stays fixed all year.

For European travelers: Peru is typically six to seven hours behind Central European Time, depending on the season.