Our method: dated sources, clear choices

Three separate questions

Earlier versions of this guide used four statuses: “spotted”, “checked”, “tried” and “partner”. They mixed up things that have nothing to do with each other. A partner restaurant may have been tried; a place visited last year may have changed its prices; information confirmed by phone says nothing about the taste of a dish. Each restaurant or venue page therefore now answers three questions, shown separately.

As of 1 October 2026, all the published places are not visited yet, described from public information, and have no commercial link. A page only changes its label when there is a new fact: a dated visit, a written confirmation, a signed agreement. Never by deduction.

These three labels do not say whether a place is “good”. A documentary page can be very useful: it explains what the establishment offers, what it publishes and what to ask. A visit, even a recent one, does not guarantee a current price.

Choosing sources

For each guide, we look for at least two sources from different websites, including a primary source when one exists: the site’s management, the museum, the Ministry of Culture, SERNANP (protected natural areas), Migraciones, the ATU (Lima transport), the airport, the railway operator, the municipality, UNESCO or a scientific body. Two pages from the same body count as a single origin: two PROMPERÚ websites do not confirm each other.

Sources play different roles:

• an official source sets a rate, an access rule or travel advice;
• an institutional tourism source gives a geographical and cultural framework, but also describes a promotional offer;
• a timetable aggregator (buses, flights) gives scheduled times, not a guaranteed journey time;
• a blog or forum helps us spot the questions travellers ask, never to establish a price, a health rule or a level of safety on its own.

An official source can be old, promotional or wrong. We do not copy an implausible driving time, a world record without context or a legend presented as a fact. Archaeological interpretations are flagged as such (“the hypothesis most often put forward”).

When two sources contradict each other

We first look for a more direct source: the management’s page rather than an article summarising it. If the conflict remains open, the page publishes what is established and a short sentence on the discrepancy, at the relevant point. Example: the altitude of Cusco is 3,399 m according to Wikidata and about 3,350 m according to the CDC; the city spreads over several tens of metres of height, and we write “about 3,400 m” while flagging the difference. We do not replace a whole guide with “check with the provider”.

One value, one place

Rates, opening hours, rules, altitudes and journey times are entered only once in a register, with:

• the value and its unit;
• the precise place and the category of visitor concerned (foreign adult, resident, student…);
• what is included or excluded;
• the source (title and link), the publication date given by the source if there is one, and the actual date it was consulted;
• a status: site management, official source, press or reseller, conflicting sources or old source.

The pages cite this value instead of copying it: if the price of the Cusco Boleto Turístico changes, it changes everywhere at once. At the bottom of each page, the “Sources and dates” panel lists these values with their source. The date consulted is never presented as the date the source was updated.

How often we check

Each value in the register carries a recommended checking frequency:

This is a working rule, not a promise: the date shown next to each value tells you when the check actually took place. A page whose revision date is old should be read as such.

The dates shown

A page carries the revision date of its text. Dated values carry their own date of consultation. Changing a year in a title or republishing without rereading is not an update: we do not do it.

Prices

We distinguish the official rate (set by the operator or the authority), the published price (the establishment’s menu, website or ticket office), the price paid on site (a documented actual purchase) and the quote received (a written offer for a date). Each price states its currency, its unit (per person, per vehicle, per room), what it includes and its date. We do not calculate an “average price for Peru” from a few records and do not publish an unconfirmed price “with SwissLima”. A price difference can come from a different service: we never automatically conclude that it is a scam.

Recipes

Our 26 recipes are home recipes, written from reference recipes and from food safety sources cited on each page. We have not yet cooked them for this guide, and each page says so once, plainly. The times given are estimates. A recipe will only be called “tried” after it has been cooked and adjusted; the page will then say so, with the date.

For risky recipes (raw fish, poultry, minced meat, offal, stored rice, deep-frying), the text relies on a food safety source suited to the product, without carrying the temperature for one meat over to another.

Photos and illustrations

The images in the guide are illustrations generated by artificial intelligence, and every caption starts with “Illustration:”. They evoke a place, a dish or a scene: they are not photographs of a site, an establishment or a dish served at a particular place, and they do not prove that we have been there. A photograph published later would carry its full credit (author, licence, source); a personal photo would be signed and dated. See Use of artificial intelligence.

The role of artificial intelligence tools

The texts in this guide are written with the help of artificial intelligence tools, from the sources listed at the bottom of each page and the register of dated data. These tools are used to search, compare and write; they do not visit, taste or phone anyone. Information produced in this way therefore keeps the label “public information” until a team member has confirmed it.

Report a mistake

Have you seen a different price, different opening hours or a closure on the spot? Tell us the place, the date and what you saw. If you have a photo of the menu or a receipt, hide your personal details first. We check before correcting: your report triggers a check of the source and, if necessary, a correction of the value in the register, and therefore on every page that cites it.

What we do not publish

No star ratings or invented reviews, no testimonials without consent, no customer counters, no partner logos without a documented agreement, no photos presented as first-hand when they are not, no recipes called tried without having been cooked.

History of major changes

• 26 September 2026: first complete version of the guide, as a preview.
• 1 October 2026: editorial overhaul. The four statuses become three separate questions; the register of dated data is created; the fifteen-day itinerary is corrected (three transfer days, not two); the budget calculator can remove the nights and meals included in a package; the guides are expanded, page by page.
• 8 October 2026: more direct texts (the answer first, precautions where they change a decision); sources and dates gathered in a panel at the bottom of the page; eight photos replaced by illustrations; structured data for the recipes.