What budget for a trip to Peru?

The blocks to add up

1. Regular accommodation: hotel, guesthouse, flat or dormitory bed.
2. Packages: nights in an Amazon lodge, a guided trek, a stay with meals. They group several items into a single price.
3. The meals you pay for yourself, per person per day.
4. Local transport: taxis, metro, city buses, short shuttles.
5. Long-distance journeys: domestic flights, long-distance buses, trains, boats.
6. Entry fees and excursions: site tickets, guides, boat trips, equipment hire.
7. Personal items: insurance, equipment, bank charges, phone.
8. The margin: an extra night, a rescheduled flight, an activity decided on the spot.

This breakdown often reveals a surprise: long-distance journeys and a few major entry fees weigh more than everyday spending. A trip that changes base every two days costs more than a trip of the same length with three bases, even with the same hotels.

The big items, with recorded amounts

The examples on this page use fictitious numbers to show the method. Here, alongside them, are real amounts, recorded from official sources or from the establishment on the date given in how much things cost in Peru:

The Machu Picchu train, domestic flights and hotels are not listed: their prices change with the date, the time and demand. Get quotes for your dates, then enter them in the calculator.

Read the unit of a price before adding it up

Most budget mistakes come from a misread unit, not from a wrong calculation.

The same trip often contains all three logics. Example: a hotel charged per room in Lima, a dormitory in Cusco for a solo traveller, a lodge package per person in the Amazon. The calculator below handles accommodation per room or per person, and an all-inclusive package alongside.

Days, nights and nights without a bed

Fourteen days in the country usually make thirteen nights, because you arrive on the first day and leave on the last. Two situations reduce the number of nights to pay for even further:

• a night on a night bus: the ticket counts under long-distance journeys, no room that evening;
• a night included in a package: lodge, trekking refuge, boat; it is paid for in the package.

Conversely, a very early arrival may mean paying for the night before so as to have the room from the morning. That is one more night, to be added deliberately.

Example 1: the method, with fictitious numbers

Two adults, fourteen days in the country, thirteen nights, one double room. The amounts below are fictitious: they illustrate the method, not a recommended budget.

That is 3,996.25 PEN per person. The 15% margin is an assumption: choose your own percentage.

Example 2: the same trip with a lodge and a night bus

Still with fictitious numbers, the same two travellers spend three nights in a rainforest lodge sold full board (1,400 PEN per person, three days of meals included), and one night on a night bus whose ticket is already counted under long-distance journeys.

That is 5,014 PEN per person. Without these deductions, four nights of room (640 PEN: three nights in the lodge and one on the bus) and three days of meals (390 PEN) would have been counted twice, before the margin. Both examples can be loaded into the calculator.

What the calculator does, and what it cannot do

It does:

• separate days and nights, rooms and travellers;
• count accommodation per room or per person depending on the rate you enter;
• remove from accommodation the nights spent on a bus and the nights included in a package, and remove from meals the days the package covers;
• multiply an amount entered “per person” by the number of travellers;
• flag inconsistencies: more nights than days, a package entered without any nights or meals declared, deductions longer than the stay.

It cannot guess what a quote includes. If you enter a package without specifying its nights and meals, it will not remove them: it tells you so. It applies no exchange rate: enter all the amounts in the same currency. Nothing is sent; your figures stay in your browser.

The items people often forget

Some amounts come on top of the main price without always being mentioned in an offer. A few examples:

On top of that come personal items we cannot put a figure on for you: travel insurance, which must cover medical costs and repatriation (outside emergencies, the FDFA points out that Peruvian hospitals often require a financial guarantee before treating you; a life-threatening emergency, however, must be treated without prior payment, but the costs remain payable afterwards: see health); rain or altitude gear; your bank’s charges on payments and withdrawals; a SIM card or a data plan.

What makes the bill vary

With the same hotels, four choices often move the total more than everything else:

• The number of bases. Each change adds a journey, sometimes a private transfer, and often half a day lost. Three well-chosen bases cost less than six stops of two nights.
• Plane or bus. The bus takes whole days; the plane saves time, and the FDFA recommends it for long distances. Compare both prices and the travel days you gain.
• Alone or with others. A double room, a private transfer or a guide are paid per room, per vehicle or per group: alone, you pay for everything; with two or four people, you share. See travelling alone.
• When you book. In high season, trains, hotels in Machu Picchu Pueblo and Inca Trail places fill up early; at the last minute, there is less choice. See when to go.

Saving money without cutting corners

• The right Boleto Turístico. If you only visit the Sacred Valley sites, the partial ticket (S/ 70) is enough; the full one (S/ 130 for 16 sites, valid for 10 days) is only worth it for several circuits.
• Machu Picchu on foot. Walking down from the site to the village saves half the shuttle bus fare, and walking up saves the other half for good walkers.
• Student rates. Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail have a student rate, on presentation of a valid higher-education student card.
• Buying online. Some museums are cheaper online: the Museo Larco costs S/ 45 online against S/ 50 at the ticket office.
• The set lunch. The menú, a starter, a main course and often a drink, is the cheapest way to eat well; in the evening, people more often order à la carte.
• Public transport in Lima. A metro or Metropolitano journey costs a few soles; keep booked taxis for the evening and complicated journeys.
• Water in large bottles. A 2.5-litre bottle costs S/ 2.50 at the supermarket: refill a water bottle rather than buying small ones.

Gratuities, bank charges and small expenses

• Gratuities are not compulsory. In a restaurant, first check whether a “servicio” charge is on the bill; for a guide or a driver who has done a good job, a tip is appreciated. See local customs.
• Bank charges add up: those of the Peruvian cash machine, shown on the screen, and those of your bank for a payment or withdrawal abroad. Always pay in soles when a terminal offers to charge your card in francs or euros. See money and connectivity.
• Cash in small notes is useful for taxis, markets and set lunches.

The local price must not hide the final cost

An excursion advertised at 60 soles may be an excellent deal. Before comparing, ask what might be missing: the site entry fee, pick-up from the hotel, the meal, equipment, the guide’s language, the return journey. Add up the missing items, then compare with an offer that includes them. Two quotes can only be compared like for like: the page What to book before you go? shows how to set them side by side, line by line.