2.23/5
563 reviews
Photo by NINA PASCAL via Unsplash

Cost of Living in Cusco

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wifi

tourists

tour

guide

buses

great

street

bad

train

machu

picchu

amazing

opportunities

boleto

touristica

sites

worth

bus

Cusco is a historically significant city in Peru and a hub for adventure seekers due to its excellent hiking opportunities and access to important archaeological sites via the boleto turistico. Travel around the region isn’t always straightforward—public transport lacks online schedules and locals rely on word-of-mouth or specific collectivo stations. Despite this, it's possible to navigate independently without a tour guide if you're comfortable with local transit knowledge.

The Centro Historico offers a tourist-friendly base, though it comes at a cost—many businesses charge tourists more than locals, especially in places like convenience stores. Stepping just a few blocks outside the center gives a better sense of local life. Public safety is generally good, and while housing quality in some areas isn’t high, the streets are mostly clean and people practical.

Working remotely may be inconsistent. Some cafes offer quality internet, but either discourage laptop use or provide lower speeds. Political unrest in early 2023 significantly disrupted transport and made visiting unsafe during that time, with closed attractions and demonstrations impacting travel. If planning a visit, be sure to check current conditions. Still, for adventure travelers considering a longer stay, Cusco has a lot to offer.

AI-generated summary of reviews

Very bad place to visit right now. The country is in a time of political and civil unrest, with mass protests closing down airports, train stations, and roads since early December 2022 (it is now mid January 2023). Tourists have had to be evacuated. The train to Machu Picchu is indefinitely closed until further notice. 48 people have died in the conflicts so far. Peru, and Cusco in particular, is a beautiful place with amazing things to see - but right now is not the time to visit.

2 years ago

Famous city, the historical capital and crown jewel of Peru. While the food does not compare to what is available in Lima, man the hiking opportunities are above and beyond. The boleto touristica is fantastic, for around $50 USD you get access to 11 archeological sites (all worth it), a cultural show (worth it), and 4 museums (I did not go). You have the option of hiring a tour guide, who will arrange transport and lunch for around 15-50 USD depending who you go with, but I decided to go it alone via collectivos and buses. Beware for newcomers: there are no bus schedules on google maps, government sites, or even the bus stop sign. It's all by word of mouth. For the ruins specifically, look for the "Terminal de Buses Urcos" and the "Pavitos Colectictivo A Ollantaytambo" on google maps. These buses will go to or near the ruins on the ticket, for Moray you will need to take another collectivo from Moras.

Cafes in the Centro Historico can be hit or miss regarding wifi. Some have amazing wifi (50mbps) but do not want you to charge laptops there (Dwasi) others are setup as a great place to work from but with just 10mbps wifi (Cafe Panam).

If it's your first time traveling to Cusco the Centro Historico is a great place to be, but do be prepared for a lot of tourists and their results (higher prices for tourists than locals, it's why prices are not posted at convenience stores. 2.5L water should be around 3 soles, not 11 or even 7 like my first seller tried to sell me on; lots of street sellers asking if you would like a shoe shine, massage, some paintings or failing that, weed.) If you go just 2-3 blocks outside the historic center you will see the "real" Cusco, with crowds and crowds of people browsing street sellers selling fruits, vegetables, meat, trinkets, electronics. I did not see many people living on the street, which is great, but the housing conditions are not the best (many unfinished apartments with roofs or windows missing, some houses with metal plates for roofs, and so on).

Overall I do recommend staying at least a month in Cusco, especially if you are planning on doing one of the many hikes to Machu Picchu (allowed with tour guide only) and the boleto touristica (tour guide or alone). It's a safe city with spots of good and bad wifi, terrific opportunities for adventures, and a very practical people.

3 years ago

✅ Great hiking and adventure opportunities

✅ Very safe

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Easy to make friends

✅ Easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Inconsistent wifi

❌ Higher prices for tourists

❌ No public transport info online

❌ Ongoing political unrest

❌ Not much to do

❌ Cold now

❌ Cold all year round

❌ Very damp now

❌ Nomads.com members didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Hospitals are bad

❌ Roads can be dangerous

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not safe for women

❌ Not family friendly

❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

13°C / 55°F cool

14°C / 57°F cool

13°C / 55°F cool

14°C / 57°F cool

12°C / 54°F cool

14°C / 57°F cool

15°C / 59°F cool

14°C / 57°F cool

Real (median)

13°C / 55°F
cool

14°C / 56°F
cool

13°C / 55°F
cool

14°C / 56°F
cool

12°C / 54°F
cool

14°C / 56°F
cool

14°C / 57°F
cool

15°C / 59°F
cool

14°C / 57°F
cool

14°C / 56°F
cool

Humidity

damp
88%

damp
81%

damp
83%

damp
79%

nice
69%

nice
65%

nice
55%

nice
59%

nice
64%

nice
68%

damp
78%

damp
82%

Most common

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

Rain

rainy
215mm

rainy
214mm

rainy
174mm

rainy
77mm

dry
30mm

dry
8mm

dry
7mm

dry
11mm

dry
40mm

rainy
89mm

rainy
137mm

rainy
149mm

Cloud

cloudy
58%

cloudy
56%

cloudy
55%

cloudy
51%

pockets
35%

pockets
38%

pockets
18%

pockets
31%

pockets
42%

pockets
49%

cloudy
58%

cloudy
59%

Sun

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

Remote workers

617 people

557 people

1,036 people

1,150 people

1,236 people

857 people

733 people

655 people

782 people

954 people

967 people

800 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on Cusco's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

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✈️2h

$1,300 / mo

8 Mbps

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	2.23/5 (Rank #639) 563 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍3 liked it 👎2 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $2,170 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 10Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Bad
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥶 Too cold: 12°C54°F (feels 12°C54°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	💦 Damp: 71%
👌 Safety	Okay
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Okay
🤝 Lack of racism*	Okay
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Very low: $504 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Bad
📶 Free WiFi in city	Bad
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Bad
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Bad
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Good
👩 Female friendly	Bad
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Bad
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Latin America
🚩 Country	Peru
🗓️ Average trip length	9 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	10 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌦 12°C 54°F + 💦 Damp (71%) = feels 12°C 54°F
🔌 Power	230V 60Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10 PEN in USD	USD 2.72
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	PEN 1,000 = USD 272
💸 Tipping	Yes, 10%
☕️ Best coffee place	Jack's Café
🏪 Best 24/7 coffee place	GenUp
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	9% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	430,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$6,049 / year
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 77% 👱‍♀️ 23%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Ambiguous
🏠 Apartment listings	Airbnb
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	LAN
🏥 Best hospital	CEntro Medico Cima

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$2,170 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,292 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$2,879 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$823 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$1,132 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$813 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$629 / month
🏠 Median home price	$108,765
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$53 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$27 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$176 / month
🍛 Dinner	$12
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$12,236 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$16 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$4 / trip