Peru Trip Cost: What a 4 to 15 Day Trip Really Costs

At a small restaurant a few blocks from the Plaza de Armas in Cusco, the set lunch arrives in two rounds: a bowl of soup, then a plate of rice with whatever the kitchen cooked that morning. You pay about S/35 and walk out full. The next night in Aguas Calientes a similar meal can cost twice that, because every bag of rice in that town came up the gorge on the train.

Short answer: A 7-day Peru trip costs about US$1,210 to US$1,620 per person with 3-star hotels, before international flights (as of October 2026): US$900 for our package, US$100 to US$300 for the Lima to Cusco flight, and about US$30 to US$60 a day for meals and tips. Ten days with Lake Titicaca runs about US$1,750 to US$2,250.

Most Peru cost pages hand you a daily budget and leave the math to you. We sell these trips, so we can do the math with real prices: the package price on our own pages, the costs that sit outside it, and a dated range for each. The one number we leave out is the international flight from the United States, because it moves with your city, your airline and your week. Price it on your own dates and add it to the totals below.

What a Peru trip costs, by length

The table adds three lines for each trip length: our package price in each hotel tier, the domestic flights, and our planning estimate for what you spend outside the package. All figures are per person in a double room. After the number of days, the hotel tier is the biggest lever you have. The same 7 days cost US$900 with 3-star hotels and US$2,220 with 5-star.

A Machu Picchu-only trip from Cusco starts lower, and our Machu Picchu trip cost guide breaks those days down line by line, from the entry ticket to lunch in Aguas Calientes.

The costs inside a package

Our packages are priced in US dollars, per person, and include the hotels, the Machu Picchu ticket on Circuit 2, the round-trip train, the Consettur bus up and down, ground transfers, licensed guides and the meals listed on each page. The tier changes only the hotels: Essential is 3-star, Comfort or Comfort Plus is 4-star, Signature is 5-star. Every package page lists what is not included. Read that list before you hold our price up against another company's, because that is where the gaps hide.

Three examples, all from the package pages as of October 2026: Peru in 7 days with Nazca and Machu Picchu from US$900, the 10-day trip to Lake Titicaca from US$1,347, and Complete Peru in 15 days from US$2,084.

The costs outside a package

Four costs sit outside every package we sell, and they decide if your budget holds.

Flights

International flights are the largest single cost of the trip, and we do not quote them. Domestic flights come second. Round-trip fares between Lima and Cusco showed up at about US$100 to US$300 in fare searches in October 2026, depending on dates and how early you book. A trip that ends at Lake Titicaca flies out of Juliaca instead of Cusco, for about the same fare. Book them as soon as your dates are firm, and earlier still for June to August.

Meals not listed

Packages include breakfasts and some lunches. Most dinners are yours. A set lunch in a local Cusco restaurant costs about S/35, roughly US$10, and a sit-down meal in Aguas Calientes US$15 to US$25, because everything there arrives by train. A good dinner in Lima or Cusco costs more, and after a long day at altitude you will want one. We plan on US$20 to US$45 a day for meals outside the package.

Tips

Tipping in Peru is expected in tourism, in smaller amounts than at home, and always in cash. Our guests usually give a guide US$5 to US$10 per person on a day tour and the driver S/10 to S/20, more on a multi-day trek. Our guide to money and tipping in Peru has the full table. Count US$10 to US$15 a day, and keep small bills handy.

Extras and insurance

The extras are the ones you choose: a Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain ticket, a horse on Rainbow Mountain, park fees listed on each package, the alpaca sweater you did not plan to buy. Travel insurance with medical evacuation cover is not included, and we recommend it for any trip to the Andes. Prices vary by age and policy, so we do not print one.

Doing it yourself: the main prices

If you plan Peru on your own, these are the fixed points to build from, each with its source and date. Prices change by season and by day, so check them the week you book.

A self-planned trip can cost less than a package if you travel light, sleep in hostels and accept the risk of a sold-out train or ticket. With comparable hotels it rarely does, because agency rates on trains and hotels are lower than walk-in rates. Our view: a package pays for itself on the Machu Picchu days and matters less on the Lima days.

Ways to spend less

Travel in April, May, September or October, when hotels discount and the weather holds. Choose the Essential tier and upgrade only the night that matters to you, usually Aguas Calientes or the Sacred Valley. Take the base Expedition class on the return train, since the gorge is dark by then anyway. Eat the set lunch, the menú, where Peruvians eat. And book domestic flights early. For how many days to plan, see our how many days in Peru guide, and for the routes behind these prices, the Peru itinerary guide.