Money Matters: How much money do you need to backpack Peru?

Peru barely needs an introduction: the country is famous for Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and Colca Canyon. Also, it’s relatively easy to travel around and there are ample pisco sours for your needs! Floris visited Peru as part of his big South America trip and backpacked throughout the country. Find out how much money he needed to backpack Peru below. 

This article is part of the Money Matters series in which we ask travelers to keep their expenses for Bunch of Backpackers. Real travelers, real expenses.  

How much money is needed to backpack peru?

COSTS 19-DAY PERU TRIP: 810 EURO (990 USD)

DAILY TRAVEL EXPENSES PERU*: 42,63 EURO (52,10 USD)

*These daily travel expenses are per one person per day.  Including all tours, domestic flights, souvenirs, lodging, food, drinks, entrance fees, tips etc. Excluding international flights.

EXAMPLES OF PRICES IN PERU:

These prices are per person unless stated otherwise.

Standard Peru expenses

One night in a hostel dormitory: 5,77 euro
A short 10-minute taxi ride: 2,20 euro 
A bottle of water (0,5L) at the store: 0,40 euro 
A glass of coca cola in a restaurant: 0,75 euro 
Basic lunch at a local restaurant: 2,70 euro 
Dinner at a local restaurant: 4,10 euro

Notable Peru expenses 

Huacachina sandboarding and sandbuggy tour (5 hours): 9,6 euro (sunset included!)
Daytrip Sacred Valley: 12,1 euro plus 19,0 euro entrance fee
Colca Canyon trip: 19,0 euro plus 19,0 euro entrance fee 
2-day trip to Machu Picchu: 81,8 euro 
Dental treatment in Cusco: 63,0 euro

SOME DETAILS ON THIS TRIP:

About the backpackers: Floris, the Netherlands, 28 years
Destination and travel period: Peru in September 2014 for 19 days 
Visited places: Lima, Huacachina, Arequipa, Cusco
Type of trip: Solo, independently
Accommodation*: budget (mainly hostels and guesthouses)
Transportation*: budget (cheapest available mode of transportation) 
Food*: budget (local places and cheap western places)
Currency rate: 1 euro = 3,6 Peruvian Soles

*4 options: basic, budget, standard and luxury

PERU TIPS BY FLORIS

• When you arrive by plane on the first day, its convenient to have a hostel booked for the first night/day. I didn’t do that and had to go past three hostels until I found one. And it wasn’t the cheapest hostel.

• Another budget tip is not to book tours in advance, this applies especially for tours around Cusco. It’s best to book a tour in the place itself, a day or something before the actual tour. You can go bargain hunting and last-minute shopping. This way you will find tours 25% cheaper than offered on the net or by hostels.

I (Manouk) also made a cost overview of my trip to Peru and Boliva. It’s pretty similar to Floris. Find out how much money I needed to backpack Peru here!

Floris also kept his expenses for Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Find the costs of his total 58-day South America trip here. 

Book your Peru hotel through Hostelworld.com or Booking.com 

Have you been to Peru? Can you relate to these travel costs?