4 guides, each rated 1 to 5 with the reason — and two lists per place, where you are comfortable and where to pay attention. Nowhere is called dangerous; the specific thing is what helps.
Crime against visitors is rare and the tourist centre is heavily policed. Altitude is the real hazard: Cusco sits at 3,400m and people who fly straight in and start walking get properly ill. Give it two days before any trek, drink far more water than feels necessary, and take the coca tea seriously — it helps.
Comfortable: Cusco Historic Centre · San Blas · Sacred Valley
Altitude, which is the actual danger at 3,400m — arrive and do nothing for a day
San Cristóbal, Cusco — walking down alone at night
Unlicensed trek operators on the Salkantay and Inca trails
The centre is comfortable and busy into the evening. Ordinary city precautions apply, and unofficial taxis are the thing to avoid — use a ranked one or an app. Altitude is the real issue: the city is at 2,335m and the Colca viewpoints are above 4,900m, which is high enough that a fit person can feel unwell. Give yourself two days here before going higher.
Comfortable: the Plaza de Armas · Yanahuara · San Lázaro · Selva Alegre by day
unmarked taxis — use an app or a hotel-called car, which is the standing advice across Peru
the streets below the plaza after dark — quiet, poorly lit and a walk worth making by taxi instead
the Colca on the first day — Chivay is 3,650m and the pass above it is 4,900m; altitude sickness here sends people to hospital
The altitude is the hazard and it is serious: 3,812m is high enough that arriving directly from the coast makes people genuinely ill. Come up through Arequipa or Cusco, take the first day slowly, and do not drink on it. Nights on the islands drop below freezing year-round and the homestays have no heating — pack for that, not for the daytime sun. Puno itself is fine by day and quiet after dark.
Comfortable: Puno’s centre and lakefront · the Uros islands · Amantaní · Taquile · Copacabana
arriving and sleeping at 3,800m on the same day as flying — the lake is higher than most of the Alps; give it a day in Puno or come up from Cusco
the night buses on the altiplano — the roads are long, dark and cold
the lake in the afternoon — the wind gets up daily and the small boats take the chop badly
the cold after sunset — there is no heating on the islands and the temperature falls below freezing
Miraflores and Barranco are comfortable and well-policed; central Lima needs more care and outer districts should be avoided without local guidance. Use ride apps rather than street taxis. Tap water is not drinkable — stick to bottled.
Comfortable: Miraflores · Barranco · San Isidro
Lima Centro — after dark
Callao — and the port
Street-hailed taxis — use an app
The Costa Verde cliffs and the beaches below them, where the current is strong
The ratings are this site's own, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in; they are not an index. Read the general advice in travel safety tips.
