How safe is Peru for travelers?

Peru sits at Level 2, exercise increased caution, for street robbery and periodic social demonstrations. Roadblocks during protests can close highways and rail lines at short notice, including around Cusco.

The scams

• The mustard or spill scam: something is squirted on your clothes, a helpful stranger cleans you up, your bag goes.
• Counterfeit note swapping: your genuine S/ 50 or S/ 100 is exchanged for a fake and handed back as "no good".
• Express kidnapping in unlicensed taxis: driven between ATMs and made to withdraw daily limits. This is the reason to use Uber or Cabify rather than a street taxi.
• Bag theft in restaurants: a rucksack hung on the back of a chair is gone in seconds. Keep it on your lap or between your feet.

Areas to avoid

• Lima: Callao outside the secured airport corridor, La Victoria, Rimac, El Agustino, and the peripheral settlements after dark.
• Cusco: the streets around San Pedro Market late at night.

Nature and roads

• Peru is seismically active.
• Huaicos - mudslides - from January to March regularly block Andean highways and damage railway track.
• Traffic is aggressive and does not yield to pedestrians, marked crossings included.

Law and social climate

• Drug sentences are severe: 8 to 25 years for possession, purchase or trafficking.
• Coca is a special case. Chewing coca leaves and drinking coca tea is entirely legal and normal in Peru, and it is offered everywhere in the highlands. Taking raw coca leaves or products out of the country is illegal, and they will also show on a drug test at home.
• Solo and female travellers: catcalling is common in cities; the standing advice is not to walk alone after dark in unlit areas and to use Uber, Cabify or hotel transport.
• LGBTQ+: same-sex relations are legal; attitudes are conservative nationally and considerably more relaxed in Miraflores and Barranco.