OK, Peru veterans. Give me a tip...about money...

JenaRuns

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 2, 2012
We're about to depart on our Machu Picchu adventure. I plan to get some Nuevos Soles to spend in the marketplaces. Please give me a tip! What denominations of bills will I need most? Ones? Tens? Fifties? I realize it takes about three Soles to make a dollar.

And while we're at it: What did you do on your first day? We arrive in Lima early in the morning on Saturday and don't have group activities until we fly to Cusco the following day, so we have almost a whole day in Lima. Tips about how to spend our time?

Thanks for your expertise!
 
Loved, loved, loved this trip! We are pretty cash adverse so we only got cash when needed. Small bills are best. ATMs are pretty plentiful and I would just pick it up as you need it.

We did a food tour with Lima Gourmet Company. It was FANTASTIC! We saw so much of the city and tasted some wonderful stuff. It's a half day tour but entirely worth it. My son was 8 at the time and he loved it too! Have fun. This is one of my favorite itineraries.
 
You won't need much cash at all. Mainly for the markets or souvenirs. Most of Lima can be done with credit card. I don't remember what denominations I got, but I had actually bought them off a friend locally who had come home with some from her own trip.

My girls loved the cat park in Lima. Not sure how far it is from the hotel now--when I went last year they used a different hotel in Lima. If you haven't already looked at my trip report, you can find the link in my signature. There are some photos from the cat park.
 


You won't need much cash at all. Mainly for the markets or souvenirs. Most of Lima can be done with credit card. I don't remember what denominations I got, but I had actually bought them off a friend locally who had come home with some from her own trip.

My girls loved the cat park in Lima. Not sure how far it is from the hotel now--when I went last year they used a different hotel in Lima. If you haven't already looked at my trip report, you can find the link in my signature. There are some photos from the cat park.
 
How much do you like shopping? The stalls in the marketplaces are the only places you will really need local currency. We got a mix in big and small bills from our bank, and had extra to get rid of in the Lima airport.

The ladies at the fabric center on the first day took US dollars or charges. The camelid center and pottery did too. Cash was nice at the Aguascalientes's shops (I got a soda and rest instead), the Pisa market and some of the smaller stalls in Cusco. The group did make a stop at the one ATM in Urubamba the day we went to the pottery, so there were ample chances to refill the wallet.

We took a full day tour with Taku tours (I think that was their name) since we arrived one night early. That tour took off a bit before the Guides were scheduled for the initial meeting, but that wasn't a problem. We killed the day before th flight home by taking a cab over to the cliff sides and then google mapping our walk back. The Westin is rather far away from the tourist areas (including cat park), and negotiating fares with the cab drivers can be interesting. Our groups ended up using uber when we went over to the water show our last night.
 



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