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Arriving at the Airport Articles \| Home Page If you are going to Peru, the chances are that you will be flying to Lima - Jorge Chavez International Airport. Like airports the world over, it can be daunting to arrive when you are exhausted from a long flight, you queue for ages to get through passport control (and it is slow!) and then have to wrestle to retrieve your bags. Just when you think you have got through the worst, you turn a corner and it seems the entire population of Lima is waiting in the arrival lobby, and half of them want you to take their taxi! So what do you do? Well take your time. Get through the crowd and go to the information desk, where you can order an official taxi at a fixed rate - around US$20 to the city centre. If you want to dive in to Peruvian life you can do what the Peruvians do and carry your bags to the main road outside the airport entrance (where the taxi drivers do not have to pay the S/.3 entry fee) and get a bus or a taxi from there - a local would pay about S/.20 (US$6) for a taxi, or about S/.2 for a bus. BE CAREFUL THOUGH - there are lots of horror stories about people getting off the plane, flashing their money about and taking an unlicenced taxi - who then robbed them. If you want to be absolutely safe then you can book a night or two in advance at one of the many better class hotels which will arrange for a taxi to collect you. If you are planning to fly to Cusco, it is far cheaper to buy the tickets once you arrive in Peru - Lima to Cusco costs between US$55 and US$85 per person as opposed to US$300 or more if you buy it along with your long-haul flight; don't ask me why, I have no idea. Planes to Cusco fly in the mornings to avoid the turbulence you get later in the day (remember Cusco is in a valley, about 12,000 feet above Lima!). If you fly later in the day then delays are likely. This means that you are probably going to have to spend at least one night in Lima, so plan it into your trip - there are some wonderful places to visit. Back to top \| Home Page \| Articles \| History \| Culture Language and Food

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If you are going to Peru, the chances are that you will be flying to Lima - Jorge Chavez International Airport. Like airports the world over, it can be daunting to arrive when you are exhausted from a long flight, you queue for ages to get through passport control (and it is slow!) and then have to wrestle to retrieve your bags. Just when you think you have got through the worst, you turn a corner and it seems the entire population of Lima is waiting in the arrival lobby, and half of them want you to take their taxi!

So what do you do? Well take your time. Get through the crowd and go to the information desk, where you can order an official taxi at a fixed rate - around US$20 to the city centre. If you want to dive in to Peruvian life you can do what the Peruvians do and carry your bags to the main road outside the airport entrance (where the taxi drivers do not have to pay the S/.3 entry fee) and get a bus or a taxi from there - a local would pay about S/.20 (US$6) for a taxi, or about S/.2 for a bus. BE CAREFUL THOUGH - there are lots of horror stories about people getting off the plane, flashing their money about and taking an unlicenced taxi - who then robbed them. If you want to be absolutely safe then you can book a night or two in advance at one of the many better class hotels which will arrange for a taxi to collect you.

If you are planning to fly to Cusco, it is far cheaper to buy the tickets once you arrive in Peru - Lima to Cusco costs between US$55 and US$85 per person as opposed to US$300 or more if you buy it along with your long-haul flight; don't ask me why, I have no idea. Planes to Cusco fly in the mornings to avoid the turbulence you get later in the day (remember Cusco is in a valley, about 12,000 feet above Lima!). If you fly later in the day then delays are likely. This means that you are probably going to have to spend at least one night in Lima, so plan it into your trip - there are some wonderful places to visit.