🇨🇷 Costa Rica or 🇵🇪 Peru
Which one, honestly
Costa Rica leads on the sea. Peru leads on food, cities and value for money.
A normal day costs about $130 in Costa Rica and $85 in Peru.
Side by side
- 🇨🇷 Costa Rica🇵🇪 Peru
- Jan, Feb, Mar, DecBest monthsMay, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep
- $130A normal day$85
- 5h 15m to San JoseNonstop from New York7h 45m to Lima
- Very goodBeaches and seaNot the draw
- Not the drawCities and cultureVery good
- GoodFoodExceptional
- ExceptionalNature and hikingExceptional
- Not the drawValue for moneyVery good
- GoodEasy to get aroundGood
- A hire car with clearance, the distances are short but the roads are slowGetting aroundLong distance buses are good and cheap, flights save whole days
- September and October on the Caribbean side, the wettest weeks of the yearWhen to avoidFebruary, when the rains peak and the Inca Trail closes for maintenance
Pick by what you want
🇨🇷 Choose Costa Rica if
you want wildlife above everything else, cloud forest and two oceans in one small country, and you accept it costs more than its neighbours.
🇵🇪 Choose Peru if
you want the Andes, one of the best food scenes anywhere, and a ruin everyone knows, without paying European prices.
Full Costa Rica guide →Full Peru guide →
And what the world thinks
Dead even. The next vote breaks the tie.
Compare something else
Written and checked by hand. Nothing here about visas or entry rules: those change often and depend on your passport, so check an official source.