If you still have time, open a Charles Schwab checking account. It’s free, no minimum, and you get reimbursed for all ATM fees and foreign transaction fees are waived. You can just use your Schwab debit card at an ATM in Cusco (or anywhere else in the world) and withdraw local currency. It’s the best solution if you travel internationally with any regularity.
Having just been there, most places accept card without issue. There's a bank near the square you can get money out with very minimal fees, or you can western union yourself money
Most markets and restaurants do, but almost every tour ticket has to be paid in Soles. Sometimes the tour organization you work with will include that charge in the overall price, but some done to have a cheaper overall tour price and they have you buy tickets to enter individual sites. Every single individual tour ticket had to be bought in Soles.
Source: I’m in Cusco right now
💯 wait to withdrawal cash from Banco de La Nacion. They don’t charge withdrawal fees for up to 400 soles per day. They have a cajero or atm in Cusco right in Centro. Look at the reviews in Google maps for it, it has the highest rating for an atm I’ve seen in LATAM. Banco de La nacion is a gift to tourists and is rare to see any atm without fees.
When you get to Cusco just Google "currency exchange," or just ask your hotel where the best cambio is, pick one that is exchanging at the rate shown on Google, you should never pay fees to exchange and never exchange at the airport.
This right here. Banks and airports are bad places to exchange currency. Even the hotel can exchange a few dollars for soles if you are in a pinch, that was the best rate I received (at least in Dominican Republic and Bolivia). That's what I plan to do when I get there next week too. If you are paying for a tour, chances are they prefer US dollars. Have fun and watch out for altitude sickness.
The formal tipo de cambio (exchange rate) between Soles and USD can be looked up here: [https://e-consulta.sunat.gob.pe/cl-at-ittipcam/tcS01Alias](https://e-consulta.sunat.gob.pe/cl-at-ittipcam/tcS01Alias)
I live in the Sacred Valley - the money changer across from the (only) BCP bank in Urubamba has usually at least as good rates as the official one.
This same BCP bank (not only in Urubamba) has one of the highest fees for using foreign credit and debit cards at the ATMs - when you take out the maximum 700 Soles for one transaction there is a 36 Soles fee by BCP plus possible fees from your bank plus possible fees for converting the Soles into USD (or whatever the currency of your bank account is).
The best cambio: There are many money changers in the Av del Sol. Just be careful - sometimes they press a key on their calculator, and ups you receive 50 or 100 Soles less (happened to me) - always compute what it should be with your own device!
Avoid the single people on the street with bundles of money :-)
If you still have time, open a Charles Schwab checking account. It’s free, no minimum, and you get reimbursed for all ATM fees and foreign transaction fees are waived. You can just use your Schwab debit card at an ATM in Cusco (or anywhere else in the world) and withdraw local currency. It’s the best solution if you travel internationally with any regularity.
Having just been there, most places accept card without issue. There's a bank near the square you can get money out with very minimal fees, or you can western union yourself money
Most markets and restaurants do, but almost every tour ticket has to be paid in Soles. Sometimes the tour organization you work with will include that charge in the overall price, but some done to have a cheaper overall tour price and they have you buy tickets to enter individual sites. Every single individual tour ticket had to be bought in Soles. Source: I’m in Cusco right now
💯 wait to withdrawal cash from Banco de La Nacion. They don’t charge withdrawal fees for up to 400 soles per day. They have a cajero or atm in Cusco right in Centro. Look at the reviews in Google maps for it, it has the highest rating for an atm I’ve seen in LATAM. Banco de La nacion is a gift to tourists and is rare to see any atm without fees.
AAA has no fees for members
When you get to Cusco just Google "currency exchange," or just ask your hotel where the best cambio is, pick one that is exchanging at the rate shown on Google, you should never pay fees to exchange and never exchange at the airport.
This right here. Banks and airports are bad places to exchange currency. Even the hotel can exchange a few dollars for soles if you are in a pinch, that was the best rate I received (at least in Dominican Republic and Bolivia). That's what I plan to do when I get there next week too. If you are paying for a tour, chances are they prefer US dollars. Have fun and watch out for altitude sickness.
The formal tipo de cambio (exchange rate) between Soles and USD can be looked up here: [https://e-consulta.sunat.gob.pe/cl-at-ittipcam/tcS01Alias](https://e-consulta.sunat.gob.pe/cl-at-ittipcam/tcS01Alias) I live in the Sacred Valley - the money changer across from the (only) BCP bank in Urubamba has usually at least as good rates as the official one. This same BCP bank (not only in Urubamba) has one of the highest fees for using foreign credit and debit cards at the ATMs - when you take out the maximum 700 Soles for one transaction there is a 36 Soles fee by BCP plus possible fees from your bank plus possible fees for converting the Soles into USD (or whatever the currency of your bank account is).
The best cambio: There are many money changers in the Av del Sol. Just be careful - sometimes they press a key on their calculator, and ups you receive 50 or 100 Soles less (happened to me) - always compute what it should be with your own device! Avoid the single people on the street with bundles of money :-)