Taxi from Cusco airport: how much does it cost? (2024)

Just like at Lima airport, you’ll find a kiosk to prepay for an official taxi, right before the exit.

The fare to reach Cusco’s historic center is 40 S/. There’s clearly a “tourist tax” because that’s roughly the price of a 30-minute ride in Lima, while Cusco’s center is only about fifteen minutes away.

I had read that it was possible to pay less by leaving the airport and negotiating with “unofficial” taxis.

Since we weren’t in a particular hurry, we gave it a shot.

Sure enough, just a few steps out, drivers approach you. I’m offered 30 S/, I counter with 15. We settle on 20 S/, specifying that it includes the parking fee (I had read that parking costs 2 S/ and that drivers tried to charge it extra to travelers).

My Spanish being what it is, that wasn’t enough 😀 The driver asks me to pay for parking and already tries to renegotiate the ride to 25 S/. I grumble but hand him a bill, saying we’ll sort it out later.

He gives me my change along with the parking ticket. I realize it didn’t cost 2 S/ but 10, and that the driver had been parked for 1h30!

So I was much less in the mood to negotiate. 10 S/ for a 15-minute ride and an hour of waiting, even in Peru, isn’t much.

At the end of the ride, I hand him 20 S/ without asking for change, it’s Christmas after all!

So the ride cost us 30 S/, instead of 40 S/ if we had gone through the official booth. The savings will fund two good mango juices 🙂