Is Peru safe for American tourists? Official Organizations & Travelers Say

Like in many countries around the world, regulations about traveling rapidly change. The government tries to adapt to the increasing traveling demand without taking risks. Taking care of the local population remains paramount.

Let’s see what happen with visitors. Are still welcome? Yes! as long as they follow these steps:   

• First, sign an affidavit before entering.
• Second, all travelers older than 12 should present a fully vaccinated program (the second dose inoculated 14 days before traveling). However, for non-vaccinated passengers, a negative PCR test took 72 hours before traveling
• Finally, travelers younger than 12 must present no visible symptoms before boarding

Moreover, take into account these items to stay safe traveling through Peru:

• Flights coming from South Africa (or having made a stopover there) won’t be able to land in the country. For the latest updates: IPERÚ WhatsApp
• In most regions, from 2 am to 4 am people can’t commute.
• The use of the KN95 mask in public roads and closed rooms. This is mandatory. Also, you can also use a 3-fold surgical mask with a second overlapping.
  
  

Firstly, Us Embassy in Peru says that the sanitary emergency in the country extended until the 1st of March 2022. What does it mean? Among others, that all regions are in different states of emergency (Moderate, low, high, very high, and extreme) which change the commutation allow for locals and travelers, at least until the 2nd of January 2022. The Embassy encourages American tourists to follow the different types of quarantine demanded by the local government.

• In the international airport, Jorge Chavez international flights to the USA are operative. Find out more on Lima’s airport website.
• Plus, US citizens can take PCR and antigen tests in the country but they will have to pay.
• Vaccines are available for US citizens (Pfizer-BioNTech y Sinopharm).
• Stamps are baned from Passports. However, upon arrival and when you leave the country, authorities will create a digital record.
• For US citizens quarantine is not mandatory upon arrival.
• Avoid fines and other legal issues by complying with a curfew and Peru Covid-19 sanitary restrictions.

On December 20th, 2021, the Department of State changed the Travel Advisory for Peru from Level 2 “Exercise Increased Caution” to Level 3 “Reconsider Travel”. The best is to be fully vaccinated before traveling and avoid unnecessary trips if you are not vaccinated. If you’re about to travel to Peru, make sure to follow the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

In short, fully vaccinated travelers are less likely to spread and get COVID-19.

On the other hand, International travel always means additional risks, thus the possibility of contagion.

Let’s read what tourists said about their recent trips to Peru. 

A common practice between travelers is reading other travelers’ reviews. Apart from local travel agents, recent travelers are the second reliable source for getting a real feel.

Some of the topics you can fin in these reviews targeted the use of masks and vaccinated vs non-vaccinated travelers:

“I traveled to Peru a month ago and everything was ok, no problems!”

Carlos C, New York, 1st Nov. 2021., Trip Advisor

“Most people show their mobile phones with the details on. If you have a vaccine card with the dates you received your doses that is also fine, or a printout of the details from your covid app. Any of these will do.”

Ginca, Dec 21, 2021, Trip Advisor

“Indoors, one mask if it’s the N95 (FFP2) type mask or two of the surgical, disposable type masks. Outside pretty much any type of mask will suffice, ie fabric bandana-type. (…) It’s a good idea to carry a couple of masks in you pocket or bag so that you are prepared to slip an extra one on if required. The rules are enforced with varying degrees of rigour, depending on the setting.”

Ginca, Dec 6, 2021, Trip Advisor

“I am unvaccinated and was in Peru from Dec. 2 to 12. I would not go again unless I were vaccinated. On the 11th, in Cusco, the Latam rep wouldn’t let us take a domestic flight unless we got a negative PCR test. So we had to scramble to get the test and rebook our flight to Lima, which was a big hassle”.

JBJ, Miami, Florida, Dec 18, Trip Advisor

 Finally, we recommend that you check how the vaccination program is advancing in the Peruvian región you want to visit. You can choose to scan the country by región, vaccination (AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Sinopharm), the number of doses and age.

For ex:

• To date, Lima Metropolitana has 89.7% of its population vaccinated with 2 doses.
• To date, Cusco has 84.6% of its population vaccinated with 2 doses.

Currently, in Peru, 21,000,000 people have their vaccine schedule completed, 86.8% of the population is protected against COVID-19.

You can navigate the map and get more useful information to plan your trip to Peru.

Still not sure if Peru is safe for Americans? Talk with one of our travel agents and share your doubts on how to visit this beautiful country.