VacationSelector
The Texas State Capitol under a blue sky, Austin
AustinThe Texas State Capitol under a blue sky
The Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía, Cusco
CuscoThe Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía

Photos: Austin by LoneStarMike, CC BY 3.0, cropped; Cusco by Pedro Szekely, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Austin or Cusco?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Austin for

  • live music and the arts
  • families
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Austin’s own page.

Choose Cusco for

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Cusco’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Austin 30, Cusco 3: Austin leads by 27 points.
Food & drink. Austin 66, Cusco 56: Austin leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Austin 40, Cusco 81: Cusco leads by 41 points.
Nightlife. Austin 65, Cusco 42: Austin leads by 23 points.
Nature & outdoors. Austin 57, Cusco 86: Cusco leads by 29 points.
Day trips. Austin 58, Cusco 78: Cusco leads by 20 points.
Good for families. Austin 55, Cusco 10: Austin leads by 45 points.
Getting around. Austin 30, Cusco 48: Cusco leads by 18 points.
Shopping & style. Austin 45, Cusco 52: Cusco leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Austin 33, Cusco 73: Cusco leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Austin 77, Cusco 30: Austin leads by 47 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Austin 40, Cusco 33: Austin leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Austin and Cusco.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Too close to call, 1 point apart

Austin
50match

Wins on live music and the arts and families with your weighting.

Cusco
49match

Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Austin in July

36 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
49 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Cusco in July

20 °Cdaytime high
1 °Cnight-time low
5 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
AustinCusco

Where the figures come from

Cusco's station stands 151 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Austin: 1991-2020 normals, Camp Mabry/Austin City Asos (3.7 km from centre). Cusco: 1991-2020 normals, Cuzco (3.7 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAustinCusco
Official language-Spanish, Aymara, Quechua
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Sol (PEN)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzABC220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-6, UTC-5 in summerUTC-5
Emergency number911111 or 911
Elevation149 m3,399 m
Main airportAustin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)13 km from centre91 non-stop destinationsAlejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)5 km from centre6 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureAustinCusco
City population961,855428,450
People per km²1,217-
Museums within 10 km2111
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Austin or Cusco somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.