Photos: Cusco by Pedro Szekely, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Fes by Ideophagous, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.
Cusco or Fes?
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 Cusco for
- nature and the outdoors
- nightlife
- day trips
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.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cusco and Fes.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Too close to call, level with your weighting
Wins on nature and the outdoors and nightlife with your weighting.
Wins on wellness and shopping with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Cusco in July
Fes in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
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.
Fes's station stands 171 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer than the figures say.
Fes has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Fes's sunshine is measured 52 km from the centre, at Meknes.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cusco: 1991-2020 normals, Cuzco (3.7 km from centre). Fes: 1999-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Fes-Sais (12.4 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Cusco | Fes |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Spanish, Aymara, Quechua | Arabic, Standard Moroccan Tamazight |
| Currency | Sol (PEN) | Moroccan Dirham (MAD) |
| Sockets | ABC220 V, 60 Hz | CE50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-5 | UTC+1 |
| Emergency number | 111 or 911 | Police 19/112, ambulance 15, fire 15 |
| Elevation | 3,399 m | 408 m |
| Main airport | Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)5 km from centre6 non-stop destinations | Fes Saïss International Airport (FEZ)13 km from centre35 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 16 days | 11 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Cusco | Fes |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 428,450 | 1,167,842 |
| People per km² | - | 3,650 |
| Museums within 10 km | 11 | 2 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 2 | 1 |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cusco or Fes somewhere new.