VacationSelector
The Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía, Cusco
CuscoThe Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía
The Assembly Hall on Temple Square, Salt Lake City
Salt Lake CityThe Assembly Hall on Temple Square

Photos: Cusco by Pedro Szekely, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Salt Lake City by hakkun, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Cusco or Salt Lake City?

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

  • day trips
  • culture and sights
  • prices

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

Choose Salt Lake City for

  • families
  • live music and the arts
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Salt Lake City’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. Cusco 3, Salt Lake City 12: Salt Lake City leads by 9 points.
Food & drink. Cusco 56, Salt Lake City 40: Cusco leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Cusco 81, Salt Lake City 42: Cusco leads by 39 points.
Nightlife. Cusco 42, Salt Lake City 30: Cusco leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cusco 86, Salt Lake City 90: Salt Lake City leads by 4 points.
Day trips. Cusco 78, Salt Lake City 34: Cusco leads by 44 points.
Good for families. Cusco 10, Salt Lake City 72: Salt Lake City leads by 62 points.
Getting around. Cusco 48, Salt Lake City 42: Cusco leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Cusco 52, Salt Lake City 36: Cusco leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Cusco 73, Salt Lake City 40: Cusco leads by 33 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cusco 30, Salt Lake City 55: Salt Lake City leads by 25 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cusco 33, Salt Lake City 38: Salt Lake City leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cusco and Salt Lake City.

Your match

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

Cusco
Best match
49match

Wins on day trips and culture and sights with your weighting.

Salt Lake City
44match

Wins on families and live music and the arts 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

20 °Cdaytime high
1 °Cnight-time low
5 mmrain in the month
11 hdaylight a day

Salt Lake City in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
CuscoSalt Lake City

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. Cusco: 1991-2020 normals, Cuzco (3.7 km from centre). Salt Lake City: 1991-2020 normals, Salt Lake City International Airport (7.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCuscoSalt Lake City
Official languageSpanish, Aymara, Quechua-
CurrencySol (PEN)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5UTC-7, UTC-6 in summer
Emergency number111 or 911911
Elevation3,399 m1,288 m
Main airportAlejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)5 km from centre6 non-stop destinationsSalt Lake City International Airport (SLC)9 km from centre108 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureCuscoSalt Lake City
City population428,450199,723
People per km²-690
Museums within 10 km1112
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cusco or Salt Lake City 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). 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. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.