VacationSelector
The Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía, Cusco
CuscoThe Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Cusco by Pedro Szekely, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Cusco or Scottsdale?

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

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • day trips

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • families
  • wellness
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Scottsdale’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, Scottsdale 8: Scottsdale leads by 5 points.
Food & drink. Cusco 56, Scottsdale 46: Cusco leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Cusco 81, Scottsdale 38: Cusco leads by 43 points.
Nightlife. Cusco 42, Scottsdale 52: Scottsdale leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cusco 86, Scottsdale 68: Cusco leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Cusco 78, Scottsdale 50: Cusco leads by 28 points.
Good for families. Cusco 10, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 50 points.
Getting around. Cusco 48, Scottsdale 20: Cusco leads by 28 points.
Shopping & style. Cusco 52, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Cusco 73, Scottsdale 32: Cusco leads by 41 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cusco 30, Scottsdale 40: Scottsdale leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cusco 33, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 39 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cusco and Scottsdale.

Your match

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

Cusco
Best match
49match

Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

Wins on families and wellness 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

Scottsdale in July

41 °Cdaytime high
29 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
CuscoScottsdale

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). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCuscoScottsdale
Official languageSpanish, Aymara, Quechua-
CurrencySol (PEN)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5UTC-7
Emergency number111 or 911911
Elevation3,399 m380 m
Main airportAlejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)5 km from centre6 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureCuscoScottsdale
City population428,450241,361
Museums within 10 km1110
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21

Where else could you go?

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