VacationSelector

Cusco or Siena?

Two destinations compared in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities. Weight what matters to you and the verdict follows.

The Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía, Cusco
Cusco

Photo: Pedro Szekely, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped

The cathedral facade, Siena
Siena

Photo: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped

Your match

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Cusco
49
match

Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Siena
51
match

Wins on families and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders. The match scores above update as you do.

Scoreboard

Our verdict on each category, scored 0 to 100 against fixed benchmark cities.

CuscoSiena
Beaches & swimming. Siena leads by 11 points.11
Food & drink. Siena leads by 6 points.6
Culture & sights. Cusco leads by 3 points.3
Nightlife. Cusco leads by 15 points.15
Nature & outdoors. Cusco leads by 21 points.21
Day trips. Siena leads by 16 points.16
Good for families. Siena leads by 28 points.28
Getting around. Siena leads by 12 points.12
Shopping & style. Cusco leads by 17 points.17
Affordability. Cusco leads by 31 points.31
Live music & performing arts. Siena leads by 6 points.6
Wellness & relaxation. Siena leads by 22 points.22
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cusco and Siena.

When should you go?

Pick the month you can travel and see both cities side by side. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Climate figures for July
JulyCuscoSiena
Daytime high20 °C31 °C
Night-time low1 °C17 °C
Rainfall in the month5 mm53 mm
Daylight11 hours a day15 hours a day

The whole year

Each row is shaded against that destination’s own year, so the deepest cell is its best month for that figure and the palest its weakest. Shades are not comparable between the two rows.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Daytime high, °C
Cusco
20
19
20
20
21
21
20
21
21
21
22
20
Siena
9
11
15
20
23
28
31
31
26
20
14
10
Rainfall, mm
Cusco
159
133
106
36
7
3
5
6
17
50
78
127
Siena
71
79
107
75
99
71
53
49
103
86
136
110
Daylight, hours per day
Cusco
13
13
12
12
12
11
11
12
12
12
13
13
Siena
9
11
12
13
15
15
15
14
13
11
10
9

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.

Siena's temperatures are measured 45 km from the centre, at Arezzo.

Siena's rainfall is measured 115 km from the centre, at Frontone.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cusco: 1991-2020 normals, Cuzco (3.7 km from centre). Siena: 2006-2017 (rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Arezzo (45 km from centre).

WorseBetter

Before you go

MeasureCuscoSiena
Official languageSpanish, Aymara, QuechuaItalian
CurrencySol (PEN)Euro (EUR)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzCFL230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number111 or 911112
Elevation3,399 m322 m
Main airportAlejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)5 km from centre6 non-stop destinationsFlorence Airport, Peretola (FLR)55 km from centre46 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureCuscoSiena
City population428,45052,812
People per km²-446
Museums within 10 km1129
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km25

Where else could you go?

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

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. 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. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Typical fares from Travelpayouts (Aviasales data). Route-level air passenger statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate and flight figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-27. Typical prices can be up to 7 days old. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.