Photos: Cusco by Pedro Szekely, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Tulum by Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.
Cusco or Tulum?
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
- getting around
What lies behind each score is written up on Cusco’s own page.
Choose Tulum for
- beaches
- wellness
- families
What lies behind each score is written up on Tulum’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 Tulum.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.
Wins on beaches 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
Tulum 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.
Tulum has no weather station within reach, so its figures come from a gridded climate model rather than a measured record, and read a broad area rather than the city itself.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Cusco: 1991-2020 normals, Cuzco (3.7 km from centre). Tulum: 2001-2020 normals, NASA POWER reanalysis grid, no weather station within 90 km.
Before you go
| Measure | Cusco | Tulum |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Spanish, Aymara, Quechua | Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya |
| Currency | Sol (PEN) | Mexican Peso (MXN) |
| Sockets | ABC220 V, 60 Hz | AB127 V, 60 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC-5 | UTC-5 |
| Emergency number | 111 or 911 | 911 |
| Elevation | 3,399 m | 5 m |
| Main airport | Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)5 km from centre6 non-stop destinations | Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport Tulum (TQO)21 km from centre11 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 16 days | 9 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Cusco | Tulum |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 428,450 | 33,374 |
| Museums within 10 km | 11 | 0 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 2 | 0 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | - | 12 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Cusco or Tulum somewhere new.