VacationSelector
The Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía, Cusco
CuscoThe Plaza de Armas with the cathedral and La Compañía
Ushuaia below snow-capped mountains, Ushuaia
UshuaiaUshuaia below snow-capped mountains

Photos: Cusco by Pedro Szekely, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Ushuaia by Jan Tang, Pexels License.

Cusco or Ushuaia?

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 Ushuaia for

  • families
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Ushuaia’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 and Ushuaia are level on 3.
Food & drink. Cusco 56, Ushuaia 40: Cusco leads by 16 points.
Culture & sights. Cusco 81, Ushuaia 22: Cusco leads by 59 points.
Nightlife. Cusco 42, Ushuaia 18: Cusco leads by 24 points.
Nature & outdoors. Cusco 86, Ushuaia 88: Ushuaia leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Cusco 78, Ushuaia 14: Cusco leads by 64 points.
Good for families. Cusco 10, Ushuaia 40: Ushuaia leads by 30 points.
Getting around. Cusco 48, Ushuaia 45: Cusco leads by 3 points.
Shopping & style. Cusco 52, Ushuaia 22: Cusco leads by 30 points.
Affordability. Cusco 73, Ushuaia 42: Cusco leads by 31 points.
Live music & performing arts. Cusco 30, Ushuaia 10: Cusco leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Cusco 33, Ushuaia 26: Cusco leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Cusco and Ushuaia.

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.

Ushuaia
31match

Wins on families and nature and the outdoors 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
No recordsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Ushuaia in July

4 °Cdaytime high
0 °Cnight-time low
36 mmrain in the month
2 hsunshine a day
8 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°5°10°15°20°25°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
CuscoUshuaia

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). Ushuaia: 1991-2020 normals, Ushuaia Aerodrome (1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureCuscoUshuaia
Official languageSpanish, Aymara, QuechuaSpanish
CurrencySol (PEN)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-5UTC-3
Emergency number111 or 911117 or 911
Elevation3,399 m23 m
Main airportAlejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ)5 km from centre6 non-stop destinationsUshuaia - Malvinas Argentinas International Airport (USH)4 km from centre9 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year16 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureCuscoUshuaia
City population428,45082,615
People per km²-3,592
Museums within 10 km115
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 Ushuaia 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. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. 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 figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.