Tourist Information

THE SEASONS


THE COAST: There are two web-defined seasons; the summer season (december to march) with temperatures reaching 27ºC and the winter season (may to october) which is very humid and cold, temperatures dropping to 12ºC. Although it hardly rains on the Peruvians coast, fog and fine rains or drizzle are common in the winter. In the north coast the sun shines all year round, and temperatures rise to 35ºC in the summer.

THE HIGHLANDS: This region has a dry and moderate climate, with two web-defined seasons; the summer season (may to october) with sunny days, very cold nights and hardly any rain-ideal time to visit- and the rainy season (december to march).

THE JUNGLE: With a humid and tropical climate, the jungle has two clearly distinguished seasons; the summer or flowing season (may to october) with sunny days and temperatures in excess of 30ºC and the rainy season (november to march) with frequent rains.

You may find information on Peruvian weather by visiting the following internet sites:

www.senamhi.gob.pe
www.weather.com

CURRENCY AND DENOMINATIONS

The official currency of Peru is the Nuevo Sol (S/) which is divided into 100 cents.

Coins in circulation include the amounts of 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents, as well as, 1, 2 and 5 Nuevos Soles. Paper bills come in 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 Nuevos Soles.

To find out the exchange rate please visit:

www.expedia.com
www.elperuano.com.pe


VACCINATION

If you plan on traveling to the Jungle, the administration of a yellow fever vaccine 10 days in advance is recommended.

Places in Lima where the vaccine can be administered:

Jorge Chávez International Airport
First floor
Service Hours: Monday through Sunday, 04:30 am to 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m to 11:00 pm.
Tel.: (01) 575-1845
International Vaccination Center

Calle Yupanqui 1400, Lima
Service hours: Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tel.: (01) 471-9920 / 471-3254

Av. El Ejército 1756, San Isidro
Service hours: Monday to Friday 08 am to 3 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m..to 2 p.m.
Tel. (01) 264-6889
Any private clinic


TIME ZONE

LIMA	12:00 h
NEW YORK	13:00 h
BUENOS AIRES	14:00 h
LONDON	18:00 h
BERLIN	19:00 h
PARIS	19:00 h
TOKYO	2:00 h (*)
SIDNEY	3:00 h (*)
(*) Next day

AIRPORT TAX (T.U.U.A.)

Domestic flights: US$ 6,05.
International flights: US$ 30,25.

Payment to be made in cash before boarding the flight. This tax does not apply to children (less of 2 years)

LOST ITEMS, THEFTS AND ROBBERIES

Call the Tourism Police.

Arequipa Calle Jerusalén 315-316, Cercado. Tel: (054) 20-1258 Ayacucho Jr. Arequipa cuadra 1. Tel: (066) 31-2055 / 31-8372 Cajamarca Av. 13 de julio s/n Tel: (076) 36-3042 Chiclayo Av. Sáenz Peña 830. Tel: (074) 23-6700 Cusco Calle Saphi s/n Tel: (084) 24-9654 Huancayo Av. Ferrocarril 556, Cercado. Tel: (064) 21-9851 Huaraz Av. Laredo y Laredo 716 Tel: (043) 72-1341

Ica Av. Elías cuadra 4. Tel: (056) 22-7673 Iquitos Calle Sargento Lores 834 Tel: (065) 23-1851 Lima Jr. Moore 268, Magdalena del Mar. Tel: (01) 460-1060 / 460-0965 / 460-0921 / 460-4525 Nazca Av. Los Incas cuadra 1, s/n. Tel: (056) 52-2442 / 52-2084 Puno Jr. Deustua 538. Tel.: (051) 36-4806 Tacna Jr. Callao 121. Tel: (052) 71-4141 anexo 245 Trujillo Jr. Independencia 630. Tel: (044) 22-4025

POPULAR FESTIVITIES


JANUARY

Anniversary of the founding of Lima
18th January
Plenty of civic-cultural activities take place such as parades, singing, and fireworks.

Marinera Festival in Trujillo
The Mansiche Arena in Trujillo is the stage for the National Marinera Contest, the most elegant by couples dance in Peru. Different categories and choreographic styles are judged. Both dancers swirl while waving a white kerchief and executing a number of characteristic steps. The made dancer wears a poncho and a hat, and if riding horse back, he does so on a Peruvian Paso horse. His lady wears a beautiful typical regional dress.

FEBRUARY

Virgen de la Candelaria in Puno
1st to 14th February
On the central day, the Virgin parades the city in a colorful procession, followed by more than 200 bands of musicians and a similar number of groups who dance around the city and compete for prizes in the local stadium. The festivity is related to the pre-Hispanic farming cycles of planting and harvesting (worshipping Pachamama or Mother Earth), as well as with the region’s mining activity.

Cajamarca Carnival
Province of Cajamarca, District of Cajamarca and its surrounding areas. Cajamarca
This is one of the most important celebrations in the department. Every neighborhood prepares itself for different contests like dance and music. The people organize a parade and accompany the Momo King, while other groups simultaneously dance and sing, spreading joy through the streets. The nights are the time to crown queens, to see popular dancing, and to taste traditional food and drink. This celebration lasts for one month with eight main days.

Negro Summer Festival in Ica
Province of Chincha, District of El Carmen Ica
This is an Afro-Peruvian dance contest. There are also craft, wine and food fairs as well as main street parades.

MARCH

Wine Grape Festival
Provinces of Chincha and Ica
This is a celebration of the grape harvest and the wine making in the department. Fairs, contests, parades with floats, musical festivals, and parties are organized. The Wine Grape Queen is chosen, and she is the first to start crushing the grapes that make the wines, piscos, and other liquors.

Easter in Ayacucho
With its 33 churches, Ayacucho presents on this date the most fervent Andean staging of the Way of the Cross, with several daily processions on the city’s streets. At dawn Christ Resurrected leaves the cathedral, a moment that the faithful wait for after a night-long wake around bonfires they light in the Main Square to fight the cold. They all carry the Lord in joy on a wax portable altar.

APRIL

Peruvian Paso Horse Festival in Lima
The contest takes place in Mamacona, at the foot of the pre-Inca Pachacamac oracle. The Peruvian Paso horse is a breed of Spanish and Berber races that took 300 years. Its gait is a series of synchronized movements of the front and rear legs in parallel fashion, a trait that has made it one of the most beautiful and elegant horses in the world.

MAY

Lord of Muruhuay in Junin
The image of the Crucified Lord, painted on the skirts of the Shalacoto hill, is worshipped on this date by thousands of pilgrims. Some old rites to worship water, earth and rocks have survived in this celebration. On the central day a solemn Mass is celebrated in Quechua and then the believers drop their “Letter to God”, requesting miracles or thanking favors granted. The organizers usually offer a typical lunch to visitors and dancers.

Virgen de Chapi in Arequipa
Pilgrimage crossing the Arequipa desert to worship the Virgin of Purification or Virgin of Chapi. The pilgrims carry rocks of different sizes they will leave before Chapi, making the so-called apachetas, symbolizing the devout’s sins. In a night-long wake, the image of the miraculous Virgin is surrounded by candles to then leave in procession. There are also fireworks and typical foods.

JUNE

Chachapoyas’ Tourist Week – June
1st – 7th
Province of Chachapoyas, Amazonas
Filled with recreational, social, and cultural activities, the highlight of this event is “el Raymillacta de los Chachapoyas”, which gathers dancers from all the regional communities to demonstrate the best of their traditional dances.

Corpus Christi in Cusco
Fifteen saints and virgins from different Cusco districts arrive at the cathedral in procession to salute Christ’s body in the form of a consecrated wafer kept in the fabulous 26-kg massif gold custody. During the night wake, typical dishes, such as chiriuchu (guinea pig and hot peppers), chicha and corn bread, are served. As soon as the sun rises, the parade starts around the main square, and then the images enter the cathedral to salute each other. Finally, the delegations go back to their churches in the midst of songs and prayers.

Inti Raymi in Cusco
24th June
Inti Raymi is the Sun’s festivity. It coincides with the winter solstice and the harvests season. The Sacsayhuaman fortress is the stage for the ceremony, following a detailed script, including the sacrifice of two llamas to tell the future. The Inca, who urges the authorities in Cusco’s main square to govern well, presides over the ceremony. At dusk, the Inca announces the end of the day’s ceremonies and merry-making starts.

Saint John in Loreto and Ucayali
The most important festivity of the Amazon symbolizes the renewal of faith under the figure of Saint John the Baptist and the power of water, a vital element in the entire Amazon region. This is why, in Iquitos and Pucallpa (Yarinacocha), the people get purified in the waters of rivers or lakes. On this date, there are also music festivals and typical dances, produce and crafts fairs, and typical dishes, such as the famous juanes (rice tamales) representing the Saint’s head.

Saints Peter and Paul Day in Callao
29th June
A traditional procession takes place in which an image of Saint Peter sails by the pier in a fishing boat followed by other boats decorated with flowers.

JULY

Anniversary of Puerto Maldonado
July 10th
Province of Tambopata, Puerto Maldonado Madre de Dios
Competitions like regattas and motorcycle races, food testings and a beauty queen contest take place during the week.

Eco-tourist Festival and Anniversary of the Arrival of the Austrian-German Settlers
24th – 30th July
Province of Oxapampa, Districts of Pozuzo, Huancabamba, Oxapampa, and Chontabamba. Pasco
To commemorate the arrival of the German and Austrian settlers, a variety of events are organized: beauty pageants, sanctuary visits, a motocross race and a dance competition.

Eco tourist Festival of the Indigenous Communities - Coffee Festival
25th – 30th July
Province of Oxapampa, District of Villa Rica Pasco
It is an opportunity to explore the interesting eco-tourist circuits and the coffee and fruit plantations in the indigenous communities, to watch traditional dances and sample food from the region.

Anniversary of Huaraz
25th July
Province of Huaraz. Ancash
Civic, cultural, and artistic activities organized by the Provincial Government take place in the main streets of the city.

Independence Day
28th and 29th July
Lima
The celebration includes a military parade in the Campo de Marte and a Te Deum in the Cathedral attented by the main governmental authorities. In Miraflores, the days before 28th July, there is colorful parade with floats and fireworks.

AUGUST

Saint Rose of Lima
Saint Rose of Lima is the name that made Isabel Flores de Oliva famous. She was a pious Lima woman of the XVII century with great religious inclination and given to serving the sick. The Vatican named her Patroness of the Americas and the Philippines.
Her sanctuary in downtown Lima is visited by the faithful asking for a miracle. On this date, visitors to the hermitage she built is visited and drop letters into the well where she dropped the key to her cilice.

Anniversary of the city of Arequipa
Province of Arequipa, District of Arequipa. Arequipa
For this celebration, the city organizes the International Fair of Arequipa located on MountJuli, artisanal exhibitions in the Fundo El Fierro, the Festidanza dance festival, and the international Climb Mount Misti contest. The main day, 15th August , is when the Friendship Parade takes place.

SEPTEMBER

International Spring Festival in Trujillo
Colonial Trujillo streets and houses are decorated for the floats parade led by the Queen of Spring, followed by foreign and Peruvian beauty queens. Skillful cheerleaders from abroad also catch the bystanders attention.

Tourist Week of Ica
Province of Ica
There are Peruvian Paso horse exhibitions, cock fights, wine contests, pisco testing, visits of different bodegas, and the International Sandboard Contest.

Virgin of Cocharcas in Junin
8th September
Different towns of the department. Junín
It is one of the most important celebrations in the MantaroValley. There are processions in honor of the Virgin Mary as well as dance festivals and typical food fairs. The Sanctuary is located in Orcotuna, on the slope of the hill. It is said that the Virgin Mary appeared there and that her image is still visible on the rock.

Señor Cautivo de Monsefú (Captive Christ of Monsefu)
14th September
Province of Chiclayo, District of Monsefu Lambayeque
Festival for the patron of the city of Monsefu. Here, they venerate the representation of Christ that comes out in a procession through its main streets. The celebration include craft and food testing
fairs.

Yauca Virgin of the Rosary
Province of Ica, District of Yauca del Rosario Ica
It is a massive pilgrimage with thousands of followers walking 25 km / 16 miles from Ica to the district of Yauca del Rosario. A traditional fair and novenas take place

OCTOBER

Señor Cautivo de Ayabaca in Piura
Thousands of pilgrims from the north of Peru and the south of Ecuador arrive in Ayabaca to keep their promise of faithfulness to the Captive Christ. Town streets are covered with flower petals and there is a procession of the image -carved in 1751- and the penitents. In pre-Hispanic times the same place was the stage for homage paid to Aypate and La Huaca.

The Lord of the Miracles in Lima
This image gathers around it the largest numberts of devotees in South America. It dates back to colonial times, when a black slave painted it on the walls of a run-down property. In spite of earthquakes and attempts at erasing it, the miraculous image has remained intact. Thousands of believers dressed in purple habits sing and pray to accompany the image in procession. It is a date to enjoy “turrón de Doña Pepa” (a nougat) and delicious “picarones” (ring-shaped fritters). To honor the Black Christ, bull fighting at Plaza de Acho, gathers the most prestigious bullfighters of Spain and the Americas.

Lord of Luren
The origin of devotion for the Lord of Luren, patron of the city of Ica, dates back to 1570, when it was mysteriously lost in the desert to reappear in a desolate place called Luren, where a small temple and a hospital for Indians were built. On the central day, the wooden image of Christ in agony, accompanied by the Virgin Mary and Magdalene, leaves in procession to parade the entire city all night until dawn.

Piura Jubilee Week
Province of Piura, District of Piura Piura
During this week, the best in music, handicraft, and food of Piura is offered in the framework where artistic, social, and cultural events happen on a daily basis.

Peruvian Music Day in Lima
31st October
Since the 1940’s, this celebration highlights the importance of the Peruvian Creole music with remembrances, concerts, and parties in private and public locations. The “peñas” are the most frequented public establishments.

NOVEMBER

Anniversary of the Founding of the City of Puno
1st to 7th November
Province of Puno, District of Puno Puno
To celebrate the city, the school pupils are in charge of organizing civic demonstrations and dance shows throughout the city streets. On 5th November, the people present an account of the creation of the Inca Empire, the legend that tells how the mythic couple Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo emerged from the sacred lake in search of land to found the Empire.

All Saints Day and Day of the Dead in Cajamarca y Piura
1ST November
In Cajamarca and the Porcón and Huambocancha villages, the people visit cemeteries carrying paper flower crowns for their dead and clean the tombstones under which they are buried. Then they share food and drinks with their souls. This rite is the continuation of a pre-Hispanic practice combined with Christian elements.
In La Arena (Piura), the people go to the Main Square taking their children dressed in their best clothes. Those who have lost a child give children who resemble their own some sweets and rolls in bags called "little angels". At night, families hold a wake at the cemetery, lit with candles until dawn.

Moquegua Tourism Week
20 – 25TH
Province of de Mariscal Nieto, District of Moquegua Moquegua
The anniversary of the founding of the Moquegua is celebrated where visitors are shown the main attractions of the area. There is a mountain bike race and hang glidingcontest.

DECEMBER

Santuranticuy
24th December
Province of Cusco, District of Cusco. Cusco
This fair takes place in the Cusco Main Square and brings together artisans to sell a large variety of sacred representations, woodcarvings, and pottery to put nativity scenes together.

South American Freedom Week / December 2nd – 9th
Province of Huamanga, District of Quinua. Ayacucho
The Battle of Ayacucho, where the Spanish were defeated by the patriots in 1824, was the decisive moment in the emancipation of South America. It was the Morochucos, horseback riders from the Cangallo region, who took the fight against the Spanish. To celebrate this, sporting events for athletes from all over Peru and the other Bolivian countries – Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and others – are organized. Typical food and ceramics are sold, and there is a popular party with musical groups from all over the department.

ELECTRIC POWER

220 volts. Most four and five stars hotels provide 110 volts electric current

IMPORTANT TELEPHONE NUMBERS

Assistance and Information to the tourist	Telf.:574-8000
Central Emergency of the Policeman	Telf.:105
Airport and Flight Information	Telf.:595-0666
Indecopi (protec to the customer)	Telf.:0800-44040

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