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Is There Uber In Peru? Yes > Here’s How to Use it 

ByKatie Caf Updated on

There is Uber in Peru, it works well as long as you’re inside a city like Lima, Cusco, and Arequipa. The main thing to know is that you cannot take Uber directly from the airport arrival terminals. If you want to travel somewhere more remote in Peru, for example in popular tourist towns like Huaraz, Huacachina, or Puno, there is no Uber available. Instead, you can depend on traditional taxis, or private driver services, rent a car and drive yourself, or take tours. 

✔️ Uber in Peru: Essential Info

🇵🇪 Where is it Available? You can use Uber in major cities in Peru like Lima, Cusco, and Arequipa

✈️ Can You Take Uber from the Airport? You cannot take Uber directly from the airport terminals in Peru, but you can walk off-site to hail a car.

🚕 Is Uber Legal in Peru? Uber is not technically legal in Per. Although it is used by both locals and tourists, Uber is not officially recognized as a licensed taxi service.

📲 Is it Safe? Using Uber in Peru is safer than taking traditional taxis off the street because Uber has GPS tracking.

💸 Is it Cheap? Using Uber in Peru is usually much cheaper than traditional taxi services, especially if you’re a foreigner who does not speak Spanish.

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Can You Take an Uber From The Airports In Peru To Your Hotel? 

The main thing you need to know about using Uber in Peru is that you cannot take it directly from the airport terminal to your hotel when you arrive in the country. This is true for both international and domestic airports. This is because while Uber is used extensively by both locals and tourists in Peru, it’s not really technically legal. Uber is in a weird area of legality, which is only enforced at airports. 

Instead of taking Uber from the airports in Peru, I recommend arranging a transfer service that will pick you up directly from the arrivals terminal. I’ve linked a few private transfer services below. ⤵

✅ Lima Airport (LIM) > Hotel ▶︎ Book

✅ Cusco Airport (CUZ) > Hotel  ▶︎ Book

✅ Arequipa Airport (AQP) > Hotel  ▶︎ Book

How to Take Uber Directly from Airport Terminals

If you want to take an Uber from an airport in Peru, you need to walk outside the airport, past the parking lots, and onto the street to call a car. If you have more than a carry-on bag, this is challenging on its own. But then, you need to have cellular data to call the car because there’s no wifi outside of the airports. 

I made one of my biggest travel mistakes ever when I tried to take Uber directly from an airport when I arrived in Lima and wound up having to just take a sketchy illegal taxi. This is because once I left the airport I had no cell service to call an Uber, and all of the licensed medallioned taxis were inside the airport – which I wasn’t allowed to re-enter after exiting.

Note: Not being able to take Uber directly from airport arrivals terminals is pretty typical of most countries I’ve traveled to in Latin America, like Colombia, and Mexico. 

Uber is in a legal gray area in Peru. While Uber is legal and is frequently used by both locals and tourists alike, it’s not considered an officially licensed taxi service. Because it’s not an official taxi, it cannot do things like pick up passengers directly from airport terminals. If you try to take an Uber from the airports in Peru, you will need to walk outside of the airport grounds to do so. 

👉 Note: Your Uber driver might also ask you to sit in the front seat of the Uber, so they don’t “look so much” like an Uber driver. This happened to me more often when I was trying to take Uber cars in Ecuador rather than Peru, but it does still happen in both countries. So, don’t be alarmed if your Uber driver asks you to take the front seat! 

As a solo female traveler, I believe that using a tracked taxi service like Uber is far safer than getting into a random taxi on the side of the road in a foreign country. If you have cellular data while you’re traveling, you can see your ride being tracked via GPS in live time. Although no travel comes without risks, I used Uber extensively while traveling in Peru, and felt it was safer than taking taxis. 

✅ Always take a picture of your Uber driver’s license plate (and make sure they saw that you took a picture!). 

 ✅ Use Uber’s “share-ride” feature to share your trip with your emergency contacts in live time. 

 ✅ Ask your Uber driver for your name before getting in the car. Some taxis will pretend to be your Uber driver because they just want some work. 

✅ Get a local Peruvian SIM card so you have data during your trip in case you need to call someone. I used Claro cellular service while I was traveling in Peru. (You will need an unlocked phone for this). 

✅ You can download a map of your city offline on Google Maps so you can track your trip even if you don’t have a signal. 

The Rappi app is much more prevalent in Peru and other Latin American countries than Uber Eats is. I also used Rappi all the time while traveling in Guatemala, Mexico, and Colombia. 

the main square in Cusco, Peru. Cusco is one of the cities that has Uber in Peru.
Cusco, Peru

Using Uber in Cusco

There is Uber in Cusco, although it’s not as readily available as it is in Lima. I used Uber to get around in Cusco, but there were a few times, for example early in the morning, when I couldn’t get an Uber car, and instead, I had to rely on hailing a traditional taxi off the street. 

Katie Caf

Katie Caf, founder of Katie Caf Travel, is a seasoned travel expert who has explored over 30 countries and lived abroad in places like Egypt, Morocco, Mexico, India, Indonesia Thailand, Europe, and the USA. Her goal is to help other traveler see the world by providing first-hand accounts of what to expect on the road.

3 Comments

  1. I did have a good experience using Uber at Lima airport! I did not have to walk far, it’s just the car lane behind all the taxis (here they can get) and indeed you need to have internet. For the rest, thanks for this post!

    Reply
    1. Katie Caf says:

      Good to hear Ella! Hope it was helpful

      Reply
  2. Traveljoe says:

    How odd, I just arrived at my hotel in Lima via a Uber directly from the AP terminal. Ah Youtube, gotta love it.

    Reply

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