Norway or Peru?

Norway is very expen$ive. Although anything can happen, I wouldn't fear significant heat or cold in July-August. I spent three weeks in the country from mid-June till early July 2022 and ran into neither. Rain, on the other hand, is very much an issue, especially in the western part of the country, but that's reasonably bearable on days that aren't cold--unless you're unable to see the fjords because of a rain-and-fog combination. Take a look at the climate-summary charts in the Wikipedia entries for Bergen and Oslo. On average, there's less rain (but still quite a bit) in July than in August.

I haven't been to Peru, so I can't provide any sort of comparison, other than noting that altitude is a factor there.

Our doctor wouldn’t allow us to visit Peru due to the high altitude because of our asthma. I always wanted to visit it.
I have traveled in Norway. Oslo, Bergen and up the coast on a Hurtigruten coastal ship to Kirkenes near the Russian border. I highly recommend this unusual ship and route. Not a cruise ship. It transports goods and passengers between the coastal towns and cities. Lots of fish dinners!

Peru had political unrest last year which led to protestors closing down Machu Picchu for 25 days early in 2023. The U.S. State Department currently advises Americans to “Exercise increased caution due to civil unrest, crime and the possibility of kidnapping.”

U.S. State Department advisories are often to be taken with a grain of salt but the Canadian Government’s advice is similar: “exercise a high degree of caution due to high levels of crime, as well as social conflicts, and strikes that may occur across the country.”

I have travelled to both. Machu Pichu is magical. While it's been awhile, Peru was a travel bargain. We used a company named Kensington Tours to put together a guided tour at a fraction of cost of an expensive country like Norway. The Fjords are also magical. (Personally I'd pick Peru if you are up for the adventure.)

We loved Peru. Due to all the transportation changes needed to get to Machu Picchu, (flight, bus, train, bus, and another flight) we took a National Geographic tour and let it deal with everything. Our trip was in early early September 2009 and the weather was great. I’ve been pricing Norway recently and as acraven mentioned, it is more expensive than many other places.

I don’t think there is a bad choice, just what you like to see and do.

Have also travelled to, and loved, both Peru and Norway. Peru gets my vote though. Machu Picchu was an awesome, almost spiritual experience for which I am grateful. We started our trip in Arequipa, then went to Colca Canyon, Cusco, Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, back to Cusco and ended in Lima. The sights, cultural experiences and food all trump Norway, lovely as it is, especially for teens. Our trip was December and weather was good but July/August should be perfect. We travelled independently in both countries with ease. If cost is the deciding factor, Peru is much less expensive than Norway. You will have a great trip whatever you decide.

We spent 10 days in Peru, early November and loved it. 8n MP/Cusco/Sacred Valley and 2n Lima. So many incredible sites and experiences. If you like to be outdoors and hike it is a great destination. Food and people were awesome, Cusco was the most expensive part of our trip and MP was an expensive but worthwhile day. We had no problem making our own reservations for MP, the train and ground transportation. Fri arrival in Cusco , we headed directly to Ollantaytambo and then MP to adjust for altitude saving Cusco for the end of our trip but did not suffer from altitude sickness and we did not take anything either. Peru is not an expensive destination. We looked at travel warnings but did not feel unsafe during our trip. If you decide to go to Peru, book your MP tickets first and then plan around that. Mountainview Experience was also a highlight as was renting bikes in Lima. We loved our time in Peru, it’s a great vacation choice and one of fav of 40+ countries.

I've been to both. Much would depend on your priorities for travel - nature? history? food? Each country is going to offer different pros/cons based on what is high on your list. Some thoughts:

• July/August is high tourist season for both locations. You won't escape crowds. It is dry season in Peru but it is still winter, so not going to be balmy, though Lima is often fogged in any time of year. It will be summer in Norway and plenty of daylight for outdoor activities - compared to about 11 hours of daylight in Cusco (in July).
• Don't know where you're flying from, but the flights to South America can be more of a challenge depending on where you live. I flew from west coast to Lima and it was a 16 hour travel day and it wasn't particularly cheap. Return flights to US almost always leave at midnight or 1 a.m. You might have more pleasant and less expensive flight choices to Europe.
• For efficiency, I suggest using a guide service to book your time to Machu Picchu (at a minimum) and possibly other places in Peru. It's quite a process to get to MP - fly from Lima to Cusco then a 3 hour train ride to the base of MP. Also there are also daily attendance limits to visit MP so you need to figure out that system and purchase tickets ahead of time.
• You cannot drive to MP and I wouldn't want to drive in Lima (traffic = horrible), so Norway would be more amenable if you're wanting to have a car. Also public transit probably easier in Norway (unless you speak Spanish).
• English is spoken much less frequently in Peru than in Norway. I have some Spanish skills and I still struggled especially in more rural areas, though I was on a guided tour so did have help when needed.
• Elevation issues in Peru are no joke. You should allow time for acclimation. Depending on where you go in Norway there could be some elevation change but nothing comparable to Cusco for example.
• For prices, Peru is going to be much cheaper for food and accommodations and most attractions (MP is the exception). Norway is expensive in all the ways.
• You may want to check if you need any travel specific vaccinations for Peru
• As was noted, there has been some recent political discord in Peru. Based on the current State Department descriptions I would be ok going, but that's something to consider.

Not sure that's what you want to know, but my two cents in any case.

We have been to Peru three times and Norway twice.

Both countries are remarkable. Don't try to do Peru on your own. Be sure to take a tour.

You would need 2-3 days in Lima and 4-5 days in Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. We used a great tour company, PeruAgency.com

Also, my Son and some of his friends did Peru using an American tour company, Gate 1 Travel. They said it was excellent. Their tour included the places that I mentioned as well as some of the interesting places. Check out both companies and well as others and compare cost and itinerary.

Peru is very cheap, especially compared to Norway. Norway seemed to be the most expensive country in Europe.

I recommend taking a cruise up the coast of Norway all the way to the North Cape. You must to it in the Summer.
For Peru, just do it after the rainey season ends on April 1.

The Norwegian fjords are amazing, we saw several. The best was at Geiranger. Bergen, Flam, Alesund and Tromso are great as well as the North Cape.

I have been to Norway and going to Peru this summer. Just comments:

I didn't find Norway as expensive as most others have, maybe 15% more than the (pre-Brexit) UK. Iceland (esp lodging) is more expensive.

I tried to find a Peru tour that would work for us and just couldn't, they race around great distances and are rather expensive for what you get. I confess I am not a tour person, I hate being herded around like cattle (moo!). Most seem to have village visits where local people are hired to wear traditional costumes and dance or something and the tourists swoon. I can't believe this works for most people, and they don't realize everyone puts on cutoffs and t-shirts when the tourists go.

All the guidebooks for Peru are lacking, particularly Lonely Planet. They don't make it easy to plan local transportation for a custom itinerary.

If you have a lot of time a person can just go to Peru and make plans day by day and it will all work out (except reserve Machu Picchu). But trying to work it all out in advance is a real challenge. Many people opt for PeruHop, which runs daily buses on set itineraries, you can reserve online each segment as you go, and they do hotel pick up and drop off. It's all tourists, mostly younger. Their buses are not up to local caliber. Local buses have lie-flat seats for overnight travel that are pretty cheap, like $25. Ref: Cruz del Sur is the big one but there are other bus companies. CdS allows online seat selection for its buses. PeruHop has an arc route Lima to Cusco (someone who speaks Spanish will have to tell me why place names are spelled with both a Z or S, why Cuzco and Cusco, why Nazca and Nasca?). This costs about $170-$200 for all the buses you need to complete the trip. It's cheaper Cusco to Lima than vice versa. There are 2 overnight bus journeys, If PeruHop offered lie-flat seats I would consider it, although I would prefer to cover Puno to Cusco in the daylight and PeruHop only offers night trips.

I believe American has a 7:30 am flight Lima to Miami that avoids overnight travel. There are Lima nonstops from JFK, ATL, MIA, and LAX, American, Delta, or LATAM. Not sure if United offers anything? If they do it would be from Houston.

There are day bus tours in Peru linking cities that offer tourists stops on the way, esp between Cusco and Puno. I am not having luck finding one from Arequipa to Puno, there's a website but no one answers.

The Amazon has become pretty developed, zoom in on Iquitos or Puerto Maldonado and there are people farming everywhere. The "jungle" lodges still exist but I think a person should temper their expectations that this is still wilderness filled with animals. Many tours have TWO native village visits in the Amazon. That's too much dress up and make believe for me.

Many tours offer an allotment for a second early morning Machu Picchu visit, I'm not sure it is worth it. Note that it costs $45 a visit and there are set times and itineraries needing a reservation. There are 5 one-way itineraries and a person has to pick the one they want, I think 3 is the most complete, and backtracking on itineraries and wandering the site are not allowed. The best time to visit Machu Picchu is in the past, unfortunately, just like Rome etc., but what can we do, there are tourists everywhere now.

[Realizing that this is not of interest to the average person, but it's stuff I have learned]

Our private tour of Cuzco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu in 2019 was four days with PeruAgency.com and cost $699 pp.
It was great and PRIVATE with only my wife and self and our guide/driver.

We have done both. And both in the month of May. Peru in 2018 I think. And Norway just this last year. Both are wonderful. But depends on what you are up for.

We did Peru partly on our own and partly with a travel company. We don't speak Spanish. We did Arequipa, Cuzco, MP trek and then Lima. Only for the MP trek did we use the travel company. We otherwise arranged flights, hotels, sightseeing on our own.

Norway we did Oslo, flew to Alesund then had a car to drive a few days and up to Trondheim then took the Hurtigruten but just for a day from Trondheim to Bergen and flew home from Bergen. I arranged all of Norway independently.

If you do Peru I highly recommend Mountain Lodges of Peru. We did their Lares trek. The guides were excellent, the lodges so comfortable and without the crazy crowds I understand there would have been on the Inca trail. MLP I believe also offers other travel agency services if you do need more help. But otherwise Peru was no harder to get around and do what we wanted than Europe is.

Adding to above, I think for Salkantay Trek run by MLP they charge about $1150/day per couple in high season. It takes 7 days, so a lot of money. May would be cheaper though. Other treks are shorter.

George: I understand what you are saying but the pieces of your trip are worth about $600 total, so you are paying $800 for a guide, being driven around, and the logistics taken care of. I think it was serendipity that you got a private tour. If pressed for time I would do it, but I'm not. This is the big difference between tours and independent travel: I would prefer to spread out your 3 day tour itinerary to 5 days (it takes more time to cover the same itinerary when a person has to work out the ground transportation day by day) and spend about $800. There will be some scrambling and confusion my way but I will still see all the things that the tour covers and also I get time to just sit and take a break or have a day off.

We used Lima Tours for our Machu Picchu (June and it was warm) visit. We flew into Lima where we’re taken to our hotel for the night. They picked us up for a flight to Cusco where we stayed several days with site visits and then to Machu Picchu. This was in the mid 90s and very inexpensive.
We spent time in Peru again 12 years ago before heading to the Galapagos. We enjoyed Peru a lot.
I’ve been to Norway via a cruise. I liked the ports and excursions I took but can’t really say much as I saw very little of the country.

I've been to Norway and Peru last year. Both countries are beautiful in their own ways.

Peru has Cusco, which embodies a bustling and fun town full of adventurers and things to explore. I really enjoyed my time in Cusco in early October. Getting to Machu Picchu through https://www.apus-peru.com/ made everything as easy as possible. They arranged all transportation from Cusco and accommodation in Aguas Calientes while there. The hike itself was beautiful and not that hard (although, coming from someone who regularly hikes). Neighboring towns of Pisac and Chinchero were also pleasant and fun to explore. I took public transportation there with a friend, (which were just white vans) for 4-5 Soles. If you're with your family, taxis could be a better option for getting around the region. The cost of food and accommodation is quite low in this region, especially if you eat at fast-casual restaurants.

Norway is expensive, as others said. I covered a large southern portion of the country last July. A beer can get as high as $20 in some parts of Oslo. Accommodation is also quite expensive, even far away from the capital, so bringing your family there will not be cheap. A hamburger and drink cost around USD $25 in the middle of nowhere, near Ullensvang. If you're visiting in the summer as you mentioned, you can enjoy scenic drives through the fjords near Bergen by renting a car. The scenery really is beautiful in the country. A bike ride through Oslo is enjoyable. Visiting the Opera house, or even just walking on it, is fun too.

My choice would be Peru, because I felt more personally connected to people there, but that has elements of my own bias. Norway was part of a larger "Summer Scandinavia" trip for me so I didn't dedicate as much time to the country as Peru, which was just... "Peru trip". I'm sure you could have a lovely vacation in either country, but Peru would still be my choice. There's just more to see and do in the sacred valley IMO.

Watch my videos on both countries!

https://youtu.be/HJdKHEO1pmk?feature=shared

https://youtu.be/5rVv52WbYxQ?feature=shared