I am planning a trip to Peru in May.

My questions:

1. We arrive in Lima Friday night at 10:30pm, how long does customs usually take?

2. Is it better just to stay at the airport then get a hotel for one
night in Lima? We will be flying to Cusco first thing Saturday morning.

3. Can anyone suggest a good safe hotel that is not to expensive if we decide to get one for the Friday night we arrive in Lima?

Any help will be appreciated!!

Debbie, like you, we arrive in Lima around 10:30p and have an 8:35a flight to Cuzco the next morning. We have booked a room at the Ramada located at the aiport - a bit expensive, but worth it to us for the convenience.

Customs at the Lima airport was fairly quick -- maybe 30 minutes tops. The area around the airport is not the greatest. The Ramada would be a good choice if u decide to stay at a hotel. We arrived late at night (11pm or so) and there were people sitting about on the floor I assumed to spend the night there until their early flights.

We too arrived late at night. Booked an inexpensive hotel in Lima and arranged, through them, an airport transfer. They were waiting for us when we arrived and took us back to the airport in the morning (about 30 minutes each way). We thought it was worth it for a good night's sleep. Our hotel was about $40 as I remember, and the airport transfer $20 total. I can check the details if you want or you can look up my trip report (click on my name or type Karen and Julie in the search box).
Yes, as I remember it was about a half-hour to get through customs for us, as well.

Thanks for the replies.

One more question:

Has anyone flown on Taca Airlines?

Lan is asking $425 roundtrip - one person for flight from Lima to Cusco and back to Lima

I thought it was high.

Get a travel agent in Peru to book the LAN internal flight to Cuzco and back. They will get a much lower rate. That is what I did.

I second emd -- I opted to use a local guide to help with many of the details of our upcoming trip, including my domestic tickets ... saved a bundle.

We flew Taca from Costa Rica to Peru but used Lan for flights within Peru. As I recall Taca only had one flight early in the morning and Lan had many flights to choose from. Have you looked into Condor or Star, I think that they have several, although not as many as Lan. As mentioned above, an agent can get a better price for Lan; tickets will be prepaid and (I think) no refund. The agent we used about a year ago for our March Lan flights in Peru is http://www.go2peru.com

Thanks.

I checked the Spanish version on Lan and tickets were only 138.00. I will also check Go2peru site.

I emailed Hotel Aleman and have not heard a reply. I emailed in English, does anyone know if they will answer since it is English?

When I arrived into Lima at 2:30am it took only a few minutes to get thru customs. If I was flying out that early, I'd just sleep in the airport (but I'm cheap). I would recommend having a little time in Lima on your way back if you can, there is lots to see and the weather is better than Cuzco.

Sorry, just to add a bit. See my reply under "Cusco or Lima" forum, where I went on ad nauseum about Lima.