Greetings and Etiquette for Visitors to Peru

Welcome to Peru! (That’s how to say “welcome to Peru” in Spanish, for the uninitiated). Before you step onto Peruvian soil, even if you don’t speak Español, it’s beneficial to understand the fundamental etiquette surrounding greetings and introductions.

Formal Greetings

Being overly polite is preferable; therefore, stick with formal greetings if you have any uncertainties. They are easy enough to remember, and you simply need to use them at the correct time of day:

• Buenos días — Good day or good morning. Used from morning until midday.
• Buenas tardes — Good afternoon or good evening. Used from midday until nightfall.
• Buenas noches — Good night. Used at night as both a greeting and a way of saying goodbye.

Peruvians are especially polite when speaking to their elders; consequently, keep that in mind as a basic rule. You should also employ formal greetings when addressing individuals in authority, such as police officers and border officials. For extra politeness, tack on a señor when addressing men or señora for women (i.e., “Buenos días, señor.”).

Aside from formal greetings, it’s not uncommon to hear Peruvians using a quick “Buenas!” as a greeting without attaching the time of day. While this is acceptable among friends and acquaintances, try to use the full version when addressing strangers.

Saying Hello

A simple hola is the standard way of saying hello in Peru. It’s friendly yet informal, so stick with formal greetings when communicating with elders and authority figures. You can enrich the standard hola with some informal phrases such as:

• ¿Cómo estás? — How are you?
• ¿Qué tal? — What’s up?
• ¿Como va? — How’s it going?

However, keep in mind that it’s not strictly correct to use hola when answering the phone. Instead, you should say aló as you take the call.

Physical Gestures and Introductions

Peruvian greetings and introductions are typically accompanied by a handshake or a kiss on the cheek. A firm handshake is customary between men, while a kiss is standard practice in most other contexts. Peruvians kiss each other once on the right cheek. Kissing on both cheeks is unusual; therefore, keep it simple.

Handshakes and cheek kisses are particularly important during formal introductions. In such cases, you can also say, “mucho gusto” or “it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

As a rule, limit your handshakes and kisses to social situations. Outside of these contexts, simply smiling suffices during day-to-day interactions with shopkeepers, taxi drivers, government workers, and others in service roles (although an introductory handshake might be appreciated).

Greetings in Quechua and Aymara

Although more than 80% of Peruvians speak Spanish as their first language, you will likely encounter both Quechua and Aymara in the Andean highlands and around Lake Titicaca. Here are some fundamental greetings in both languages.

Quechua greetings:

• Rimaykullayki — Hello
• Napaykullayki — Hi
• Allillanchu? — How are you? (formal)
• Imaynan kashianki? — How are you? (informal)

Aymara greetings:

• Kamisaraki — Hello
• Kunjamaskatasa? — How are you?