Lima Tours and Trips

Darwin it was an amazing leader! He was caring, funny, intelligent with a deep knowledge of all the places we have been. I highly recommend this tour and Darwin. The best guide ever!

This was my 5th Contiki and it was another unforgettable experience. The trip manager () was excellent, a true expert in all things South American. My only constructive comment is linked to the number of days spent in Buenos Aires. The add ons and city were disappointing compared to the rest of the trip. I can't believe we spent so long there. I would have much rather spend more time in the Amazon or in Rio.

The activities were all jam packed and amazing, everyone loved it. The only issue was the Peru hop transportation as the lack of a private bus took away the magic of travelling together.

A full on tour which covered a huge amount of ground and was an excellent overview of Peru. The tour guide, Arturo, was outstanding and did sort out one or two minor problems with two of the hotels. He was very caring and knowledgeable and added considerable value to the trip. Highlights include the boat trip on Lake Titicaca and the floating islands and the visit to Tequile Island. Also the train from Puno to Cusco. He provided a first rate visit to Machu Picchu getting the timing absolutely right so that we were there late in the afternoon when the crowds had diminished. I would rate the upgraded hotels as between good and excellent with the exception of the Xima in Cusco - some of the rooms look over an internal atrium with no outside window, (feels dark and claustrophobic) with a window onto a corridor so it was necessary to keep curtains drawn at all times, and overlooking the atrium meant there was a lot of noise in the early morning when tour groups were departing. However, Arturo did sought out alternative rooms. The food was also less good at this hotel and I wonder whether an alternative in Cusco should be sourced. The one slight disappointment was the tour on the first day which went to a rather boring market (the one in Arequipa was much more interesting) and I don't think the ceviche making demonstration added any value. A visit to the colonial centre of Lima would have been better use of time. Otherwise the itinerary and all visits definitely exceeded expectations. The food in restaurants generally (hotel and external) is of a high standard and reasonably priced - both tourist menus and higher priced The tour is fast-paced with some early starts but necessary to cover the ground. As a reasonably fit 67 year old, I was able to keep up and enjoy this holiday fully. There were nine people in the group which was great with a nice dynamic Recommended!

The upgraded Peru trip with explore was excellent and I created lots of amazing memories ! The itinerary was done in a great way to ensure we got use to the altitude and also ensured we saw a lot of Peru . Our tour leader Arturo was excellent and he really made the experience better. He was friendly and chatty with all of us on the tour and went out of his way to make the holiday as smooth as possible. He has such in depth knowledge of Peru including all the history and culture and information of the sites we visited . I would highly recommend both Arturo and this trip and I will always look on my time in Peru with great memories and hopefully I will be back one day !

On paper, the itinerary doesn't seem to offer a whole lot of activities, however, once the trip started, I wondered hot it was possible for us to do and see so much in such a short time. This trip was one of my Bucket-list items, and it surpassed my expectations. For Anyone who is interested history and culture, this trip is a MUST. It was such a great experience to see the Inca Culture in real-time, eat their ethnic foods, mingle with them, see their dances, and mingle with them, that it was like walking back in time. The Machu Picchu site almost became a side-show to all off the other experiences that we had. People warned us about so many things to beware of, well, I can honestly say that Lima, Cusco, and Mach Picchu are among the safest places that we have been to. Yes, we were tourists, but that only meant so much to these people. They were genuinely polite, cultured, and accommodating. We love to travel. and there are still lots of places that we want to visit, but if I had to pick a place to re-visit, this certainly rank in the top-three.