Cusco Tours in Fall

This trip provides a fantastic combination of challenging remote trekking on the Salkantay section and over the Inca Chiriasca pass, the traditional Inca Trail with amazing site of Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate, plus many fascinating Inca sites which were brought to life by our exceptional and knowledgeable leader, Edwind. The food on the trek was superb - big shout out to our amazing chefs - plus meals out in Cusco were a revelation, with beautifully presented, tasty options.

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!

Machu Picchu, Rainbow Mountain, Zip lining, Mountain Biking and Raftong were all incredible and I?d recommend them over and over again. Joseph and Walter were excellent guides. Accommodation on this tour is poor (hostels without window covers for mosquitos/cold water/bed bugs) and so I?d recommend looking at a ?classic? tour instead!

“Classic Peru” is genuinely a “highlights” tour of Southern Peru and what we saw was truly epic; a fascinating blend of Inca history & culture, the stunning scenery of the Andes and the Andean wildlife. The 2 top highlights, for me, were a) entering the site of Macchu Picchu, shrouded in cloud, only for the wind to gradually blow that cloud away for the dramatic “reveal” and b) to see 5 or 6 Condors (adults & juveniles) gradually rise up the Colca Canyon, on the morning’s thermals, until they were soaring over our heads! Lima is often written off but is worth a look and we arrived one day early (on Saturday) and visited the Centro Historico on Sunday morning. We were rewarded with a front-row view of the city’s own “changing of the guard” in Plaza de Armas. The food on the trip is excellent in general and very good value. Our guide, Hector, was also excellent and very focussed on keeping us safe and in good health (managing the gradual increase in altitude, as much as possible); he’s especially knowledgable on all things culture and history. For me, the only two negatives in the trip were:- a) the overnight stay on Taquile Island - by all means visit the island but the poor accommodation overshadowed the stay and b) the misleading advice in the pre-trip literature about currencies and exchange - Explore imply it’s ok to buy Peruvian Sol at Lima airport; DON’T - the rate is terrible. They also say “take US$ because the rate for the GB£ is poor”; ignore that too as the local rates (in forex bureaux) were almost entirely equivalent, so buying US$ in the UK is just a waste of money. I’m sure Explore can quickly rectify these two things in an otherwise excellent tour.

My experience with Raul, and our crew on the Lares Trek was above and beyond all expectations. Everyone was thoughtful, caring, and helpful. The entire experience in Peru was enlightening and exciting. I?d do it all again in a heartbeat.

This trip was amazing and Ernesto was an exceptional tour leader, making sure to integrate the whole group and going above and beyond in every instance. His knowledge and passion for the destination was evident. Such an enjoyable trip with and amazing group of people and memories that will last forever.