Last Minute Peru Tours and July

The experience was amazing, the trip was very well organised, the countries we got to experience were incredible and the tour manager (Joel) was fantastic, it’s clear he knew a lot about the places we were going to, gave good recommendations, made an effort to build a relationship with all of us and was just very organised in general. If I had one piece of feedback it would be on the Argentine portion of the trip. Whilst I did enjoy the time spent in Buenos Aires, it didn’t feel like it fit in the flow with the rest of the tour, it felt a bit like a completely different trip whereas it felt the Peru and Brazil portions fit quite well together. Additionally, whilst I had no issue with the quality of the Buenos Aires hotel, my roommate had complaints about the cleanliness of the room and made a complaint to the front desk and I felt the way they handled the complaint was very poor, there was no real effort put in to make my roommate feel more comfortable and we had to involve our tour manager and he was really great in the situation but ultimately my roommate felt the need to book her own hotel for the duration of the Buenos Aires portion so I think the hotel choice could be looked into a bit if possible. Additionally, the excursion to Tigre looked like it could’ve been quite nice in the summer, however, our tour took place in winter so the kayaking and swimming that was advertised wasn’t actually available when we arrived on the island. The resort we spent the day at was beautiful but we pretty much ate lunch and then stood around for over an hour, all of us who partook in that FTAO agreed that the experience was not worth the price and maybe an alternate FTAO could be considered in the colder months. The Peru and Brazil portion of the trip was absolutely fantastic and overall it was an incredible experience!

Such an incredible trip! It’s fast-paced (most times spending only one night in a hotel before checking out) and somewhat exhausting with early mornings, but you see A LOT. I booked this mainly for Machu Picchu and was blown away by all the beauty, history, and sights Peru has to offer. Our tour manager (plus the local tour guides) were all great. The itinerary was well thought out and didn’t feel like we missed out on anything. Highly recommend this Contiki!

This trip was amazing, and covered so much ground in a short amount of time. From sand buggying in Huacachina, a boat ride in Paracas, seeing the Nazca lines, and finally seeing Machu Picchu…. nothing short of spectacular. It was very fast paced, which was a struggle some days - especially because of the altitude changes. But definitely worth it!

The outstanding aspect of this wonderful hike was the planning of the campsites. We stayed largely in smaller campsites out of phase with the 200 other hikers joining the trail every day so one would not have known there were so many people on it. The exception was the final campsite which was unmissable given its views over the Andes and clouds. The other advantage compared with the average tourist is the walk down into Macchu Pinchu, I had previously visited there on a tour and the experience was infinitely better this way.

This was genuinely one of the best experiences of my life, and a huge amount of that comes down to how well Explore organised the whole thing. Pabel, our tour leader, was absolutely brilliant - knowledgeable, warm, and incredibly well-organised. Everything ran smoothly from start to finish, and you could tell the whole operation had been carefully thought through. The route Explore uses is particularly impressive - we managed to avoid the bulk of the crowds on the trail, which made the whole experience feel far more immersive and special than I'd expected. We were a small group of seven and that made such a difference. Everyone gelled immediately and we had so much fun together. The porters deserve a special mention: they were phenomenal, and the food on the trail was genuinely outstanding. They even baked a birthday cake at the highest elevation campsite, which tells you everything about the spirit of the team. The one thing that held me back from a perfect score was the main hotel in Cusco. The location is excellent, but my room was really noisy - you could hear the reception phone and conversations drifting in from the courtyard throughout the night. For a trip this good, it felt like an easy fix that would make an already brilliant experience flawless. Highly, highly recommend Explore for the Inca Trail. Already thinking about the next one.

Our Inca Trail Trek was an amazing adventure! Our guide, Ludwig, was amazing. His passion for the Inca Trail and Peruvian history shone through in his story telling and explanations. Joining him on his 243rd trek was inspiring. Don't worry about going hungry on this trip. The food was delicious and servings were plentiful. Roberto, our cook, out did himself with every single meal. Everything about this trip was perfect!