I am not usually the person who is quick to sign up for guided tours because I want the freedom to plan a trip on my own. I will admit; however, that my husband and I were both a little nervous to travel to South America for the first time. It is easy to read travel guidebooks and reviews that warn of illegitimate taxis, pickpockets in public places and foodborne illnesses. After visiting the country and not experiencing these things, I would encourage anyone to travel there. Although we felt safe the whole trip, I am still extremely happy with our decision to take a guided tour. Here are some of the reasons why:
- Transportation in Peru can be quite challenging. We were only there for one week and I can’t even tell you the number of transfers, buses, trains, etc that we took that week. It is easy to forget the amount of transportation you will actually need for your trip, everything from a transfer to the airport to a 2 hour drive into the Sacred Valley. It is much easier to have a tour company arrange this for you.
- The guided tours provide you with a wealth of knowledge. The Inca’s were very detailed oriented and what might look like a few rocks stacked on each other may turn out to be an intricate temple or a way to measure the sun. The Incan ruins scattered throughout Peru are beautiful, but we got so much more out of them with the explanations from our amazing tour guides.
- It can be difficult to find the hotels in Peru. A few of the hotels in the Sacred Valley didn’t even have a sign in front of them and just looked like any other building. I wouldn’t want to be stuck somewhere unable to find where I was supposed to be staying.
- The guides provide assistance throughout the trip meaning you don’t have to worry about setting up transportation, tours, finding your group, etc. I found the week to be very stress free because of this. Although a large number of the Peruvian people speak some English, it is not uncommon in the smaller villages for them to only speak Spanish or Quecha (the native language of Peru) and can be difficult to communicate with the locals.
- There are some areas in the bigger cities, specifically in Lima, that I wouldn’t want to accidentally wander. Although I never felt unsafe while I was in Peru, we drove through some areas that would have made me feel that way. A guided tour helps prevent this from occurring, especially when some of the tourist areas are far away from your hotel.
- We found it to be less expensive. Of course, guided tours vary greatly in price, but we were able to find one that included flights, transportation, hotels and several meals for a reasonable price. Again, I don’t usually take guided tours, but in this case it turned out to be cost effective and still provided us with some free time to explore the cities on our own.
Ok, I’m sure you are wondering what tour company we used for the week we spent in Peru. We chose Journeyou, a South American based company that specializes in tours to Peru, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia and Ecuador. The main reason we chose this company was simply because they had an inexpensive week long tour to Peru, including flights, that left on the date we needed. With that being said, we were very pleased with their service and I wouldn’t be afraid to use them on a future tour (they didn’t pay me to say any of this).