The Best of Southern Peru + Ballestas Islands, Ica - Huacachina Oasis & Nazca: Budget

Customer Reviews

• V

  Victoria

  · January 3rd, 2026
  I thoroughly enjoyed this tour. Overall, it was a good value for money and was maintained relatively well. Here are a few notes on the tour itself and general recommendations I would offer to someone browsing tours on TourRadar. Notes on the tour service that we booked. We were a group of 4 people which allowed us to have many private tours and private transfers. However, we found ourselves in small transfer vehicles with very little room and often no AC. One thing that was especially troublesome was many of the transfer vehicles did not have seat belts that worked. Often the rides were especially long, so it did not feel safe riding without a seat belt. I don't recall any transfer drivers who spoke English (which to be fair, nearly anyone communicated in English within the country). It was quite challenging though to have no English communication from the person who were taking us from place to place (i.e. we wouldn't know what time we could have in a specific location, what time we could eat etc). We had to rely on the one person in our group who knew Spanish fluently. When I have been on other Tour Radar trips that are English spoken, I've had more communication and less confusion. None of the hotels feel especially cozy which wasn't a problem for my group. Just a few details for awareness: AC not always guaranteed, hotels located in the city which makes it easier to walk around on your own but also noisy so pack ear plugs, no microwaves or fridges in any hotel or a way to heat food so plan to go out for every meal, hot water not always guaranteed, lots of thin walls or minimally clean hotel rooms. Guides very greatly! That said, we had really good ones for a few locations. Most real communication happens via What'sApp. When I had questions, I could typically get a response via What'sApp during business hours. I made lots of dinner reservations, so I wanted more details around arrivals and transfers. During the second week of the tour, we were moreso on our own, like different agencies were running the tour. Therefore, we wouldn't get schedule details until the day before. That was a bit taxing for someone who is a planner even with trying to schedule laundry service etc.. The tour got us to great cities and gave us a great overview of the country. It also allowed for altitude acclimation, and I do think it was great leaving our most anticipated activity for the last day. General recommendations if you select this tour or similar ones: (1) arrive in Lima early! Lima is a large city and you need more time in the city than what is included in the general 3 hour tour. In fact, there isn't even enough time between the city tour and your transfer to the bus station to allow for having a real meal in the city on your own. To do it over again, I would have come in at least one day earlier or added an additional day to the return flight from Cusco to Lima. This will allow you to actually try out the local cuisine. It is a costal city so I wish we had more time to enjoy the vastness of Lima. (2) Definitely book an extra day to visit Matchupichu! We booked an additional day so we could complete two hikes. So glad we did because we got different views of the archeological site (you don't get to get the iconic photos all from one trail) and we also enjoyed varied weather across both days which was nice. (3) You can go to the local bus stations and request upgraded bus transfers. Not every route has the upgrade available. Even so, it's worth asking to get more comfortable seating for the very long bus rides. (4) Would not recommend taking a whole day on Lake Titicaca. General atmosphere was not especially welcoming to tourists, the only place in the country where we felt a bit like we were being taken advantage of or expected to spend money. Views were pretty enough, but the boat ride is especially long. The own itself is very fun and worth exploring. We enjoyed a parade in the evening and experienced much more culture by walking the city. (5) Look for local Chicarias in each city you visit!
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  Peru Trek 4 Good commented on this review

  Hello: Thank you very much for taking the time to share such a detailed and thoughtful review of your experience. We are truly glad to hear that you thoroughly enjoyed the tour, found it to be good value for money, and appreciated the itinerary, cities... Show more
  Trip date: November 2025
• VM

  Vladislav

  · October 2nd, 2025
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  The tour was very good, someone was waiting for me at each meeting point which made me feel very comfortable and safe. The guides were excellent. What I can rescue are two hotels, since I paid three months in advance, in Cusco the hotel could have been better, as in Arequipa. The car transfer from the hotel Alegria to the Nasca lines.
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  Trip date: August 2025
• CH

  Cheryl

  · January 21st, 2020
  This was a pretty different experience from my...
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  Trip date: January 2020