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

Traveler Reviews

• V

  Victoria

  January 3rd, 2026
  3
  I thoroughly enjoyed this tour. Overall, it was a good value for money and was maintained relatively well. Here are a...
  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!Show more
  Traveled in November 2025
  

  Reply from: Peru Trek 4 Good

  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 visited, and the gradual altitude acclimation. We are also very happy to know that some of our guides made a strong positive impression on your journey. We sincerely appreciate your honest feedback regarding transportation, communication, and accommodation. Your comments about vehicle comfort, air conditioning, and seat belts are taken very seriously, and we will continue working closely with our local transport providers to improve safety standards and comfort, especially on longer transfers. Regarding language, while English-speaking guides are provided during tours and activities, we understand how helpful it can be to also have English-speaking drivers for transfers, and we recognize that this is an area where better coordination and clearer communication would improve the overall experience. Thank you as well for sharing your observations about the hotels and logistics. You took a BUDGET trip with basic hotels; as a local operator, we aim to balance location, authenticity, and value, but we understand that expectations vary, and your notes are very helpful for future travelers. Your feedback about receiving schedules with more advance notice—particularly for planners—is also well noted, and we will work to improve clarity and consistency, especially when multiple local partners are involved. We truly appreciate the practical recommendations you shared for future travelers, especially regarding extra time in Lima and Machu Picchu. These insights will be very valuable for others considering a similar itinerary. Once again, thank you for traveling with us and for sharing your experience so openly. Your feedback helps us continue to grow and improve, and we hope to have the opportunity to welcome you again in the future. Warm regards, Peru Trek 4 Good

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• V

  Vladislav

  October 1st, 2025
  4
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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...
  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.Show more
  Traveled in August 2025
• C

  Cheryl

  January 21st, 2020
  5
  This was a pretty different experience from my Peruvian tour last year with a bigger company. With that company, I...
  This was a pretty different experience from my Peruvian tour last year with a bigger company. With that company, I was with one group of people most of the time. With this one, basically the owner (Yure) contracts with local tour groups in each place, then sends detailed instructions about the meeting places, times, documents and things to bring, people that I would be meeting with, etc via the What’s App app. Some parts of the tour, I was traveling with the same guides and travelers for a few days with a private bus for the group, at other points it was just me and a guide or a driver to and from the bus station or hotel. For the most part, everything worked very well. I was traveling on my own with specific dates and places I wanted to visit, and this package was the best match that I found. (Some companies won’t work with you if you don’t have at least 2 people.) I thought it was a pretty good deal for the price. You should have money on hand for tips and souvenirs (there is quite a bit of pressure to buy things in Peru, but most of the stuff is good quality, Peruvians are enterprising and hard working, and overall salaries there are low, so I think it’s important to give back what you can). If you’re a bit adventurous and can roll with the flow (for the most part everything was punctual and happened according to the instructions, except in Paracas, which was a bit chaotic. But honestly, I think that’s just the way Paracas operates at the moment), then it’s a lot of fun. I am also very grateful to Yure and Rebeca (contact in Puno that I didn’t even get to meet), for their support and flexibility when I got sick un Puño a few hours before my bus was supposed to leave for Cusco. They were able to postpone the next leg of the trip for one day, and all I had to pay for was an extra day at the hotel in Puno. I probably got lucky, since I did happen to have one extra day at the end of the tour, and there weren’t a lot of tourists, so there might have been more flexibility than during the high tourist season. And of course I was also lucky that I was just sick for (several horrible hours) one day and I could resume the tour the next day. But Yure and Rebeca did check up on me several times via phone and What’s App. The guides on the tours were very informative and fun. Overall it was a fantastic experience. It probably helps that I speak Spanish, but pretty much everybody I came in contact with spoke passable English or better, so I wouldn’t say that Spanish is a requirement, especially for a traveler that’s flexible, adventurous, and can follow instructions.Show more
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  Traveled in January 2020