Which company to use for Inca Trail

Alana: Together with friends we travelled to Peru in August. Our tour was arranged with Marnella Tours in the United States and was represented in Peru by Fiesta Tours. Both were very good and supported. Maria of Fiesta was excellent. We experienced two situations which somewhat dampened our visit to this wonderful country. 1) The train from Machu Picchu to Cusco broke down in nowhere and I think the company that runs the train did not fully assist the passengers. 2) Our flight from Cusco to Lima was delayed, delayed, cancelled and then mysteriously took off with other passengers including our luggage. We missed our connection from Lima to Miami and had to stay over an extra night in Cusco and leaving the country took every ounce of energy on all our parts not because of the language but because of their burearocracy. Anyway, enjoy your trip.

We used unitedmice, which we are very satisfied with. Here is the website: http://unitedmice.com/
Enjoy Peru!

Thanks for the info everyone. Did anyone buy plane ticket from Lima to Cusco when they landed in Lima and to leave the next day, is this feasible orshould I buy ticket before I leave the USA. Thanks. ALana

Hi Alana,

Check out www.peruperu.com for inca trail info.

My suggestion is to get your lima-cusco tickets before you leave home. When you arrive in Lima, especially if you are on a late night flight, it is a big hassel to head off to the domestic side with all your luggage, wait in line (if the ticket line is even open!), and then head out of the airport. I think sort of a waste of time and energy.

Happy trails!
davarian

Davarian: Did you buy Lima-Cusco on Lan Peru's website from the U.S. I will arrive one day before I would like to fly out and I understand one has to reconfirm. Do you think this will all work out,and if I wait tillI get to Lima and go to an agency there, can I fly out the next day -I'll be arriving around April 5th in Lima. Thanks. Alana

Hi Alana,

I make all the arrangements I possibly can ahead of time through an agency (live person!) for my trips to peru. Rarely do I use an airline website: most tickets bought through the web are non-refundable, and there is never a real person to contact when something needs to be changed!

There have been times when my travel plans changed along the way, and I bought tickets on the fly. Never had much of a problem buying tickets right at the airports. But it definitely helps if you know some spanish!

April is not the busiest month in Lima for people going to cusco. You should have no problem.

davarian

Thanks davarian. I do speak spanish. which company did you use for the inca trail to MP. They are all about $275-285.00 USA in price. It sounds like they all offer the same thing. I will be a single traveler (27 yrs). Alana

Hi Alana,

Although I am in peru a couple times each year, it was 20 some years ago when I was on what they now call the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Fortunately back then there were very few hikers and not a need for official operators.

Every year for the past few years there have been more gov regulations, taxes, and price increases for the inca trail to machu picchu.
Now there is a 30-day reservation requirement, so that means people can not just show up in cusco and bargain with the operators for a lower price. and the really low price operators either go out of business or raise their prices, then try to get people mainly through the internet to make their 30 day reservation.
prices are now 275-470 bottom end, up to 670 higher end companies/services.

Here are some of the companies with their advertised price for the basic 4-day trail, joining with a group (later in 2005 all their prices may go up again as new regulations are due out in april):

Enigmaperu: 320$
Inkanatura: 599$
Peruperu: 320$
Ericadventures: 430$
Andeanlife: 295$ (with a disclaimer that prices may go up)
Unitedmice: they wont advertise prices yet!
Sastravelperu: 325$ with a disclaimer prices may go up
Perutreks: 275-295$
Andinatravel: 325$
Apumayo: 466$

There are more operators than this list, some have yet to get websites up.

This list is just info I have gathered, not necessarily a recommendation for any one operator. I have seen recommendations and good things said about each of these companies.

Happy trails,
davarian

Thanks Davarian for that information in inca. Can I book a flight on Lan Peru on their website from the USA from Lima to Cusco. I will only stay in Lima for one day and then head out to Cusco after that. Or should I wait to get to Lima and go to an agency to purchase my ticket for the next day, are flights available that easily in April (beginning) thanks. Alana

I highly recommend Explorandes. We used them in June 1999 and are working with them again for our Feb 2005 trip. (Although, this trip we won't be doing the Inca Trail or MP) Explorandes is very professional; they provide excellent English-speaking local guides, good trail meals and treat the porters with great respect. They have been in business for over 30 years and have a solid reputation.

http://www.explorandes.com/

- Sharon

hi alana. In Sept 2004, my niece used enigmaperu on advice from a friend of mine and she said it was the best decision, as their food is very good and their beds are excellent. Both these comments stayed with me as whenever we've camped overnight, if both were good it made the going easier! Good luck.

See my post on Trail Tour Operators. We used Peru Treks and were very very satisfied. Ask questions regarding porter welfare before you make your choice of company.

We did the hike in Dec 2004 and we used Andean Life (http://www.andeanlife.com/). They took really good care of all the hikers. We had the best food in Peru during that hike.

Has anyone travelled in 2005? Is it going to be impossible for me to reserve something for the last week of August, given that it's mid-July.

I paid $450 for www.perutreks.com last October, but I did hire an extra porter and also rented their foam "mattress. I had a great time with Perutreks. The two guides my group had were great.

If you think using public bathrooms on the trail will be an issue for you then you might want to consider more expensive company that will provide their own private bathroom tents.

Hello
I reserved last week with Peru Planet in Cusco
Friends of me went with them last year on the incatrail and they are official operators on the Incatrail and other trekks
They were verry happy with the service / good bigg tents and great food and guy
Thats why i did choose them also to do my incatrail this year in July

They did charge me 415 usd and for my son of 11 year it was 35 usd less
The contact thru internet with them was verry fast and good
www.peru-planet.net