gpotvin

As we were planning our trip to Peru and Chile we researched this site and found the name of Peru Best Tours (http://www.perubesttours.com/). We are independent travelers, but needed some help with plane & bus tickets and an Amazon Lodge booking. Mike Higham at Peru Best helped us set up the itinerary and we were to be on our way last Friday, December 31 from Fargo, ND.

Fargo was hit by a huge blizzard and our flight was canceled. Due to the fact that we were using frequent flyer tickets we were forced to rebook for January 7, which required changing our Amazon lodging, three in-country plane flights and a bus trip. We contacted Peru Best around 6:00 p.m. last Friday and Guillermo Beraun worked tirelessly over the weekend to make the necessary changes. By Monday all of the pieces were in place for us to resume our trip. There will be a small change fee, but it is truly insignificant considering the work that was involved in getting us back on the road.

We are forever grateful for the work of Peru Best and cannot recommend them more highly. We will post more later, but felt obliged to get this posted before we depart.

qwovadis

Thanks for posting your positive report

Mike with www.perubesttours.com

is great he gets excellent reviews on all the boards.

www.insuremytrip.com still always wise to be safe.

Melanie43

Your post has come very timely as my husband and I are beginning to plan a trip to Peru and we are not sure whom to use to help us. We too are independent travelers, we can spend up to 3 weeks in Peru, so the visit should include all regions we hope.
My first question is which month would be best to be there?

Initially we were thinking of March, but having looked at the weather, it looks to be the rainy season for much of the country.
Would the end of March and the 1st couple of weeks in April be better?
Thanks for any reply on this!

pbphily

My daughter and I used Kuoda Travel for a 12 day trip and were very happy with all of the arrangements, guides, and drivers. Highly recommend them. We went Nov/Dec which is the beginning of the rainy season - we only had showers two times and they were very brief - the best part there wasn't as many tourists - on our second day at Machu Picchu we hiked up to the Sun Gate and only passed by 10-12 people the whole way. Do want to mention one food highlight of the trip - while staying in the Sacred Valley we had lunch at "Aida's House" - a private home that hosts lunches - a delightful and interesting couple - he is an artist - the home is beautiful and the food is picked fresh from their perfect garden - it was one of the best meals we had in Peru and a memorable experience. The email - [email protected] -
telephone 51-84-202003 Not sure if you are foodies but we also did a half day cooking class with Ricardo - owner of Tres Keros restaurant - Urubamba - including a visit to the market and a trout farm - he is and "interesting character" so it was a fun filled experience. Peru is an incredible country - you will be blown away with all of the sites.

gpotvin

We are in Lima right now. I can not recommned a season as I am not familiar with the year-round climate issues. We were in Iquitos earlier this week and the high water on the Amazon allowed us the opportunity to explore some of the backwaters that are inaccessible in dry times. We will go to Cusco in Feb. and I know we are looking at some wet times, but this was our time to be here. Sorry I can not be more helpful.

ncounty

I am going in mid to late April. I had to do that time period because it is my birthday trip. Based on my research, I think May is the ideal time.

Melanie43

Thanks for your replys. We are going in May at this point and are very excited!

gpotvin

The weather in Lima is wonderful right now. Low to mid-80s during day and low 60s at night. The breeze off the Pacific is absolutely perfect. Much better than our home in northern Minnesota!

TRLM

Thanks for the links! I will definitely check them out when researching for a potential Peruvian trip!

susiesan

We traveled in Peru last September on an itinerary arranged by Mike with Peru Best Tours. We got caught up in the protesting in the Cusco region that shut down the buses and trains for a few days. We were in Puno and had to be in Cusco that evening to make the train to MP the following morning. All buses bus were canceled, and all flights were booked up. Mike arranged for a car and driver to make the road trip from Puno to Cusco, leaving at night time. PBT paid the extra $400 for this upfront, billed us later, then I got a refund from the travel insurance. But we made ot to Cisco in time for the train and the rest of the planned itinerary. Having the cell phone that PBT gave us to use while in Peru helped immensely to stay in touch as plans were changing by the hour.

Peru Best Tours is a top notch operation.

bmcknight

Great information on how well PBT took care of you!!! We are using Peru Best Tours for our trip in October. This is our second time to try going to Peru. The first was 2 years ago and I dealt with Guillermo Beraun. He had the perfect trip planned and then came the unrest in Peru so we decided to wait. With all the great help that we received from Guillermo; we dicided that PBT was a great company to deal with. This time we are working with Mike at PBT whom is just as intent on creating the perfect trip as was Guillermo.

If anyone has visited Peru in October, please let me know the pros and cons of what you encountered. Also what did you over pack and what did you wish that you had packed?

Have a wonderful day!!!!!!