Andean Travel Experience

I cannot describe how much we loved this place! The photos don't do it justice. Amazing design, big beautiful rooms, gorgeous greenery, restaurants and coffee shop on premise, we took so many pictures here. This is no standard hotel experience, it was something different. I can see why they have weddings here. Gorgeous!

Clean, spacious, comfortable. Nothing over the top but very good.

Location was great! The plaza was up the road a few blocks and it was very walkable to all things we wanted to do and see there. The rooms were clean and comfortable. They had the tea in the lobby and O2 for those struggling with the altitude. I will say it was pretty cold in the lobby, hallways and rooms. Rooms did have portable heaters though so we were warm enough when sleeping. Staff was very nice but as we don't speak great Spanish, communication was sometimes a little tricky for us. There was a great breakfast spread but we preferred the coffee from the little cafe next door. Overall, it was a great place. We stayed there three nights, two night then left for two days and then came back there for our last night.

Amazing! Knew nothing of these places before going and loved every bit of this day. Our guide, Adriel, was the best! We learned so much and had so much fun!

We have ziplined in other amazing places and countries but haven't done the climbing like we did here. It was exhilarating and the views were over the top! Guides Brian et all were great. Our day happened to be stunning and perfect weather too. Highly recommend!

Chef Fernanado taught us about local ingredients, cuisine, etc. We got a lot of history, information, samples and then fully made two dishes with the Chef. Food was delicious and Chef Fernando was very knowledgable and entertaining. My family loved this!

What's not to love? It's Machi Picchu! We will the third one, seeing and going into many of the structures. It's incredible.

We had two (altitude) sick kids so I missed this but my husband and older son said it was amazing! They recounted all they saw and learned and later that afternoon, when the kids felt a bit better, we all went back to the museum together and it was great.

The hotel was located essentially in a train station. The views of the mountains some of which seemed close enough to touch and then the snow capped peaks in the distance were simply magnificent. We enjoyed the flora in and around the hotel, and totally appreciated their excellent attempts at protecting the environment, growing their own organic and ecologically friendly produce, as well as fostering sustainability. The food was delicious, and the staff everywhere was excellent and very accommodating. The only fly in the ointment were the fumes from the trains. It was supremely convenient to have the trains stop there, but their fumes remained in the air for a while. Nothing that the hotel can control, but the only fly in the ointment as it were. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at El Albergue, and would recommend it to family and friends despite the caveat mentioned above.

Learning that this was essentially a botanical laboratory for the Incas, and learning how incredibly knowledgeable about thermodynamics, physics, botany, and engineering they were was simply awe inspiring.

Machu Picchu was interesting. Maybe because it is so well known our expectations were too high. Still very interesting to see and to learn more about the use of astronomy and its relationship to worship.

Again this was very informative and enlightening. Again Juan was excellent. Learning about the strengths and weaknesses of the various groups who preceded the Incas was completely fascinating. The different customs of each group including unusual burial practices, and seeing how some of them carried on through the Incas was really wonderful. This was a thoroughly worthwhile tour.

Sacsayhuaman was another example of Incan engineering ingenuity. Those massive stones aligned at well calculated angles to lessen the overall impact of earthquakes. Absolutely fascinating. Cusco City was also interesting and we had the good fortune to witness even more of the Peruvian culture as we encountered groups of costumed school age children performing a variety of dances which illuminated the cultural heritage of Peru. San Pedro market was intriguing. While we saw some familiar items, many of the goods were unusual. We enjoyed a delicious drink made from the lucuma fruit which is only found in Peru. This was altogether an interesting and fascinating day.

At Tipon, we managed to get there before the hordes, and found it amazingly quiet and calming. The fountains flowed behind us while we looked at the mountains in front of us. Again the Incas hydraulic prowess was once again on full display. The four fountains expelled water at exactly the same rate. At another point, the force of the water coming from higher elevations was mitigated by the placement of a stone at exactly the right height. Piquillacta … the visit to this Wari walled city was different from the first site. In direct contrast with the peace and calm of the first site, this site was more oppressive due to its emphasis on protection and its multiple layers of walls, some of which were quite high. Andahuaylillas was a lovely Andean Baroque church and the insertion of Arabic influence in the decoration of the ceiling was illuminating.

Excellent location and nice staff. But Very loud night club next to our room.

Great location, staff and rooms.

Great hotel! Fantastic way to finish a long and exhausting trip.

The local tour operator did not take us on a grill tour. This was very disappointing! He took us to a fancy lunch in a different neighborhood. So we just made the best of it.

This was truly an unbelievable day full of surprises and amazing Incan ruins. Probably our favorite activity of the entire vacation, which is really saying something.

Did not have a city tour. The tango spot was quite good.

This was a really cool way to see Lima. It was much better than riding around in a van. Italo is a great guide!

This tour is worth doing, but with very low expectations. The park is an odd cross between some water fountains and a children’s amusement park. The main event is an impressive fountain, visual show, but not worth driving across the city for.

This hotel was well located, but was really underwhelming. Our room smelled of mildew and it just felt really dated and tired.

This hotel across from the train station was great. Surprisingly quiet, with a huge organic garden. We really enjoyed the Pachamanca and the food in the restaurant. The staff was great.

While the hotel was great, the shuttle was infrequent and left us on the curb for over 30 minutes before arriving and having no space for us. So rather than wait another 30 minutes we took a cab... that was a huge bummer for a place touting convenience. There were no adjoining rooms and we had to get two rooms- so we would have rather stayed at the Wyndham which was on site and walkable from the airport.

This lodge was great. It was definitely an experience for our family. The hours without power may be an inconvenience to some, but we loved that we were forced out of our rooms and into the beautiful grounds. The guides were incredible and food was good! Only thing missing was... real coffee.

Our favorite hotel of the whole trip. This place was pristine, well located, great food, friendly staff and great courtyard!

This hotel was well located and nice staff. It was a fine place to land after a day of travel - served its purpose. The breakfast was meh and it felt dated. Noticed some rooms with no windows. It was also very loud.

We would have preferred a free evening to this planetarium. It was more of a slide show and less of the actively looking at the night sky- which is what we had expected. Underwhelming.

Loved this day. We learned so much and saw beautiful sights that honestly rivaled Machu Picchu. It was really incredible and we learned so much.

Charles was an incredible guide for our family. He kept our kids entertained and we saw so many incredible things- anteaters, giant river otters, caiman and macaws! So fun.

The kids absolutely LOVED the animals and feeding the llamas and alpacas. The pachamanca was so fun to watch and learn about.

We stayed here twice. The first room was barely a closet, we couldn’t move with our luggage in the room. The bed was small and not very comfortable. The second room was so much better. The bed was large and comfortable. We were able to move around. The hotel provided water refills, which is very helpful. The breakfast is good. The staff is helpful and friendly.

The courtyard is beautiful! This is a great hotel to have a quiet day relaxing. The rooms are nothing special, but comfortable enough. The breakfast is great.

Gringo Bills had the most comfortable bed and pillows. I wanted to stay longer just for the bed.

This was a really fun class! We had a great chef helping us. The food was delicious!

The food was incredible! It was amazing to learn the process and watch them do it. The farm is gorgeous to walk around.

Perfect safe location. Rooms are very small. Breakfast was amazing.

What an amazing experience. Yes, what you see in the picture is going to be your room. Perfectly maintained little paradise in the middle of the jungle, only reachable by boat. A semi-private guide took care of us for 3 days, bringing us the excursions to Lake Sandoval, on the river at night to see caimans, and some walks in the nearby jungle to see trees, birds, and more. Meals were included and very good.

Wonderful location in front of the train station and around the corner from the busy streets. The room was small and not the best but ok for one night

Wonderful hotel, just a few minutes from he main plaza. Amazing breakfast in the morning and extremely polite staff. The second two nights we got a view of Cusco and it was beautiful

good hotel. Safe and clean. very good breakfast and the staff was friendly.

The hotel was a bit old but the room was on the seventh floor with a view of the lake. The sunrise was amazing

Amazing meal at the pachamanca farm. It was cooked in front of us in an inground oven filled with hot stone. Everything was so fresh and tasty. Ollantaytambo was very interesting, we did not have a guide but we ended up hiring a private guide on the spot. It was super interesting to hear about the inca and how it was built. The train to Machu Picchu was cool, with a panoramic view (glass roof).

The kayaking was good, but it was attached to the group (a very large group) to go to the Taquila island. We were rushed to he island with the Uros, and also, all the time, on the Taquila island, we were rushed. I strongly advise getting a private tour on the lake instead; this excursion did not work for us. A real pity since the kayak part was nice. Also we were expecting 1.5 hours of kayaking but we did only 1 h.

WoW. What an amazing and unforgettable experience! This old-fashioned luxury train felt so authentic, and the scenery was amazing. The meal was absolutely delicious and the staff was so attentive. One of the best experiences of the trip

Amazing view. We truly enjoyed the short walk on the Andes with an alpacas along the way. This is the new site (there is another rainbow mountain a lot more popular) and we were the first one to reach the top. The stop to the buffet restaurant for breakfast and lunch was a good way to interrupt the long drive and the food was very good.

Amazing view. The private guide was really good at explaining and taking pictures of us. We were never rushed and it was not too crowded thank to the fact we did the 8am tour

Very cool way to experience the sacred valley! We drove around and reached Moray and the salt mines. It was really fun

We loved the trip to the Sandoval Lake. We did a beautiful walk in the jungle, seeing monkeys and birds, and then we took a canoe on the lake to see more animals (caimans, birds, sloths). The guide was amazing at spotting animals

cool tour of the surrounding jungle learning about walking trees, strangling figs, termites, and fire ants. At night, we went on the Madre de Dios river to spot caimans.

The market in Puerto Maldonado was so and so. Very poor area, but glad we got to walk a bit around with the help of the guide