Great overall experience with Machu Travel Peru

We used Machu Travel for a 12 day trip around Peru in July and August. We are a family of five with three teenage boys. We initially worked with Lisbeth to book the trip and then worked with Sol leading up to and during the trip on logistics. Our guide Cris was the highlight of our experience with Machu. We was knowledgeable, helpful and kind and truly felt like an extended family member by the end of our trip. He truly made our experience in Peru feel much more personal via all of his stories from growing up in the area. We were lucky to have gotten him (and our driver Mr Julius) out of the many guides that Machu works with.
Our trip was amazing with many tours across the country including Tambopato, Sacred Valley, Cusco, Machu Piccu and Lima. Cris and Mr Julius were there at every step of the trip (other than the jungle) and made it seamless. We didnt have to worry about anything. Also, due to Machu Travel Perus relationships with hotels and other vendors they are able to secure better pricing. In fact, they ended up being MUCH less expensive that the quote we received for the exact same trip from an agency in Chicago.
Just a few tips for your booking.
-Be sure to that you book your (in country) flights early. We did not realize we had to do this and it resulted in higher prices and the need to adjust our itinerary for available fights.
-Be aware that you will spend lots of time in the van driving to different spots. These can be long days and in our case resulted in some crabby kids. I would suggest building in more "down time" than we did even though you probably want to "see it all". We ended up canceling a trip to the painted mountain because it would have been six hours in the van for a 2 hour hike. You will just need to make the call on if it is worth it for you and your family.
-The lunches included in the tours are just ok. Mostly buffets and the food is good but we would have rather just picked our own spots that felt less touristy.
- Dont skip Lima. We had originally thought about not doing it but so glad we went Yes, it is a very big and crowded city and can be a bit gritty in spots but it was absolutely fascinating to see different neighborhood and attractions in the city like the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco of Lima. The food in Lima was also the best of the whole trip from Michelin Starred restaurants to the local pollo al brasa joints.
- Be patient with the communication with Machu Travel. They were a bit delayed with responses on questions leading up to the trip but Sol was very timely with responses via whatsapp while we were actually on the trip. Everything eventually worked out despite a few mistakes with things like names on our hotel reservations, times of tours) We Americans can be a bit uptight on these details (myself included) but trust me that it all works out.
Also, important to point out that there was never a minute that we didnt feel totally safe in Peru. Yes, there has been some political unrest in the last year but things have settled and the occasional protest is no different than what you see in cities across the US. Every one in Peru recognizes the importance of the tourist trade and they will not screw that up. In my opinion now is a perfect time to go as there are not hoards of US travelers there. Trust me and just hand the keys over to Machu Travel and let them book you an awesome trip. You will be sooo happy you did.