Even seasoned travelers can find planning trips
to certain destinations overwhelming, even if they're accustomed to
experiencing new cultures in countries they have never visited. This is
especially the case when traveling somewhere incredibly remote or if a trip
itinerary requires a ton of moving parts.
My husband and I found ourselves in this exact
situation when deciding when and how
to visit one of the seven wonders of the world — Machu Picchu in the country of
Peru. Not only is Machu Picchu located in a
remote part of Peru that's only accessible by a specific train and bus (unless
you hike the Inca Trail), but you have to book
separate time-stamped tickets for entry into the site, a bus ride through the
mountains, the train to get there and more. Plus, we didn't know what else to
do in Peru, or what kinds of additional sights we should pack into the same
trip.
Ultimately, this is one of the reasons we opted
for a guided tour of Peru called "Highlights of Peru," which is
available through a guided tour company called Trafalgar. This specific tour included a range
of sightseeing and activities throughout Peru, including a visit to Machu Picchu, a journey through Peru's Sacred
Valley and a few days in Cusco, Peru.
Cost Comparison: Guided Tours vs.
Booking On Your Own
One interesting fact I discovered about guided
tours is their overall affordability, especially when you compare booking all
the different components of a trip yourself. For example, the Highlights of Peru trip from Trafalgar is
available for $2,630 per person over some dates, and this particular trip
includes eight days of activities and personalized tours, a week of hotel
stays, visits to four different cities, domestic flights, seven breakfasts,
four dinners and two lunches.
Some of the inclusions of the trip were
difficult to quantify in terms of cost, but I came up with the following
estimates to see what the price would be to book some aspects of the trip on
our own.
Hotel stays:
- Three nights in Lima, Peru, at
Iberostar Lima - $525 ($175 per night)
- Two nights in Cusco, Peru, at
Novotel Cusco - $400 ($200 per night)
- One night at Sonesta Posadas del Inca Yucay, Sacred Valley - $125
- One night
in Machu Picchu town at El MaPi - $200
Flights:
- Lima to
Cusco on LATAM Airlines with a checked bag: $150 (for two people)
- Cusco to
Lima on LATAM Airlines with a checked bag: $150 (for two people)
Meals:
- Seven breakfasts - $350 ($25 per
meal, per person)
- Four dinners - $320 ($40 per meal,
per person)
- Two lunches - $160 ($40 per meal,
per person)
Total: $2,380
Adding In the "Extras"
When you add those components of the trip
together, the total reaches $2,380 - about half the cost for this specific
Trafalgar tour for two people ($5,260). However, the trip also included other
luxuries and "extras" that were hard to price out, including:
- Bus transportation with a driver
throughout Lima, Cusco and the Sacred Valley
- Train transportation to Machu
Picchu town, which is the gateway to Machu Picchu
- Luggage handling during the entire
trip
- Flight handling (domestic)
- Guided tour of Lima’s
UNESCO-listed historic center
- Lima, Peru, cooking school
experience
- Quechua weaving experience
- Visit to llama and alpaca farm
- Guided tour of Machu Picchu
- Guided tour of Incan ruins in
Ollantaytambo, Peru
- Chicha (corn beer) making
experience
- Guided tour of Cusco, Peru
- Guided tour of the Larco Museum
back in Lima
These additional aspects of the trip were
definitely worth the additional funds to me, especially considering the trip
came with several intensive and interesting guided tours throughout Peru. Our
tour guide had so many interesting stories to tell and insights to share. Plus,
there were experiences we couldn't have possibly set up on our own - like when
we learned how to make Peruvian corn beer and the visit to a remote llama and
alpaca farm high up in the mountains above Cusco. The visit to Machu Picchu itself was also seamless, with our
tour guide handing out perfectly timed tickets and passes as we needed them.
Machu Picchu, Peru.
Also, luggage and flight handling are incredible
benefits and are more important than they sound. Not only did we never have to
move our luggage from hotel to hotel or to the airport, but we also never
printed a boarding pass or luggage tags for our domestic flights. Trafalgar
printed our boarding passes and tagged our luggage. All we had to do was show
up when and where we were told.
Final Thoughts
Now that this trip is in the rearview mirror,
I'm convinced that guided tours can be an exceptional deal in more ways than
one. If we paid out of pocket for all aspects of the trip on our own, we would
have forked over about the same amount in cash for all the hotel stays,
flights, tours and meals we enjoyed. However, booking and planning ourselves
would have been considerably more intensive and stressful. Having seen all the
ins and outs of getting to Machu Picchu firsthand, I can't imagine going through
all the steps without someone holding my hand.
The fact is, having someone take care of all the
details was a lot more convenient than I could have imagined. The affordability
aspect is also a major plus, but it's secondary to the fact we had more time to
enjoy Peru without having to stress over all the
details.
At the end of the day, it seems like some trips
are probably better on your own, whereas others work best when you leave it to
the professionals. At the very least, it's worth doing a side-by-side cost
comparison and deciding what you want the most.
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