Machu Picchu

Katrina, I don't have any information on Condor Travel, but you might also have a look at: www.gadventures.com/trips/peru/ Check out both firms on Trip Advisor to see what kind of ratings they're getting. You might also get some good information by posting this question at: www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/index.jspa Happy travels!

Both are fine. LAN might have a slight edge. Go with the best deal/times. Neither lands up on top of the hill.

And neither one is in Europe. You might get more response for a site that specializes in South America

Thank you. I am considering Condor Travel in Lima for a tour from Cusco to Machu Picchu. Do you have any personal experience with them or have you heard of them?

They're well known and have been around for seven evers, but I'm one of those idiots who does everything by myself.

'And neither one is in Europe.' Somebody must have moved Paris and London again. I hate it when that happens. What's with the continual slap-downs of non-European questions, anyway? In the past year we've done pretty well on all the rest of the continents. Certainly better than some of the drivel by folks who have only been out of the box a few times, carefully followed the lemming trail, just loooooved X as recommended by Y, can't compare A to B, but can state where the best gelato is, or look up train schedules until they're blue in the face. I'd bet that there are dozens of lurkers that can compare walking up to the bus/train and could easily list the ten best restaurants in Lima that never made a guidebook. Maybe we should gang up on Tk about her African thread? Yo, Tk, pay attention. Read up on Chobe. It's not as commercialized as some of the other places and you won't find a dozen land rovers clustered around a single rampaging african field mouse. There you go - - two non-European continents in one thread and both reflecting in-depth knowledge of undeniable accuracy. Any question should be fair game.

Oops!. Silly me. I thought that when the header at the top of the "Travelers Helpline" says "Get travel help for your trip to EUROPE. (my emphasis)Here you'll find a wealth of EUROPEAN travel tips contributed by our community of savvy travelers." that questions about travel to other continents should be directed somewhere else.

@Jeff, While this site is mainly concerned with European travel, I don't think it's unreasonable to try and offer some occasional help on questions relating to travel in other parts of the world. Some people may not know the most appropriate sites to use for finding the information, so pointing them in the right direction is not a huge effort. The group here on the HelpLine are particularly well suited to offer information of this type, as there are a few here who have travelled to many parts of the world other than Europe. Cheers!

I haven't flown LAN in Peru but I did use them for a flight from Madrid to Frankfurt. I would fly with them in a second, the flight was comfortable, they didn't scrimp on amenities in coach and forgive me, the flight attendants were the most beautiful I have ever seen.

We flew Lima-Cusco with Star. From what I've heard, Taca is less reliable. Our tour guide from Cusco to Machu Picchu was Peru Trek 4 Good. Locally owned, very reasonably priced private tours. Tailored to our needs as we had little time, limited Spanish skills, and it was the first time on the continent for us.

both are pretty good. on my recent trip to peru last year I took most taca flights all were very good and on time. it's a little cheaper than lan.

saw your comments later about taking a tour from lima to cuzco. If you're ok with independent travel (RS style), you can do this trip yourself. it's very easy. i'd fly to cuzco just to save time. stay in cuzco for a couple of days. when you're in town, shop the tourist shops around the main square. there are a lot of them selling every ticket you need, so just wait till you get there. you can buy all tickets from just one shop. the basic tickets you need are: bus ride first to Ollantayanbo then train ride up to aguas calientes, from there you take the shuttle up to Manchu pichu, the entrance fee, and a small tour of the site. a lot of people including myself take the 1 day tour of the valley from cuzco, and the last stop is ollay. you can ask the driver to just leave you there, so you don't have to come back again for that train ride to aguas (if you do this you'll need to book overnight in ollay, just bring your luggage on that 1 day tour). you can email me if more question, I saved a lot of that for a friend so still have a copy.

Applause emoticon for Ed. I'm sure there are many people on this forum with a wealth of information and experience about travel outside of Europe. Why not access it???!!!

Some advance planning is required as your passport number and other information is required for purchase of your train ticket to Aguas
Caliente.