Peru Hop — Attraction in Lima Metropolitan Area

I do a lot of research before booking tours and we’ve done other guided treks / adventure tourism activities in Peru (which we are aware is a developing country) and this one was by far the most disorganized.

Pick-Up: While our adventure began with great anticipation, the pickup arriving ten minutes later than the latest timeframe in the listed 15-minute window was slightly disappointing.

Bus: The website promises modern toilets on the bus - note that the bus we were on did have a toilet available, however, it was only available for urination not for bowel movements (per posted sign). The website mentions blankets are available, unfortunately, they were not available for us. In addition, upon returning from one 20 minute stop we noted the bus driver reclined in our seats this gave us an overall weird feeling. Positive note: the USB outlets work great and our phones were charged through the duration of our tour!

Belonging Storage: We were instructed that all belongings had to be removed from the bus in Paracas, but that they could be stored securely at a nearby hotel. We were assured that our belongings would be safely stored, only to find out it was actually a storage closet that was left unlocked with a sign on the outside stating “storage”. This lack of security was incredibly concerning, as it left our valuables vulnerable to theft. After Paracas we were able to leave our belongings on the bus if we desired.

Departure from Paracas: Our departure from Paracas was frustratingly late (likely due to the need to divert from the Paracas: Ballestas Islands Boat Tour at the last minute) happening at 10:45 when we were told to return to the location at 10:15. There were multiple customers from many different buses standing in the area with zero instruction. The absence of a head count or roll call added to the disorganization. This lack of attention to detail left us feeling uneasy about the trip's management - we only knew to board the bus as we saw other members of our group doing so.

Paracas Ballestas Islands Boat Tour: did not complete due to reported conditions

Paracas National Reserve: we did enjoy our diverted tour. This was more of a self tour where you were driven to viewpoints rather than a guided tour with information. Each photo spot was 20+ minutes with no effort made to recover the time previously lost in Paracas - we arrived back to Paracas late, and again, rather than making an attempt to get back on schedule, our guide opted for an extended lunch break - departure time of 2-2:10pm rather than 1:30

Huacachina: Unfortunately we arrived to Huacachina at 1545, much later than our scheduled 1445 arrival time - this resulted in a full loss of ‘free time’ within the oasis. We went directly to the Dune Buggy/Sandboarding area. The Dune Buggy/Sandboarding experience was outstanding - our driver, Abel, was amazing - captivating speed to create excitement and an otherworldly experience. The dune itself is breathtaking and a person could certainly spend more than one evening here.

Departure: We arrived to the meeting point - Wild Rover Hostel at the scheduled 1845 timeframe, per our itinerary. Our guide was no where to be found at the meeting point - after being told he would be here “in one minute” At 1905 another guide volunteered to take us to our bus, where again, our guide was no where to be seen. Upon departure from Huacachina our guide appeared on the bus at 1911 and completed a head count, but no official roll call. In addition, there was no communication from our guide prior to departure - not a hello, we are leaving, not a single word. We did enjoy the popcorn that was provided.

Our high hopes for an exceptional tour were dashed by the evident disorganization, which marred what should have been a seamless experience. The lack of coordination and preparedness left us disappointed and frustrated, overshadowing the tour's potential. I truly hope this is a one off experience and not a trend for other...

Review for La Paz to Puno leg (3/5 recommend) and Arequipa to Lima leg (2/5 avoid!) (We skipped Puno to Arequipa as awful bus timings arriving in middle of night! We recommend Cruz del Sur instead of Peru Hop for all Peru journeys).

Pros

Lovely English speaking tour guides (of varying quality and fluency)

buses generally clean + roughly on time

good if you are in a rush and want everything to be planned for you ONLY

Bolivia to Peru help with crossing border e.g. a girl had a visa problem, after helping for an hour she was still turned away so they helped her book a taxi back to La Paz. For this reason alone we would go with Bolivia Hop from La Paz to Puno again.

stop at Nazca viewing tower and Paracas reserve tour (but if a sunny day book your own longer tour) ☺️

free pisco sour in Lima

each town has a Peru Hop hotel base which can store your bags for you.

Cons (way more than pros) -

the slogan 'Don't be a typical tourist' could not be further from the truth. You will be surrounded by a large group of gringos the whole time, and be taken only to the most popular tourist sights (except the slave tunnels). Nothing is authentic or special.

all restaurants they either take you to or encourage you to visit are poorly reviewed and the food quality looked poor. We met 2 people who'd had food poisoning from them. Locals don't like that you are all piled into one restaurant rather than being encouraged to choose as profits less evenly spread.

the pick ups and drop offs in Arequipa and Lima are more of a hindrance than help. We had to get up ridiculously early in Arequipa only to be driven round in a minibus for 1.5 hours before getting to the bus (and that was an almost empty bus!)

the tour guide knows nothing about how to book your own tours in an area to explore independently. They only try and sell you the tours linked with Peru Hop.

the entire system is designed to be quick and not designed for you to see anything extra, so if you want to spend longer in each place the bus times don't work well e.g. ------------ Isla del Sol - the Bolivia Hop boat times are limited to random times (to coincide with buses) and would not allow you enough time to explore the island even if you stayed overnight ------------ after a morning Nazca Lines flight you have to wait until 5pm for the bus.

don't do any tours through them, they choose expensive, generally poor-quality companies that can accommodate a large group in a short time E.g. ------------ Death Road - Bolivia Hop partner with Gravity, a company double the price of Barracuda (who we went with). Both companies work together and maintain bikes together and are very safe. ------------ Isla del Sol - way too rushed, only 1 hour on the island! No time to explore the village and get to the top of it which has the most amazing view! Better to arrange own tours but they don't fit well with the Bolivia Hop bus times. ------------ Nazca flights - they suggested a poorly reviewed company! ------------ Taken only to Nietto pisco winery (by far the worst of the 5 wineries we independently visited, so tacky) ------------ Paracas boat trip - they go with the slowest boat company so you have less time on the island that all other companies. It is also twice the price.

secret tunnels tour was quite interesting but not worth the long detour, and arriving in Lima way too late for dinner

many seatbelts broken (not that safe)

twice the price of Cruz del Sur which have more comfortable buses, and scan bags like airport security. Take Cruz del...

The worst, then the best of Peru.

A zero star event in the first half of the day and a 5-star event in the second half. First Paracas and the Ballastrada islands: I would never insult Ecuador to call these the Mini-Galapogos, as it is not even comparable. After 3.5 hours on a coach bus, you arrive into a packed tourist trap, with little to see and only china-made shopping. You shove through a packed gate to get to the boat (where our tour was separated repeated from the guide) and pack onto a 45-person boat to race out to what are essentially rocks covered in bird crap. I know the Peruvians fought a war over guano, but this national "park" is actually an industrial guano factory with a couple of seals on the beach (we saw no penguins, which I assume is where the Galapagos reference comes from). Our guide did say that was rare to not see penguins. After drinking diesel in the back of the boat for two hours, we made it back to port to have the only bad food that we experienced in the entire week in Peru.

So, Paracas = zero starts on this tour. Apparently there is a national park that is better experience, but I would strongly advise against this tour due to the first half. All the couples in back with us felt bamboozled after reading the uniformly positive reviews. We did go on a Sunday, so if you are set on going, at the very least I would avoid the weekend when Paracas is absolute chaos.

Now to Hauachina, which could not be a more different experience (in a positive way). We arrived to the town after roughly another 90 minutes in the bus. The town itself is not what you picture from the oasis, feeling more like a backpackers layover with many hostels, small restaurants and little shops. There is, in fact, an oasis in the center of town, but a quick stroll through town and a drink at a restaurant on the inner circle killed all the free time we had and was enough for us. We then moved up toward the dune buggies as group, which looks like a Mad Max casting call (read as AWESOME). You strap into buggies for 12. This set up worried me that we were going to have a simple tour of the dunes instead of a real adventure, but BOY was I wrong! You start out moving somewhat slowly and then the driver hits it: tearing around small ridges before flying over dune tips. People went from settling in comfortably to screaming their heads off! This is not for the faint of heart, but if you love speed and/or rollercoasters, I HIGHLY recommend this activity! We then pause in the middle of the desert for photo opts and to really take in the amazing and unique views of the dunes. Then to sand sledding!

NOTE: if you want to Sand-board over Sand-sled, you need to rent the equipment and haul it up to the buggies. The sand-boarding the tour includes involves sledding down on your stomach, not what you imagine sandboarding to be. I was the only one in our group to rent the proper sandboard, which cost me s/50 (or $12.5) for boots and board. I would simply sled if I were to do it again, as the upright experience is VERY different than snowboarding and there did not seem to be enough wax in the world to lessen friction enough to really carve (you move between small sand avalanches where you have no traction to extreme friction). Glad I tried it, but you are not missing out on the experience if you simply sled.

The second half was one of the highlights of our entire trip, but everyone must be writing their reviewing after that, since the morning was the most disappointing part of our entire trip. Go to Haucachina and...