Cusco Local Friend - Machu Picchu Tour Guide — Local services in Santiago

I literally can't say enough good things about Cusco Local Friend. We did a LOT of yours while in Peru and they are by far the best one we did.

We booked a private Tour of the Sacred Valley. We opened the door to our hotel at 7:00am, pick up time, and there they were waiting for us!

Juan Carlos was our guide, and let me tell you, he's the best. Right away he made us feel safe and comfortable. He told us a bit about Cusco Local Friend and shared the sentiment that we are all family here. We felt very welcome.

To start, they added a stop to a wildlife sanctuary just outside of Cusco. We are both huge animal lovers and had heard of this sanctuary so we jumped at the chance when they offered to stop. Juan Carlos knew so much about all the different animals there. It was so interesting and a really great start to the day. The sanctuary itself was great, I would recommend.

We then headed to Pisac, our first stop of the day. The roads were windy and up quite high, but I never once felt unsafe on the roads. The care the driver took around each corner and over each pothole was incredible. He also made a point of opening the car door for me each time. Very nice. I am so sorry, I can't remember the driver's name. My apologies.

We were, as promised, the first people to arrive. Juan Carlos knew so much about this historical site, we were in awe of it all. Juan Carlos himself spoke so passionately about the history, we could feel how much he cared about the subject matter, and our experience.

Back in the town of Pisac, he showed us to a great store for some real Alpaca clothes. We learned a bit about the different types of wool, and I bought something. It was not high pressure but I was happy to have a store recommend to me.

Then we were off to the salt mines. Again, Juan Carlos was incredibly knowledgable. We even got to taste a bit of unprocessed salt! Boy was it salty!! We got to try some Chicha for free in the shops.

Then we were off to lunch. We are at a restaurant with a beautiful view of the mountains. It was nice to chat with Juan Carlos and learn more about regular life in Peru.

After lunch we went to Moray. Again, it was beautiful and Juan Carlos taught us so much about it. We really felt we were with a pro.

Finally, we arrived in Ollantaytambo. The walk up the ruins here was tough but we weren't rushed. Not to be a broken record, but Juan Carlos knew everything about these ruins and gave us an amazing tour.

After the tour with Cusco Local Friend, all other tours we took seemed lacking!

We liked them so much that we decided to move our schedule around, and booked a Rainbow Mountain through Cusco Local Friend too!

This day we were picked up at 3:30am on the dot. We stopped for breakfast before the trek. It was delicious.

At the mountain, Juan Carlos was a great trekking partner. He was encouraging, enthusiastic, and made this day fun! Rainbow Mountain is VERY difficult and there was a lot of time where we wanted to give up but Juan Carlos inspired us to finish the trek.

The driving again was great. Our driver, Richard, was very friendly and we trusted him behind the wheel. My boyfriend ended up leaving his sunglasses in the car by accident, and the Richard dropped them off at our hotel the following day.

It should be noted that Perry was the one we scheduled everything with. He was prompt and informative. Booking with him was a breeze.

I do not believe that there is a better tour operator in the Cusco area, and maybe in all of Peru! Book with Cusco Local Friend and you will not be disappointed!! I would recommend them to anyone who asks and even to those who don't!

Thank you Cusco Local Friend for two amazing...

This review is long, long overdue. My husband and I researched many private tour guides before our trip to Ecuador Peru in December 20 21/January 2022. We spent roughly 2 weeks in the Cuzco sacred valley area of Peru. So we were looking for a private tour guide for multiple excursions during our stay. After researching countless guides and companies, we settled on Cusco Local Friend. Best decision we made on the entire trip! We were so fortunate that we got one of the company owners, Hugo, to be our guide, along with his trusted driver, Aimar. We scheduled four full days tours with Hugo and Aimar. Our first tour was on our second day in Cusco. We did the Cusco city tour as well as visiting, Sacsayhuaman and an alpaca farm. Pick up was prompt. (as they were for that matter for every tour we had with this company), and first impressions (always important) were that we hired the right guy. Why? His English, impeccable. We soon discovered his breath of knowledge of all things, Peruvian, and in particular, their antiquities, was to say the very least comprehensive. He made us feel comfortable, was always ready with great suggestions, and things to do off the cuff. Our second tour day started at 5 AM going to rainbow Mountain. Unfortunately for us, what started out as a beautiful day, once we reach the top of rainbow Mountain, it was hit by a snow squall! Kind of put a damper on that tour! to make up for it, not that he had to, he threw in two extra excursions that day! A wonderful trip to a small little town with an anchor rope bridge the towns name I can’t remember. And from there on the way back to Cusco, we stopped at another archaeological site From the ancient Wari culture. By the end of the day we were exhausted from all the activities, planned and unplanned for us! Our third tour, and if you’re visiting Cusco, you absolutely must I mean, must take this tour, was a trip through the sacred valley. It’s a full day tour, again we left very early I think 5 AM , and drove the length of the sacred valley from Cusco all the way to Ollantaytambo. Along the way, we visited the incredible archaeological site, the ancient Peruvian, town of Pisac, as well as the circles of Moray, the Mara salt, ponds, and into Ollantaytambo , where that days tour ended close to 6 PM! The sites we saw incredible the stories and knowledge Hugo shared with us. Priceless! Our last full day tour was two days later, when we met in Aguascalientes, and together traveled to the incredible Machu Picchu now if you truly want to experience what I did with you go, and his company visit, my YouTube video page, Kurt‘s travel videos. I devoted quite a lengthy video to our wonderful, wonderful day we spent in Machu Picchu. We so enjoyed our visit as Hugos guests, a memory that will last us a lifetime! So, if you’re in the market for a private tour guide, we’re only the best will do, look no further! Hugo is your man! Along with his great team, at Cusco Local Friend, you’ll be well taken care of, and agree with me that it was...

I had a terrific experience with Cusco Local Friend and wouldn’t hesitate to tell any of my friends to use them. I started working with them back in 2019 to plan my dream trip to Machu Picchu. My private tour all arranged with Cusco Local Friend included hiking the short Inca Trail, a day visit at MP with an additional hike up Huayna Picchu, another day around Aguas Calientes, and then the Belmond Hiram Bingham train back to Cusco. My trip was originally scheduled for April 2020, and the world shut down. I worked with Cusco Local Friend (Percy) to postpone my trip until further notice, and they did not hesitate to make that accommodation on our arrangements. Then, a year later, I finally rescheduled the trip for September of 2021, but the Delta variant was high and Huayna Picchu was still not open, so I decided to postpone indefinitely again. Again, no issues with this from our Cusco Local Friends! I FINALLY was able to get the trip successfully completed at the beginning of June this year. When we arrived in Cusco, Hugo and a driver were there waiting for us. We went into town for coffee and talk about the details of our planned MP experience. Afterwards, the driver took us to our hotel in the Sacred Valley where we were staying to acclimate for 4 days prior to our trek. On the morning of our trek, we were greeted by our guide, Juan Carlos and guide in training at the time, Smick. We had an incredible day! The trek was hard, but Juan Carlos kept us on pace and even brought some wine for us to have during lunch, which was a fabulous touch. Note: It was raining most of our trek, so a nice glass of red wine warmed up, and prepared us for the final push, along with our coco leaves, of course. The next day when we toured MP and climbed Huayna Picchu, we had both Smick and Juan Carlos along for the ride. They took amazing pictures for us and answered all our questions. The following day, we had not planned anything, but to relax, but Hugo at Cusco Local Friend said that Smick could hang out with us that day and take us to the butterfly place and do a hike to a waterfall that was close to town. Since Smick was in training and needed the experience, they just threw that time in for us! So generous! We had a great day with Smick! When we finished up our day, Smick got us to the train station, and we said our farewells. Back in Cusco, we planned to see Hugo again and give him our feedback on our trip. He came and met us at our hotel and even brought us a little gift. He also arranged for a transport to the airport for us in a couple days, no extra charge. I had an excellent experience with Cusco Local Friend! They are all LOCALS to Cusco and the Sacred Valley, and that is always what is important to me when deciding on what tour company to use. Plus, the communication and number of times we had to change plans, was all smooth and easy. We learned so much on our MP trek, and it will be an adventure that I will never forget. Thank you, Cusco...