My partner and I are looking to travel South America toward the end of this year very end of october or start of November. We are not sure whether it is good to do a tour or go it alone? We were thinking of doing small tour of Peru ie. Macchu Picchu trek etc... We will most likely start in Peru then head to Bolivia, through Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay then finish in Brazil. Any information or recommendations about travel in any of those countries would be great or best route to go!
Reply to this Hello Natalie 😊
I generally avoid tours where possible, because independent travel is less expensive and less restrictive.
I usually use a guide book such as the Lonely Planet, to get practical information and to help me decide where to go and what to do in the various countries.
Mel
Reply to this Hi Natalie,
I agree with Mel. Independent travel is the only way to go. We have only booked a couple of tours in the 9 months we have been traveling and I regretted it every time.
I also think it is more fun to try and "figure it out" on your own. We are traveling independently with 2 school aged kids, anyone can do it.
By the way...you have a pretty agrressive "off the beaten track" itinerary for someone deciding whether to travel with a tour group.
Safe Travels...
Reply to this Hi Natalie
I am at the beginning of my round the world trip and have started in South America. I am traveling with a friend and we have organised everything ourselves and we have had no problems at all so far.
I suppose it depends what you want from your travels and what you want to see. If you go on an organised tour then you are restricted to what the tours dictates whereas I am able to go where I like when I like. We started off in Rio and have since been to Paraty, Iguassu Falls, Buenos Aires and we are now in Ushuaia. Travel by bus in both Brazil and Argentina has been easy and we have had no problems. The standard of the buses definitely surpass those in the UK. We got a domestic flight from BA down to Ushuaia but are busing our way back up towards Mendoza with numerous stop offs planned.
Whatever your decision enjoy...
Reply to this Hi, I definitely agree with all the above. You can plan everything by your own with a good travel guide or some good advices or resources in internet...I lived in Peru for 3 months on my own firstly as a volunteer for a local ngo then I started my tour with other 2 girls. No problem at all. Cuzco is enjoyable and preatty safe. Same thing for Machu picchu. Not LIma of course. Be careful at the airport in particular! Do not trust any taxi driver offering a ride!For Macchu Picchu and INca trail there are no possibilities to go bby your self. The government want every tourist to be accompanied by an OFFICIAL tour operator or guide. There are many thoug: trekking guides, on horses.. etc.. Local hostels can be very inforamtive and of course tourist info desks.
Have fun and...do not try the local dish ... 'cui'.... before yout trek....;-)
Reply to this I wouldn't go with a tour group. It is way more fun to do it all on your own. I met some people who were on a tour and hated the people they were stuck with for months on end. Its such a risk doing that as your memories of a beautiful place will be tainted by the fact that that annoying girl who moans about everything all day will be in earshot!
I was worried before I left that I didnt really plan anything and should have done, but I'm glad I winged it. Guide books can be useful but they are never critical or incisive enough about places. Fellow travellers always are, and have no agenda other than to help. People's tastes differ of course, but as long as you heed the words of the people who sound like they are quite similar in outlook and motivation to you you will rarely get bad advice.
The only thing you will have to plan in advance is the Inca trail, if you wish to do the classic trek. It usually sells out a couple of months in advance as the Peruvian government have set a quota about the maximum number of people allowed on the trail at any one time.
Also - if you start in Peru you will be flying into Lima and maybe getting a connection to Cuzco without leaving Lima airport. Beware of altitude sickness when you arrive in Cuzco as it is at 3,300m, take it easy for two/three days and don't organise your trek to start the day after you arrive!
Reply to this Hi natalie,
i have to say we backpacked our way round the world, africa, asia, nz, and we booked in advance for S America on a tour so we had the inca trail, we booked for a 6 week overland tour from Lima - santiago, and then decided to stay on for patagonia and finished in rio for canival.
We made a cracking group of friends, and camped our way through patagonia and s america, and probabaly got to places the normal backpacker wouldn't get to, strange little muicipal campsites in small towns, as well as all the highlights.
Of course it does depend on groups, tour leader and everything else. But as a person who has done both, shamefully i really enjoyed it, and patagonia was one of the most beautiful places on earth.....
you can do both, or independent, depends if you are a social person or find the prospect of hanging out with the same group of people horrifying!
Independent travellers....don't judge me :-)
Reply to this Hey everyone,
Thank you all so much for all your help. It has been decided that we will only do a tour for Macchu Picchu trek etc..., as like zozosLondon mentioned it is my partner who really hated the idea of being stuck with the same group of people and perhaps would not get along with some, but I guess it all comes down to personality, and myself I'm quite social but I have had bad experiences even on long bus trips...I never knew a human being could talk non-stop...I mean non-stop for 6 hours without taking a breath!! LOL Does anyone know much about going nto the Amazon? Do you have to do a tour as such? Or can you find someone independently who will take you? Is it possible to organise good ones from there? I am really having trouble finding a helpful travel agent so you guys are a great help xxx :-) Thankyou all again.
Reply to this Hi Im having a similar problem.....
Me, my boyfriend and sister are travelling to South America this August and we are having constant discussions if we should do a tour or not. Im the type of traveller who just likes to turn up and decide what to do once Im there, my sister on the other hand is a bit more cautious and is worried about the safety aspects of travelling through South America on our own.
The travel agent we have been talking to has suggested booking everything in the UK as it is more expensive to book once you are there............I find this hard to believe when we have travelled before it has always been cheaper to book with locals and u can always get last minute deals. Has anyone had any experience with this, and is it easy to book trips when you are there we dont speak any Spanish??
Our only plan is to start in Peru...Macchu Pichuu is a must as in the Amazon and we fly out from Rio 8 weeks later. I would love to do easter Island too!
Please help me convince my sister we can do this on our own!!!!!!
Thanks x
Reply to this Hi Selina, Ben & Annika
This link to another forum may help you out a bit as whilst it concentrates on Brazil the theory is exactly the same for all South American countries in my opinion
Travelling in Brazil
The only tour that you may have to book in advance is the Inca Trail if you specifically want to do that one tour upto Macchu Picchu although alternative tours are available and I believe just as good if not better.
Reply to this Thanks for the link Andrea!
Unfortunately we wont be able to do the full Inca trail as Ben has recently had a knee operation and wont be able to do the full trek. Does anyone know the other ways of getting to Macchu Pichuu I know there is a train, is there a way of camping near there and doing a shorter walk to seen the sun rise?
Reply to this I to am thinking of just doing the train journey and speaking to someone the other week who had done it the week before he said the best thing to do was to get the train to Aguas Calientes either the day or a few days before and from there you can get a bus upto Macchu Picchu and you can get there for sunrise so long as you wake up early!!
Reply to this Wow thats great!! Do u know if there hostels or campsites at Aguas Calientes?
Reply to this There will be hostels but as I said I haven't got that far in my trip so haven't looked into it. Am sure LP or one of the hostel sites will provide info.....
Reply to this 
