Guide · Cusco
How to choose a tour operator in Cusco
There are hundreds of agencies in Cusco and the price range for the same tour is enormous. This is the list of what to verify before paying — and you can audit us with it exactly as you would audit anyone else.
It is registered with DIRCETUR
Every agency selling tourism services in Peru is required to be listed in the National Directory of Qualified Tourism Service Providers, under the Travel Agency Regulations (Supreme Decree 005-2020-MINCETUR). This is not a voluntary badge, it is a legal requirement. You can ask for the registration number and check it, or enquire directly at the DIRCETUR office in Cusco.
It has a tax number and gives you a receipt
If the price only exists without an invoice, you are buying informally. That is not an accounting detail: with no receipt you have nothing to claim with, and in the event of an accident there is no responsible operator in the picture.
Whoever sells you the tour is the one who runs it
In Cusco it is common for one shopfront to sell and a different agency to operate. That is not illegal, but it changes everything: on the day something goes wrong, the seller passes you along and the operator does not know who you are. Ask in writing who will run the service, and get the name of the operating company, not only of the shop you are standing in.
The Inca Trail permit is in your name
The permit is nominal and issued against your passport. When you pay, ask to see the permit issued with your name and document number. There are only 500 places a day on the classic four-day route — of which around 200 are actually for travellers, the rest being support crew — and 250 on the two-day route. In high season they sell out months ahead, so a place offered to you three weeks out in July is not possible.
They tell you the porters’ working conditions
Law 31624 caps loads at 20 kg for male porters and 15 for women, requires the operator to provide meals, work clothing and overnight equipment, and limits the working week to 48 hours. It is the first place costs get cut to bring a price down. Asking in writing before you pay changes the answer you get.
The group size is in writing
The legal limit on the Inca Trail is 16 people per group, but "up to 16" and "maximum 8" are two different trips. Ask for the maximum to appear in the quote, as a number. The same goes for day tours: a 40-seat coach and a 12-seat van are sold with the same photograph.
The "not included" list is explicit
Almost the whole difference between a cheap quote and an expensive one lives in that list. Check specifically for the Cusco Tourist Ticket, the Machu Picchu entrance, the train, the first and last meals, the sleeping bag and the poles. A low price with six exclusions ends up costing more than a high one with two.
The bank account belongs to the company
Never transfer to a personal account, however official the person handing you the details looks. If the account is not in the name of the company on the receipt, there is no formal operation behind your payment.
The reviews hold up when you look closely
Read the three-star reviews before the five-star ones: they are the ones that spell out what went wrong without dismissing the rest. See whether the agency replies to the bad ones or ignores them. Be wary of twenty reviews posted in the same week, and of reviews that mention no concrete detail of the route.
They tell you what happens if there is a strike
Strikes get called in Cusco and the railway gets blocked; it happens, and it is usually known days in advance. Ask what they do in that case, specifically: whether they drive you to Ollantaytambo, whether they reschedule without penalty, and who pays for that transfer. Having that answer written down somewhere is part of what you are buying.
And if after all this you pick another agency
That is fine. The list exists so that what happens to a lot of people here does not happen to you — paying for a cheap tour and finding out on the route why it was cheap. It works just as well if you end up travelling with another operator.
What we do ask is that you apply the whole list to us as well. Ourbooking conditions are published, the prices state what they do not cover, and anything still undecided is shown as pending rather than invented.