Maureen Stanucci

When you start looking into making travel plans, you are likely to be overwhelmed at the number of choices that you have. An important decision to make is going to be whether you want group or private tours.

The main advantage to group tours is the price. Especially if there are only one or two of you traveling, the cost of booking private tours can be quite high. You can stand to save a lot of money by going the group route.

A group package tour will generally be arranged so that you can get to see all the major sites of your country or countries of destination. The downside to this is that you may feel rushed in some areas or not have as much free time as you might like.

Group tours also give you a chance to make new friends and have people to share the experience with. Naturally, this can also be a disadvantage if you are stuck on tours with people that you don’t like. There often ends up being one obnoxious person in the group and, if the tour leader can’t effectively control that person, this can be a huge problem.

The tour leader is another issue as well. Having a great guide can completely make your trip. Having one that’s not so great can make a package tour a real disappointment and leave you feeling like it wasn’t worth the money you saved.

There are some things you can do, however, to help ensure that you make the best choice possible. Definitely take a look at some of the travel review sites to see what people are saying about the companies you are considering. Remember to always read negative reviews with a grain of salt, as it is sometimes more of a question of the expectations the reviewer had than an actual problem with the tour.

Talk to the company and find out what type of passengers they typically have. This can keep you from ending up the only backpacker on a bus full of retired people or vice versa. While there’s no guarantee you’ll get along great with people your own age or from a similar socioeconomic background, you’ll be improving your odds.

Take a look at the itinerary to be sure that there is sufficient downtime built in so you won’t feel like you are being rushed from place to place. Ask about the company’s flexibility if you decide you want to pass up a certain tour along the way. This is also a good time to ask about the refund policies as well. Some companies are quite amenable to using part of the money you have spent on a trek to Machu Picchu, for example, towards taking the train there if you decide you aren’t up to hiking.

Rather than take a complete group package tour, consider booking part group tours and part private tours. Use a private guide for the really important destinations, such as Machu Picchu. This allows you to get the most out of the experience, as you will be able to hear really well and the guide can cater the tour to your interests.

For other destinations, such as Colca Canyon or Lake Titicaca, there’s no real reason to take a private tour. You will save money by going with a group and probably get just as much out of it. With tours such as the Cusco City Tour and the Sacred Valley Tour, it will depend on the number of people in your group. If you are just a couple, it may not be worth the cost to have a private tour. However, once you get up to about four people or more, the private option will not cost that much more per person.

Prices of tours in South America, particularly in countries like Peru and Bolivia, tend to be a lot less than you might have thought. Therefore, it’s always worthwhile to ask for both group and private tour prices.

While planning your trip to Peru, take a look at this chain of Peru hotels with a large collection of hotels in Lima.