Honesty, pricing, process and quality scores appear once 5 customers have rated them.
About Andean Discovery
With US headquarters in Massachusetts, and local offices in South America, Andean Discovery directly coordinates all aspects of travel from start to finish, ensuring guests a seamless travel experience. Discover ancient ruins, remote islands, lush rainforests, and indigenous villages on a journey designed specifically for you. Andean Discovery is featured in The Boston Globe and other publications for its efforts to promote community-based tourism, which takes into account, first and foremost, the well-being of the people and places we visit.
Andean Discovery (andeandiscovery.com) has 228 customer reviews on Folks Told, with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5.
Our trip to the Galápagos Islands and Machu Picchu
Our trip to the Galápagos Islands and Machu Picchu was truly unforgettable! Every aspect of the journey was well organized, and all of our guides were professional, knowledgeable, and always punctual.
A special thank you goes to Moises Jimenez, our guide in the Galápagos Islands. His expertise, passion for the islands, and deep knowledge as a local made every excursion incredibly meaningful. He shared fascinating insights about the wildlife, history, and unique ecosystems that we would never have discovered on our own. His enthusiasm and attention to detail made every minute of our visits worthwhile.
The entire experience exceeded our expectations, and we highly recommend this tour to anyone looking for an adventure filled with breathtaking scenery, incredible wildlife, and rich cultural history. It was a trip we will cherish for a lifetime!
CU
customer
The Galapagos, Amazon and Macchu Picchu Adventure.
The Andean Discovery team handled all arrangements, including flight connections, lodging choices, excursion and experience choices and food availabilty. All this was done comprehensively and efficiently. The food and hotels were all five stars.
LE
Lexi
Overall I had a mixed experience
Overall I had a mixed experience, they were very punctual which is much appreciated. But they weren't good at listening to us, making us feel that they knew best even if we didn't want to do something. For example, we wanted to go for a hike we didn't want any hired llamas on the hike we made this clear when booking the trip. We show up to the hike and there are the llamas. They weren't able to hike fast enough and the llama owner kept making them run to keep up with us, it was a very frustrating experience when we have a bit of hiking experience and didn't need the animals for anything. Our guide wouldn't listen to us and besides the llamas took us on a hike overlooking cities, hiking on roads and through farms even though we had asked for a nature hike. The hike was also much shorter than we had been told when booking which was a bummer. At least the last two miles of the hike were pretty (it leaves the farmland) and that was fun!
We had also wanted to explore the Cusco on our own and explained that at the time of booking. Did we get to do it on our own? No, once again they didn't listen to us, didn't respect our wishes and made us feel like we had to have the guide everywhere. We didn't want to hurt the guides feelings but we spent a bit of money and it was frustrating that the company put us in such an awkward position.
Also, they should really consider the hotels they place guest in. In the sacred valley our hotel was 40min away from any dinner restaurants (besides the one at the hotel). Getting a taxi all the way out there was complicated and frustrating.
I think if you are 70+ and looking for a laid back trip to see the highlights this company would be great. The guides are very knowledgeable, just know what you're getting in for!
Reply from Andean DiscoveryJun 2, 2026
Lexi, thank you for the detailed feedback. We want to share some context and acknowledge where we can do better.
On the llamas: we understand the frustration, and we want to clarify their role. In the Andean highlands, llamas are part of our support team and carry water and supplies on longer hikes at altitude. We have no way to predict in advance how each guest will respond to elevation, and having locals with them who speak Quechua is both a cultural and safety consideration when hiking through rural farming communities. That said, we clearly should have explained this better at the start of the hike, and we hear you on the routing and length not matching what you expected when booking. That's a fair point and one we're taking seriously.
On exploring Cusco independently: the guided city tour was listed as an included item on your itinerary. We absolutely understand that some guests prefer time on their own, and we love building that in. The breakdown here was that changes like this work best when coordinated in advance through the right channels so we can notify our team in the field directly, rather than trying to work it out spontaneously on the ground. We'll make sure guests know they can reach us directly mid-trip to make those adjustments.
On the Sacred Valley hotel: you're right. The lodges near Urubamba are intentionally set in the rural highlands, which many guests love for exactly that reason. For guests who want to be closer to local restaurants and town life, that's an important distinction and we appreciate you flagging it.
Andean Discovery Team
RS
Richard S.
Great trip planning top class
Great trip planning. Super gudes and well organized
DS
Devasena S.
Andean Discovery does it again!!
We just got back from our trip to Peru and it was nothing short of extraordinary. Every single detail was thoughtfully planned and taken care of — from the acclimatization process to the delicious food and wonderful hotels that made us feel comfortable every step of the way.
The breathtaking beauty of Peru was unforgettable, but what truly elevated this experience was the incredible care and professionalism of our guide Elias and driver Diego. They were absolutely phenomenal — knowledgeable, patient, kind, and always making sure we were safe, comfortable, and fully immersed in the experience.
From challenging hikes to surreal views and meaningful moments, this trip exceeded all expectations. Grateful for memories that will stay with us forever. Highly recommend!
P.S - We've used them for Galapagos as well and were very happy!
HC
Happy C.
Top notch experience thanks to Andean Discovery
The expertise Andean Discovery has in planning trips to Equador & Peru is obvious to anyone who has been lucky enough to use their services.
In Ecuador we were accompanied by our guide Daniel Diaz thru airport check in and hotel check in. We truly would have been lost without Daniel’s help. Daniel speaks English very well.
Our experience aboard the Galapagos Legend was top notch. Pedro was our guide for the majority of our excursions. Francisco was our server at meals. Carlos was our housekeeper. Fabio & Christian were the bartenders. All were excellent hosts! Smiling & knowledgable and always willing to help.
Sebastian Vargas was our guide in Peru. Raul was our driver. I highly recommend team Sebastian & Raul. Sebastian speaks English very well.
We enjoyed the history and cultural information the guides shared.
All are apparently very proud of their respective countries. All were very efficient, dedicated and always on time. They constantly reminded us to watch our step and be careful getting into & out of the vehicle.
Always willing to give us a break and offer a refill of bottled water.
Our vacation was truly a dream!!! We will never be able to express how amazing our trip turned out!!!
DH
Diane H.
This is our fourth trip to South…
This is our fourth trip to South America with Andean Discovery. They are the reason we keep going back
Can not say enough positive things about using this company
Everything from the first to the last step is taken care of by them. The places we stay in are just as special as the trip itself
The guides and drivers are excellent
Makes us want to try for maybe a fifth trip
NN
Nick N.
The destinations (Galapagos
The destinations (Galapagos, Machu Picchu) were magical, and the concierge treatment from AD enhanced the experience immeasurably.
The four guides who looked after us were efficient, friendly and extremely knowledgeable. In summary: The Quito guide, a new mom, was delightful and we were happy to meet her family. Glad Andean Discovery is a family friendly employer. Special kudos to our guide in Guayaquil- what we thought would be just a place-holder stop - whose knowledge and evident pride in her city enriched a 3 hour tour. The Lima facilitator did a great job adjusting our travel plans on the fly after airline and immigration delays got us into Peru very late. Cusco and MP guide was excellent in weaving a comprehensive narrative tying in all the sights and places we visited. His pride is what he shared with us was evident and contagious. His deep knowledge of Inca history greatly enhanced our appreciation for and knowledge about what we saw.
Trip logistics, pre-trip briefing and prep materials from AD were spot-on, for the most part (more below). As noted above, our Lima guide/expediter was resourceful and efficient when an airline delay threatened to disrupt our trip unpleasantly.
Tips/Suggestions to travelers and AD on trip logistics:
- interior flights (AD arranged) booked on economy. Leg room on Avianca and Latam is quite limited. Would have appreciated having choice of upgrading to business class.
— the first and final day lang excursions in the Galapagos, involving long bus rides, were essentially to the same destinations and left us a bit frustrated; recommend suggesting to cruise company that they find different options for travelers either short programs like ours.
— transfer from last day on Galapagos thru Guayaquil to Lima took 21 hours due to flight connections and delays. Although we opted for this program, it was a long, grueling day, so recommend breaking it up for others.
— Likewise, taking a 2+ hour 4 pm train ride back from MP followed by a 2+ hour drive on often terrible roads after dark with heavy traffic was tiring and uncomfortable, and also got us to the delightful Cusco hotel too late to really enjoy its amenities.
— Restaurant selections were superb. We had many memorable meals (especially at the estate on the way to the MP train).
— we appreciated the absolutely gorgeous and top service hotels, but per above, felt some were a bit hard to appreciate when we only spent 10-15 hours there.
Overall, we highly recommend AD for a stress free turnkey visit to its various destinations.
