Machu Picchu Quest

About Us Our Staff Why Choose Us Responsible Tourism Booking Policy/Terms

About Us

Travel Agency in Cusco
We are an innovative and fresh team from Cusco, We work hard to satisfy our clients with efficient, reliable, and responsible service. Our tour guides are experienced and knowledgeable. Machu Picchu Quest prides itself on high quality tours, offering our guests the opportunity to learn about Peruvian history and culture, in a unique way.

Mission and Vision
We are a dedicated team that strives to promote the heritage and culture of Peru. As a sustainable and environmentally conscious company, we work alongside local people from the remote Andean Communities who demonstrate respect for Pachamama (Mother Earth). The professional service we offer our clients is all about making an unforgettable and personalized experience for people.

Code of Practice
We want our guests to have the best possible experience in Peru. At Machu Picchu Quest, we are able to handle all aspects of your trip. From picking you up at the airport to making sure you feel safe and secure in Peru, our team is here for you!
Our Code of Practice complies with the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism as a responsible and sustainable tour operator. The welfare of our guests, employees, and the environment is integral with the core values of Machu Picchu Quest. We provide clients with the highest level of product and service by working as an ethically, environmentally conscious, and responsible team.
Thank you for choosing Machu Picchu Quest!

Price and Guarantee
Our prices are competitive, including costs of administration and operations, are valid for one year.
For private groups (5 people. Minimum) may be granted special discounts.

Authorized Travel Agency

Our team

FRANK HUAMAN

Manager and Tour Cordinator
Founder
I will be happy to organize your tour to Machu Picchu

LUCIANA VICTORIA

Founder and Marketing
I will answer all the questions that you might have about Peru, send me an e-mail.

OUR TOUR GUIDES

Founder
Sebastian Fernades and Carlos Zambrano are the best tour guides in Cusco.

COOKS AND PORTERS

Founder
Guido Vargas, Walter Uquizo, Marcos Puma are our cooks on the hikes to Machupicchu.

Why choose us

Machu Picchu Quest is a local, independent company, that provides high quality services and tours to people from around the world. We organize and design tours according to what you, as the client, would like! As a company committed to sustainable and responsible tourism, one of our top priorities is to insure you have a real, authentic experience in Peru. The variety of tours we offer, allow people the chance to see how unique and diverse our culture and environment is!

Machu Picchu Quest is dedicated to making sure you have an adventure of a lifetime, and the opportunity to embrace a different culture. To build human connection, support local communities and respect the environment, is what Machu Picchu Quest is all about and we want to share this with you.

Adventure of a lifetime
Relax! We'll deal with the logistics.
Other international travel companies organize tours in Peru and they speak some of the local language and know some on the culture so they will be able to navigate through every situation but they never will navigate like a local people. So let us show you our country, we have the Experience, knowledge and Pasión for it.

Quality and Value
We take great care to ensure that our tours are the best value for money in the business, and we know that outstanding value means ensuring that all of the ingredients are right, not just the price.If you are travelling to distant destinations, you certainly don't want any expensive surprises or extra costs that you weren't told about before you booked your tour.

Machu Picchu Quest is one of few up-front travel companies that tell you what is included and excluded in our brochure /website.

Our tours include a range of outdoor adventure activities, but you don’t have to be super-fit to get involved. All you need is an adventurous spirit and the willingness to participate and have fun.

Not Just a Tour
If you really want to immerse yourself in a culture, the first step is to learn something about the people – and what better way to start than to learn their language?

we offer language schools in Cusco. You can take a week or two of intensive Spanish classes in a Spanish speaking country before your tour and live with local people in homestays. When you embark on your tour you'll have new language skills, new friends, more confidence, a deeper understanding of the people and fantastic new insights into the culture of the destinations you'll be visiting.

On many of our tours you will have opportunities to learn to cook authentic local cuisine in cooking classes. There are also optional dance classes such as salsa, and other activities like tai chi on offer, depending on the destination

Responsible tourism Peru

We are committed to traveling in a way that is respectful of local people, culture, and the environment. Tourism is not only visiting and holding precious memories of the places you go to, it is also to leave a positive effect and an imperishable mark onto the people you meet.

We don’t use damaging products for the environment , All the products are biodegradable and recycling things, Our crew is identified with this cause.

We don't want to offer just a trip to Peru, we want to make sure that you are going to enjoy our service and travel with the knowledge that the activity of our company won’t affect in a negative way the local environment. We believes that our type of small group have positive impact, we know that every destination is someone else’s home and we leave places as we would like to find them.

Social Commiment
Unlike overseas tour operators Machu Picchu Quest pays local sales (IGV 19%) and corporate taxes helping to contribute to Peru's economy. Our employees are paid professional wages and our porters, cooks etc are paid promptly on a weekly basis.
Good porter treatment and welfare is very important to us: our porters receive high wages, waterproof tents, high budget for porter meals which include high quality & quantity rich in carbohydrates.
Our excellent treatment of porters is widely recognised in the porter community. Machu Picchu Quest allows for 10% of the company's net profits to be used to help community projects in the Cusco area particularly in communities along the routes of the treks that we frequently operate. We ensure that communities benefit from our visit, these are our guiding principles for the way in which we want to travel.

Respect to the Environment
We provide regular training to our trekking staff on how to comply with Inca Trail and Machu Picchu Sanctuary Regulations and environmental awareness. Machu Picchu Quest complies with the Law of Natural Protected Areas #26834 (published July 04, 1997), as well as with the Law of Conservation and Sustainable Profit of the Biological Diversity #26839 (published July 16, 1997).

Sustainable Tourism
Sustainable tourism in its purest sense, is an industry which attempts to make a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate income, employment, and the conservation of local ecosystems.

The aim of sustainable tourism is to ensure that development is a positive experience for local people; tourism companies; and tourists themselves.

Thus, Sustainable tourism activities have minimal impact on the environment and culture of the host community. is not 'ecotourism'.

Another definition of sustainable tourism
Those tourism respectful of the natural, cultural and social values and a community that allows you to enjoy a positive exchange of experience among residents and visitors, where the relationship between tourists and the community is fair and benefits of the activity is distributed fairly, and where visitors have a truly participatory in their travel experience.

1. When planning your trip, choose suppliers who offer guarantees of quality and respect for human rights and the environment.

2. Do not purchase flora and fauna protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), or any products derived from these species.

3. Try to contribute their presence to the development of a responsible and sustainable tourism, building your trip a healthier planet and solidarity.

Cheapest trip?
I would like to begin this post by remarking some "advices" where posters suggest to hire THE CHEAPEST trip, or do things "under the table", well, that is fine as long as these suggestions do not risk people's safety.

Tourism is not only visiting and holding precious memories of the places we go to, it is also to leave a positive effect and an imperishable mark onto the people we meet.

When we go on a trip we are full of expectations, usually higher expectation for everything related to our trip, so we also have to think about people who provide these services, they are also full of expectations as for the people they will be working for during our trips.

If we book the cheapest tour, or one of the cheapest, then we are risking ourselves since we would not have where to go if something goes wrong, it is not as in USA or in Europe where we can sue the other party to get a refund or to get what is fair, this is completely different, many times these "cheap" companies do not even exist in a legit way, so what to do? complain? I do not think so, they might get closed down, but there will always be someone else who will do the same, because there is always someone hiring their services. We always look for fair prices, which is fair enough, let us not confuse fair and advantage, if we pay so little for any of our trips or excursions, it's a great deal for us, but think about people behind this service, do they get fairly payed? do they work a regular 8 hour shift? do they get enough money from this? I do not think so, since the owners are the ones getting the biggest part, and when things go wrong, we get mad at the ones we see, and these are, mostly, the employees of the company, legit or not and the owners just do not care about it.

Let's be fair and hire either with companies or individuals who are reliable enough, as we will get what we expect, and how to know whether this company or individual is charging what's fair? well let's do some research and learn about the highest and the lowest prices and get the average one, that is probably the right one.

Try as much as you can to hire a local tour operator, this way we are encouraging the local companies or individuals to keep working within the legal terms, many overseas based operators do not even tax in Peru, and they are more expensive than the local operators.

How can I trust a local tour operator if they do not accept credit cards? Know that the credit card is a new thing for most people in Peru, therefore most small tour operators do not work with CC, we can always call the company, we can always email the company, we can trace them, if we do not get an answer from email, let's get another one, I am sure there is one which will fullfil our expectations and PLEASE, ask as many questions as you have, since it is the best way to make sure about what we are hiring and read carefully everything they send to you.

I would strongly recommend to be careful when posting a recommendation for travellers asking for some advice for if something goes wrong, the traveller will not blame the poster, the traveller will blame the company, the people and the country. Let's be fair and help this to be a better place for all of us, both travellers and tour operators.

Terms and Conditions

Machu Picchu Quest wants you to enjoy your holiday of a lifetime with complete success.

Please read the following conditions carefully as it is your contract with Machu Picchu Quest.

If you have any questions regarding your holiday, the booking procedure or conditions of sale then Machu Pichu Quest will be happy to answer them for you.

1. Contract
The contract is between Machu Picchu Quest and the client, being any person traveling or intending to travel on a tour operated by us. You, the client are subject to have read and understood our travel policy outlined below.

2. Booking Conditions.
To guarantee a reservation, Machu Picchu Quest requires a fully completed booking form (either the one on our website or the one sent by us with your quote) together with the necessary deposit of money.

A booking is accepted and becomes definite only from the date when Machu Picchu Quest sends out a confirmation (once we have received your deposit) at which point a contract exists and the deposit becomes non-refundable and non-transferable. Machu Picchu Quest reserves the right to decline any booking at their discretion.

Clients are deemed to have read and understood the conditions of sale and to have indicated this by choosing the appropriate response on the booking form.

3. Surcharges
Machu Picchu Quest reserves the right to increase the tour cost to take into account the following items: government actions, currency fluctuations, transportation costs (including the cost of fuel), airport charges and increase in scheduled air fares.

4. The final payment
The trek balance must be paid in the Machu Picchu Quest office prior to 8pm, at least 1 day prior to tour departure.

The balance of all monies due including any surcharges applicable must be paid to Machu Picchu Quest.

5. Cancellations Policy
I. The trek deposit must be paid prior to the date shown on the trek confirmation email. Clients must email Machu Picchu Quest to confirm that they have paid the deposit. Failure to pay the deposit and/or inform us of the deposit payment details before this date will result in automatic trek cancellation.

II. The trek balance must be paid in the Machu Picchu Quest office prior to 8pm, at least 1 days prior to trek departure. Failure to pay the trek balance prior to this time will result in trek cancellation.

III. Trek cancellations made between payment of trek deposit and 8pm, 1 days prior to trek departure date: Return of all payments made, less the trek deposit , less any costs associated with receiving and returning the payment.

IV. Trek cancellations made after 8pm, 1 days prior to trek departure: No cash refund. please note that the client will be responsible for any change: trek departure, entrance fee, train tickets bus tickets or any costs associated with such changes. in all instances of trek cancellation by the client, Machu Picchu Quest will provide written confirmation of the cancellation and details of any payments lost so as to be used in the event of any insurance claim made by the client.

Machu Picchu Quest reserves the right to cancel your booking and cancellation charges will apply.

6. Complaints
Should the client have a complaint about any of the tour arrangements, it is a condition of the contract that you tell our local representative at the time. Failure to complain at that moment in time will deny us the opportunity to investigate and rectify the problem and thus render Machu Picchu Quest unable to accept any form of responsibility.

If the client has a dispute with Machu Picchu Quest which Machu Picchu Quest is unable to resolve then please write to us within 28 days of your return and we will investigate further.

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