Inca Civilization
Cultural Experience, Popular with Locals, Tip - What to See & Do, Ruin - Ancient
Inca Civilization Reviews
We've found 40 Inca Civilization reviews from Viator.com travelers and members: what they loved, what they liked and what they think could be improved. It's all here to help you make the most of your next trip.
The guide was very knowledgable and helpful. Also, the bus was air conditioned and comfortable. The trip was on a day with heavy traffic and we spent over 4 hours getting back. We spent more time on the bus than at the actual markets. I felt rushed at the markets, which was the whole point of the trip. If I were to go on a normal day, without so much traffic, I think I would have enjoyed the tour more. One more thing...buying the package with the lunch is more expensive than just buying it once you get to the resturant.
Superb guide, who had to make his commentary in two languages... Visited some wondeful sights and got to see in half a day a lot of the city... Highly recommended...
This tour was quite disappointing compared to our other Viator experiences.
Firstly, our scheduled 8 hour tour took over 10 hours and we almost missed an evening engagement with the rest of our travel group. Too much time allowed at shopping sites - the Otavalo Market (1.5 hours to visit too many similar stalls selling not so artisan goods and 1.75 hours checking out a street with leather stores as well as allowing time for lunch - which was quite good albeit in a tourist oriented restaurant). The food section of the market was very traditional, interesting and tasty!
Washroom breaks on the bus ride were well spaced and appreciated.
Our tour group consisted of 20 passengers and Roberto, our guide, had half English and half Spanish speaking clients. I do understand a bit of Spanish and understand enough that when there is a 3 minutes explanation about a site or bit of history in Spanish and the English version takes but 30 seconds - the Anglophone version was missing some interesting points. In some cases he would not offer an English version unless asked - a specific example being his explanation of typical foods of a region in Spanish and only when asked did the English version come forward.
As noted previously, my wife and I have enjoyed 2 previous Viator tours - I would not recommend this tour as a one day venture to 'experience' Equadorian culture outside of Quito.
The central market in Quito has all the same items and could be accessed more readily PLUS there were many stores that specialize had much higher quality and variety of clothing and handicraft goods including items from many South American countries.
This was a well orgainized trip with frequent stops and enough time for shopping at several places. a great way to see the country side as well as Otavalo.
We visited all the beautiful churches, we walked along the narrow colorful streets of old town Quito, we admired the view of the city from the Panecillo hill, I enjoyed the tour very much.
Everything was very punctual. Guide was very well knowledged. Only isapontment that this was a Spanish and English tour (2 English speaking and 6 Spanish speaking). Although the guide tried to allocate his time, the Spanish speakers won!).
The Folkloric Ballet was great! I learned so much about Ecuador just by looking at the costumes and actions.
However, it would have been better if there was an English translation.
The second half of the ballet was a bit dull and fell asleep but over-all it was great.
Part of my tour includes a dinner. I was taken at Pimms. The food there was excellent and the view of the city in the evening is spectacular.
Now about the local contact, I wasnt impressed at all with the tour guide that was assigned to me, Juan David was the name. He is friendly yes, but he acted tired and even fell asleep when he was supposed to pick me up after dinner. Good thing, I decided to look for the van, otherwise I would have probably stayed in the restaurant more than I expected to stay.
In addition, although he speaks English, I couldnt comprehend him. Everything sounded slurred.
There was also a problem with the booking. When I booked thru the website, I indicated Nu House as the pick-up.
I got an email from Viator and they told me that I should go to Hilton Colon instead as this one was nearer.
All my emails indicated Hilton Colon. I have all the emails still should you want any proof.
On the day itself, I waited for the van and decided to call the 24hr hotline. Good thing, or I would have missed the show. The guide was in Nu House. No one informed him that the pick-up was changed to Hilton Colon. So, where was the problem? Was it Viator? Or the local contact?
Guide absolutely fabulous great knowledge and fun but other than churches little to see in the town, disappointing.
Old town Quito is beautiful! I was quite surprised they had amazing architecture, very charming and quite interesting. The tour guide Karla was very good, knowledgeable and very friendly. She had to conduct the tour in both English and Spanish since we were the only English speaking group. They were also very prompt in picking us up from the hotel.
We really enjoyed the tour! Pick up was on exactly on time, the bus was clean and well maintained, and our guide Carla was knowledgeable, personable, and informative.
Very informative guide, just enough time to see everything, including the Changing of the Guard at the Presidential Palace - that was one of the highlights of our trip. Excellent!
totally enjoyed this trip. Roberto was an excellent guide - very informative. We were given plenty of time to enjoy shopping in Otavalo. I would definately recommend this trip to anyone.
Salome was our guide and she was excellent. There were several interesting stops along the way which enhanced our visit to Otavalo. More time in Otavalo would be a good idea. We had 1.5 hours - maybe should be 2. We wondered why there was no stop when we crossed the equator. all in all a good trip and recommended.
While the drive was pleasant your photograph of the market was totally misleading. We expected to go to a fresh produce market and instead we were taken to a craft market for tourists. We didn't want lunch so we were left to look after ourselves for three hours in a town with very little to look at.
Our guide was poor and gave little information of value for the day and his time keeping was poor. In summary the day was a complete waste of time..leaving the hotel at 8.20am and not getting back until 7.10pm
"Horrible Service! Almost an Hour Late Picking Up! BEWARE!!"
My boyfriend and I booked the Saturday Otavalo Market tour through viator.com nearly a week before the actual tour date. When we booked the tour we were informed that we had to contact the tour operator to arrange the exact time for hotel pickup. On the Sunday before travel we began emailing the company to arrange hotel pickup. We received no response. We followed up again on Wednesday to arrange for hotel pickup. It wasn't until Thursday evening that the company emailed us back saying that they would let us know by Friday at 6:00 pm of the pickup time. Guess what? Friday at 6:00 pm we still hadn't received a response. In fact, it wasn't until well after midnight that we received a pickup time from the company (note, we didn't see the email until after we had awakened Saturday morning). The email indicated that hotel pickup was supposed to be at 7:40 that morning. We quickly got ready, and headed to the lobby to wait on the driver and guide.
Long story short, the guide didn't arrive at the hotel until 8:36 am - 56 MINUTES LATE!!! We emailed the tour operator numerous times that morning to determine the status, and only once did they respond. I think they told us the guide was in a "car accident." However, by the end of the day we had heard three different explanations: car accident, traffic, and flat tire. Not sure what story or combination of stories was true.
Because the guide was so late we, of course, didn't have time to complete the entire itinerary. We completely skipped Peguche, which left me extremely disappointed.
I would not recommend booking this tour. The Tour Operator is extremely unprofessional and their representatives/guides lack necessary customer service skills.
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