We had an excellent experience with Ideal South America arranged trip. The COVID pandemic made it much more challenging, but the company and Senior Travel Consultant Max Levitt went out of the way to assist through this difficult and lengthy process. We had a fantastic experience traveling in Ecuador and Peru. We definitely highly recommend this company for South American and other travel. read more

Ideal South America - Machu Pichu, Peru, S. America. - Travel Services Near Me - Miami, Florida

Ideal South America organized our 15 day visit to Peru and Ecuador. Our original intent was to travel with two other couples, but illness caused them to drop out--this after already needing to change the trip to accommodate our air travel. Max and his team made these changes and also added my sister only a few weeks before the trip. The trip was great. We visited Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Quito, the Galapagos, and Guayaquil in our 15 days. At each airport, we were met with a guide and driver. Usually we had a guided tour, walking or small van. All breakfast and some other meals were included. Dinner was usually ours to find, but the guides were happy to offer suggestions when asked. Every guide was knowledgeable and responsive to our requests. Our second day at Machu Picchu was self-guided--but by then we knew what we wanted to see. The Galapagos 5 day trip was on a smaller boat, the Coral I with about 15 passengers, providing a small group visit to a number of the islands. My wife, sister, and I like smaller boats, and this one (Coral I) was very well equipped, but still closer to adventure than "Princess Cruise". A great way to see the islands, birds and animals. The tours required a fair amount of walking--but the amount of exercise is really determined by the group, and we all wanted to see as much as possible. I came home a pound lighter, and in much better shape. One real value Ideal South America provides is taking care of all the transport and lodging, so you can concentrate on the tour. In some ways, the biggest value of Ideal South America was not adding to the well known Machu Picchu and Galapagos, but rather giving us a good overview and interesting detail about Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley, Quito and the biggest surprise: Guayaquil. Our trip included 6 different places to sleep--that ranged from very good up to "Oh My Goodness", and 4 internal plane trips in addition to the flights to South America that were our responsibility. A wonderful trip. Thank you Ideal South America read more

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We initially were going to go with a different travel agency, but Max was so willing to make our Machu Picchu and Galápagos Island trip everything we had hoped that it would be that we we ended up choosing Ideal South America. And boy! Did we make the right choice. It was a magical vacation, not only because of where we were and what we saw, but because through Max's connections we had outstanding guides at every single stop. Look no further than Ideal South America! read more

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Our family truly enjoyed all the locations we visited. ..missed not having local tours of towns but really felt safe the way it was conducted.  A lot of plane travel but we realized no way around that with the airlines schedules.  The only surprise was the intensity of the humidity on Amazon. . Our guide at Zuma Lodge, Herman, deserves a lot of credit.  He is a contractor but his knowledge and personality held the week to a high standard for us - we experienced so much by being in his group.  He is a standout. All the covid work was a bit nerve-racking because we weren't assured of availability and outcome but everyone was where they were supposed to be precisely as stated.  So Please give our deep appreciation to all involved.  You provided a 5 star logistical travel plan.  We are happy we did those three locations - but Iguacu Falls is so spectacular it gets top billing from me - everyone should see it at least once. read more

I wanted to review ISA here in addition to google because they have only a few reviews here. I travel for work so I am always on the go. I generally don't like the thought of using a travel agency to book stuff I can do myself. This is where ISA shines. Not only do they take all the work out of planning a trip, they have locals that know the area. Every single part of the trip can be customized. Best price for this type of service I've ever seen. Super easy to talk to, booking is seamless, and they take care of everything. Have used them for multiple trips and will continue to do so in the future. For the service that you gets from these guys, the cost really seems negligible. You won't regret using them. read more

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We were planning to take a trip to Ecuador in March using Ideal South America. Ideal South America cares nothing about the safety of its customers. Instead of emailing me to let me know that Quito and other places were would be traveling to in Ecuador were under MARTIAL LAW and subject to a strict curfew and other travel restrictions, Ideal South America kept sending me payment reminders for my final payment, after increasing the cost of the trip, without notice or justification. I merely received 7 reminders from Jan 2 to Jan 25 with the raised price of the total trip (without explanation). I never received any notice of the fact that Ecuador had gone under Martial Law or that the US government was advising "U.S. citizen residents and travelers should continue to exercise increased caution throughout the country, should reconsider travel to areas marked as "Level 3," and should not travel to areas marked as "Level 4" in the advisory." Despite this, Ideal South America, never once emailed me about the situation and refused to refund my deposit, even though the US government was recommending not to travel to parts of Ecuador included in my trip. My travel agent who booked the trip with Ideal South America informed them that I would like either to extend my trip so that we could travel next year when people were not being kidnapped off the streets and not subject to martial law and curfew, when the situation would have time to stabilize. Ideal South America refused to extend the trip for any reasonable period and refused to refund my deposit, despite the fact of the imposition of Martial Law throughout Ecuador and the specific dangers in Quito. Despite the curfew and Martial Law, when a request to cancel was made the response was "all will go fine and smoothly" and there was zero acknowledgement of any safety risks, despite the fact that the President declared Ecuador to be in an "internal armed conflict" that allowed the army to patrol the streets. I would strongly advise against using Ideal South America for any travel plans. I happen to read the paper daily so was aware of what was transpiring in Ecuador- and would have fully expected Ideal South America to have let me know of the risks and the options if I choose not to travel. None of that occurred. I went to Peru in August 2023, I used a different company, and when there was the political protests there months before my trip was planned, my travel agent for that emailed me several times they were monitoring the situation and as the time came closer they would let me know what my options were, should travel not be safe to Peru when my trip was imminent. Ideal South America not only failed to provide any information, but they refused to acknowledge any risk and diminished my concerns and basically gaslighted my concerns. I have traveled extensively throughout the world, during various issues, and have never been treated so poorly by a company than Ideal South America. They do not even deserve a one-star rating, they deserve a zero star rating. Do not use them, unless you want the price of your trip to be arbitrarily increased (without notice other than a bill) or if there is any political instability where you are traveling, they will not only ignore it, but will downplay and not acknowledge any risks to safety. read more

We just returned from our 15 day trip to Peru & Ecuador visiting Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Cusco, Quito & the Galapagos. It was beyond epic and perfectly planned by Max and Isabel. We were met at each location and felt very well taken care of by everyone we encountered. Every guide was knowledgable and friendly. Our visit to Machu Picchu was spectacular and the challenging hike to the top of Huayna Picchu was a highlight. We enjoyed the private tours to ruins in Sacred Valley, the highlights in Cusco and also in Quito. The people, the food, the locations were all so delightful. Many of the hotels were 5 star and the service and ambiance was outstanding. Our Galapagos cruise on the luxury catamaran Alya was exactly what we hoped for! We rarely use travel agencies and prefer to plan our own itineraries, but every single detail was accounted for and there was a LOT to account for on this trip - plus, we were able to customize to our wishes. The reasonable price for our itinerary with the level of service and class of hotels and cruise was unmatched by any other company. We highly recommend ISA to anyone planning a visit to South America. read more

This was the first trip we did not plan or book ourselves in over 20 years of travel, and I have to say every single part of it was excellent! My wife and I spent two weeks in Macchu Picchu, Sacred Valley, Cusco, Quito, Guayaquil and cruised the Galápagos Islands. Before the trip we received complete instructions and had all our questions answered. At every stop during the trip we were met on time with a guide and a driver who were knowledgeable, informative and extremely accommodating. We felt very, very safe and well-cared-for at every step; Max and Isabelle thought of everything. Great hotels, expert guides, and a fabulous cruise ship (M/V Legend) in the Galapagos. At one point my wife took ill and our guide had a doctor and an ambulance at our hotel within 30 minutes; they took her to a Clinic where she received prompt and professional medical care and she was back on her feet within 24 hours. We cannot say enough good things about the quality of this organization and their partners....we recommend them very highly to anyone. read more

Accommodations were better than expected. Our guides were all exceptional--on time, friendly and informative. Max customized our trip so we could have the experience we wanted! Highly recommend Ideal South America! read more