Beautiful trek. - An amazing experience. Stayed in local communities and learnt about their way of life. Some of the best views i've ever seen during the treks and we were very lucky with the weather - no rain despite it being rainy season. Grober was a great guide - loads of information about Machu Picchu - Inca customs and beliefs. Would definitely recommend.

A Solo Couples 5 Star Experience with SAM Travel Peru - My girlfriend and I booked a private tour for the both of us as we wanted to meet and spend time getting to know our guide Joaquin and the porters, Leandro, Ijidio, Deonicio, Climaco, Raul, and lastly our Chef, Julio Cesar. We personally felt that had we had other guests/trekkers accompany us during the trek, it would have taken away from our time with the SAM crew. We were so glad we made the choice we did and absolutely recommend it to others if that's the experience you are after, even with our Spanish not being very good. Speaking to our guide Joaquin, he is a wealth of knowledge, clocking in with 13 years of guiding experience. His English is also excellent, one can tell that he has put in a lot of time and effort to become proficient. His history lessons and story telling during the trek impressed us as well, he would be able to tie in different parts of the story throughout multiple days and made it very easily understandable which is a skill within itself. He is a great person to spend time with and thoroughly fun. He did a great job coordinating the porter crew and scheduling our days. He knew the schedule of other companies so he was able to get us out of camp prior to everyone and we'd be the 1st to ruins or other sites which made it special to have it to ourselves without others. At each individual site, he would give us the the full background and it's significance, along with answer any of the many questions we had. We never felt rushed at the sites and could generally take as much time as we desired including as many breaks as we wanted. Another thing we loved was being some of the last folks back at camp in the evening on some days, again because Joaquin catered to us as that is what we wanted. We could have rushed, but we wanted to enjoy the experience. I can't recommend Joaquin enough, you should absolutely request him as your guide. Moving onto the rest of the crew, the porters are incredibly hard working people. They start the day by getting up earlier than you to get breakfast going and then wake you up with coca tea. Breakfast is ready soon after wakeup and was different every day and delicious. Once we were done and hit the trail, they'd scramble to clean, break down camp, and start hiking the very same trail to eventually pass us to get to a lunch spot and set everything up again for a fantastic hot lunch every day. They made far too much food every time but they would eat whatever we couldn't. Then the cycle would repeat, we left the lunch spot and they'd eventually fly past us to get the evening camp set up, including our tent and a private toilet for us, and another fantastic meal. I can't say enough good things about the food, Julio Cesar (the chef) is formally trained and it shows. The porter crew didn't speak any English but we were able to communicate just fine as we knew a little bit of Spanish and also had a translation app on the phone. The porters were fun folks, they smiled day and night and knew how to have fun with us and amongst each other, there was constant laughter. We all formed a bond and were sad the part ways on the final morning. I want to touch on SAM Travel Peru, the company we booked with. They were great to deal with, answering every email promptly and made everything clear to set us up for success before even arriving. Digging through info available online on the Inka Trail/Machu Picchu can be daunting, especially when nearly every website is in Spanish. The folks at SAM made it easy and their private tour price was also more reasonable than what some other companies were asking for. SAM had us meet at their office the night before the trek for final payment, go over the plans and ensure we were prepared, along with giving us our duffel bags for the gear the porters would carry and some rain gear. Booking this trip at the end of January which happens to be the rainy season was risky because the weather is unpredictable, but I don't know if we could have gotten luckier with the weather. Beautiful weather with occasional rain (mostly at night) and far less other trekkers on the trail so it was a very, very pleasant experience. I can't imagine how busy the dry season is. My partner and I did book the extra trek at Machu Picchu known as Huayana Picchu which is the huge mountain overlooking the surrounding area which is absolutely worth the extra $75 per person. Something to be aware of is the wakeup times in the AM, they tend to vary based on the day ahead, anywhere from 4:30 to 6. This didn't bother my partner and I at all and seemed pretty standard for other companies as well. One other factor that is tough to control is other people. After a certain hour in the evening or before a certain hour in the morning, it is common courtesy to keep quiet out of respect for other's which was generally followed but it was clear that not every guest understood this or had experience backpacking. Porters did a pretty good job at staying quiet despite having to get up early to start work, but other guests should know better. I could go on, but if you are interested in this type of trek, I highly recommend SAM Travel, Joaquin, and the rest of the crew. I am very certain you'll have a similar experience even with a different guide from SAM and a different set of porters. Thanks to everyone involved, we will always look back fondly!

So beautiful! - We really enjoyed our experience in the Lares valley and Machu Pichu. The hike was incredible, some of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. And so was the experience of being in the small Andean communities. Grober was a great guide: funny and personable and I liked hearing his stories. He also knew the name of every single plant I asked about and gave a fascinating tour of Machu Pichu. Fortunato was a great cook and every meal was delicious. There was always too much food but they shared the extra with the communities. They also made me a cake for my birthday and made a special drink. Thank you, cook team! The restaurant we went to after the trek was also good and the hotel we stayed in prior to going to Machu Pichu had hot water and a comfy bed. The hot spring was so nice after hiking and also had nice gardens and was just in a beautiful spot. I would not hesitate to recommend this experience to anyone. I do have one suggestion, though. We had a small trip of two guests with a guide, two cooks, and a horseman. We were not introduced properly until the last day of the trip and were separated during eating. It would have been nice in a small group like this to eat family-style, all together. My Spanish comprehension is good and my partner is fluent, so language wouldn’t have been so much a barrier and it would have been meaningful for us to get to know the rest of the team.

I would do it again! - This was an incredible experience. The majestic views, and the accommodations were fantastic. Our guide Miguel was especially great. His sense of humor was great. /he was just outright funny. His passion for the history and landscape was infectious and educational. I HIGHLY recommend Miguel as a guide for any excursion with Sam Peru.

4 Days 3 Nights Inca Trail - Our tour guide, Oscar, met us at our hotel in Cusco the evening before the start of the trek. We found Oscars briefing very informative and prepared us for the days ahead. The campsites are basic (as expected) although the team found us great tent locations with amazing views. The porters, Toribio, Eusebio and Arnulfo were incredible. The porters are like mountain goats. Our two chefs, Armando and Reinaldo kept us watered and well fed with amazing dishes prepared inside the cooks tent. Oscar was very knowledgeable on aspects of the trek as well as the history of Machu Picchu. Oscar has a good sense of humour and is encouraging when the trek was at the max altitude and we were snailing our way to the peak of 4,200mt. Oscar also recognized we wanted couples time and periodically he would suggest we walked ahead of him giving us space. We felt part of a family as we went through our 4 days together. Highly recommend SAM travel and this team

Adventure of the Inka you should not miss - My partner and I made the 4 day and 3 night Inka Trail. Amazing experience, spectacular scenery and a great trekking challenge we face. The Sam travel team gave us a unique experience. Our guide Henry was fun and taught us a lot about the Inka culture, gave us our time to enjoy the tour. Special mention to the Fortunato chef and the team of porters, without them this would be impossible. Good camping tents, we recommend walking sticks for the tour as especially the second day is not at all easy, and a huge bladder so you don't have to use much public toilets along the way. Experience in its entirety more than recommended. We were also very lucky to share it with a team of wonderful people who humanly enriched this adventure.

Lares Trek to Machu - Beautiful and Challenging - This is a strenuous and beautiful hike. Daniel was the tour guide - he is very kind and informative. We met local indigenous people and were invited into their home. A unique experience.

Once in a lifetime! - Absolutely amazing experience! So much more than expected 😁 our guide Grober was brilliant and very patient, tailoring the experience to the needs of every member of the group! Highly recommended 🤩

Wonderful experience😍 - Amazing guide Grober, amazing group, amazing time. 😍It was a wonderful experience and ich can absolutely recommend 😊

Classic Inca Trail - Great with some improvements - Overall, Sam Travel Peru was a great company to do the Inca Trail with! I did the 4 day Classic Inca Trail with them. Great experiences, felt safe and looked after. However, there were a few things that could have been better. Keep in mind that many of the companies are doing the same thing though and overall this company is great to go with because of the smaller group size so the dynamic was really good with the team. Our guides Christian and Henry did an excellent job! Here are a few things they could improve on at a company level: 1. Food was overall really good in taste and quality but could have done with quite a bit more meat. There was only ever a small amount offered per person. Not ideal on such a physical trek. 2. Our crew woke up at 2:30am on the last day for no reason. There was no need to be the first group to the last checkpoint for a 5:30am open. We were the last off the track anyway. Most companies want to save money by getting the porters and equipment back on the 5am train out so they get all the tourists up super early and pack everything up. Not necessary. They could have sent a bus for them. 3. Water supply should have been better planned. We didn't get a water resupply at lunch time on one day, which we had not planned for. All because it was an inconvenience for the porters to line up for water at the busier campsites, so they wanted us to plan to go without. Not good enough. 4. Not enough freely offered information from the tour guides. They were knowledgeable but we would have appreciated more unprompted info. That being said, when we asked, they always knew. Keep in mind most companies are offering very similar services. Sam Travel Peru is perfect if you're looking for a smaller group size. The service won't be that much different with another company.