Elqui Valley and Vicuna Private Tour Including Lunch

Do not book this tour, save your money.

Buyer beware. Do not book this tour. The description is not at all accurate. Pickup at port was not on time nor in the right location, I had to go find them and wasted a bunch of time looking for them. Driver was great, but the driver and guide clearly had never met each other as well, and we couldn't find the driver at first which wasted even more time. The tour itself was only semi-private. The vehicle was private, but then we got to stops and had to "wait for the rest of the groups to come" before we were able to actually see anything. The whole point of a private tour is not having to be with the hoards of other guests. After lunch we tried to go to multiple spots, but the guides that were supposed to meet us there never showed up, so we just waited around and didn't do anything. Overall, lots of waiting around, not a ton of seeing things, and also it's the exact same tour that you could get for MUCH cheaper in a small group. Save yourself some $$ and trouble by choosing a different tour / company. It's telling that all these reviews are from years ago, as the quality of the tour must have changed over the years.

Excellent tour !

We booked this tour and were picked up at our Hostel el Punto at 8:30 am. The guide Filipe spoke fluently English and was very inspiring and enthusiastic telling a lot about the Elqui Valley, guiding us around very professionally. We had enough photo-stops and he offered me even to sit on the front seat to enable me to take better pictures while driving. The highlights like a visit to the dam and the Pisco area were brilliant as well as the provided lunch. One tip: although La Serena can be cold and windy in November, once you are in the mountains it is very hot up there, so take care of that by choosing smart clothings.

We had a fabulous tour. Our guides...

<p>We had a fabulous tour. Our guides and driver were knowledgeable, and very welcoming. We saw a cross section of the local landscape and culture. The stop at the distillery was very informative and tasty. Our lunch cooked by the sun was superb.</p>

This tour was excellent. It was...

<p>This tour was excellent. It was through Indoor America-Top Private Tours. The guide was very knowledgeable and could speak good English. Both the driver and guide were friendly and we had an enjoyable day with them. We went through La Serena city and seen the avenue of statues, lighthouse, main buildings and Le Recova market. Driving through the beautiful Elqui Valley country side stopped at Moya River on the way up to the Reservoir Puclaro. We visited the Pisco factory with stops for tastes and then on to have lunch which was all cooked by the sunlight in little cook boxes was very interesting. After lunch we made an extra stop at a local brewery tastes of the beers. This was above what the tour offered. We had an awesome day and I would highly recommend this to anyone in the La Serena area of Chile.</p>

Fantastic tour. Guide was wonderful and...

<p>Fantastic tour. Guide was wonderful and very helpful. Could recommend this to anyone.</p>

Overall a pleasant enough experience...

<p>Overall a pleasant enough experience with the main drawback being our guides. Our English translator appeared to be less than interested in disclosing information shared with us during every stage of the tour. When asked what the Spanish guide was saying at various stages of the tour she would brush us off and translate an entire minute's worth of information in one or two sentences/words - literally cutting out the majority of the information being offered, or just saying that she didn't know how to describe it in English which defeated the purpose of her being there. We had a general sense of feeling pressured to buy things at each stop which was not ideal. The lunch in Vicuna was surprisingly nice and was the experience at both the pisco distillery and brewery. All in all, we're sure the tour would've been lovely in Spanish but the work around that was provided was unsatisfactory.</p>

Took this tour in April. Our guide...

<p>Took this tour in April. Our guide was very informative and interesting to listen to. Spoke very good English. The scenery was beautiful and the small villages that we visited were quite interesting as well. We felt the tour was good value for the cost and we definitely recommend it.</p>

This is an amazing tour. Scenery is...

<p>This is an amazing tour. Scenery is beautiful and our guides Giovanna and Christian were excellent. Highly recommend it to anyone in the La Serena area of Chile.</p>

The guide, Eric , was outstanding...

<p>The guide, Eric , was outstanding and the driver, excellent.<br/> Were deceived that after getting off the ship and looking for Viator tour, we had to wait a while before discovering that the tour was provided by Planet tour.<br/> Interesting to find out how they cook meals with the Sun power. But the meal itself was no more than ordinary.</p>

Jennifer and Cristian of Planeta...

<p>Jennifer and Cristian of Planeta Turismo were tops...modified our timing to our wishes and made sure we saw everything important. Viator selected a great tour company and they executed flawlessly. What more could we expect?...nothing! Thank you</p>

We had a wonderful tour with...

<p>We had a wonderful tour with Christopher, who spoke excellent English and was a wonderful, knowledgeable guide.<br/> We were taken up to the hills, through a beautiful town and to a Pisco factory.<br/> Lunch was at a solar powered restaurant and excellent.<br/> We would recommend this tour to anyone.<br/> We were returned to our ship on time without any trouble.</p>

Broken Pahiguano entrance to the sun, entrance to your soul, entrance to admiration and contention.

It is the soul that vibrates with such landscape and silence you let time pass and look at the beauty of creation, really beautiful sublime..

Contrasts…

It was a wonderful trip: Each of the stops left me delighted. The dam, Pisco, the visit to the Abba pisco farm, the lunch prepared with the heat of the sun and the opportunity to learn about the life and work of Gabriela Mistral... Everything incredible... It is worth taking this trip...

Un valle lleno de encanto

Vicuña y Pisco Elqui son dos pueblos encantadores por donde fue un gran gusto pasear. Tuve un gran guía que en todo momento se preocupó por conseguir las postales que estaba buscando

Buen viaje

Muy lindo para conocer, un poco caro, pocos estacionamientos dependiendo del lugar y lugares para comer.

Es un poco caro

La experiencia genial, muy bonito el lugar y nos explicaron muy bien de que trata el entorno. PERO, es a mi parecer muy caro por 400 mil pesos pude haber echo el mismo recorrido por 2 o 3 días y pasarlo aun mejor. Chicos como critica constrictiva, ni cobre tanto de mas.

Visita de conocimiento

Es un valle mágico donde pueden ir personas de edades distintos. Gente amable. Buena comida. Hay restaurant que cocinan solo con la luz solar. Y en la noche se pueden visitar lugares hermosos y tratar de coordinar una visita a los observatorios. Es impactante el valle de Elqui.

Hermoso paisaje del Valle del Elqui

Un camino maravilloso, lleno de colores, casas y recuerdos. La localidad de Pisco Elqui es fantástica, magnética y muy agradable.