Great, simple two day tour. As expressed in some of the other reviews, there was a comfortable van, friendly and knowledgeable guide, with many stops for views, snacks, bathrooms. Afternoon of the first day once we arrived in Chivay there was time to visit some thermal baths. This can't be predicted, but we also got lucky and only had two couples in the group, which made the whole experience that much more relaxed and enjoyable. This tour is also very reasonably priced considering the transport and guides. We opted for the tour only, and the additional expenses of meals and entrance fees are nominal.

This was a great tour. The guide was great, the van was comfortable, the driver was very good. They stopped many times along the way to give us time to see many sights and lots of local wild life, taking the time to explain everything along the way in both English and Spanish. We saw llamas, alpacas, vicuñas and condors up close. There was plenty of time to hike around and spend time exploring several places along the way. The lunch and dinner options were not great, but OK. The food for the lunches was buffet and expect buffet quality (meaning not good) and the dinner was OK with the show reasonably entertaining. Overall we were extremely happy with the trip and had a great time. We are seniors and had no issues with any of the trip, there were a couple of places at high altitude where we needed to stop and get our breath a bit, but I would say most people would not have any significant issues and you can choose to be more passive and easily avoid pushing yourself too hard.

The tour leaves Arequipa early, arriving in Chivay late in the morning for lunch. Afterwards, you can choose to stay in town (free afternoon) or pay 15 soles to visit the thermal waters. The next day, the tour leaves early to arrive early at Cruz del Condor, where you can see the Condor in flight (which for me was nothing spectacular, especially compared to the views you get along the way). Our guide was extremely friendly and enthusiastic, but she couldn't stop talking. Despite giving a lot of interesting information, she also repeated herself countless times and wouldn't let anyone in the van sleep. I took the tour to get to know the Colca valley, which is beautiful and really worth a visit. Chivay has few restaurant options, so I recommend staying in a hotel that has a restaurant (the one at Casa Andina was amazing - I had the best pollo saltado of the whole trip there). Colca Lodge offers a variety of activities and has its own hot springs, but is far from the city.