My daughter and I got back recently from a fantastic, whirlwind trip through the Sacred Valley (Machu Picchu etc). We could not have done so much, in so little time, and felt unhurried about things, if not for having hired a private guide & driver, Oscar Guevara. We'd seen a couple of referrals on TripAdvisor, made contact with him via email, and the rest is history.

His knowledge of the area is excellent, as is his English. I'm sure you can hire a cab to take you through the area at a reasonable price, but if Spanish isn't easy for you, you're going to lose a lot.

The price was very reasonable; less than $300 for the two of us for three days, including pick-up and drop-off at the Cusco airport. Payment was in Peruvian Soles, by the way. His car is fairly new and in very good shape; we never felt unsafe.

He picked us up on a Monday afternoon, and on the way from Cusco to Ollantaytambo we stopped at several sites along the way. There was no wasted time, but as mentioned, it never felt rushed either.

His email is [email protected]. If he's unavailable his brother also does tours and also has favorable reviews.

I'd never done the private local guide thing before, so it seemed just a bit risky, but everything worked out great. No money up front; Peru is not the USA.

It was just 6 days from leaving San Francisco to returning; took a red-eye Saturday night, arrived Lima (after two transfers) 7:30pm Sunday. Spent the night in Lima, flew on to Cusco 11am Monday morning. Left Cusco for Lima 2pm Thursday, left Lima 10:30am Friday morning, arrived back at SFO 10:30pm Friday night.

Great feedback! My fiance and I will be traveling there late May/early June. Was he able to take you to Machu Picchu? We're planning on staying 3 nights at TDI and I would love some pointers for helping keep the trip organized yet a little relaxing at the same time. Thanks!

Everything but Machu Picchu. It would be very expensive for the same guide to accompany you there, since you have to get in & out by rail (another ticket for the guide) plus entrance for the guide to MP (which is probably much less for locals than for others, but still, it adds up).

There are hotels in Aguas Calientes (the town at the base of MP) that will meet you at the train, and arrange for a guide.

How many people will his car accommodate? We are planning a trip for four...

Three (guests) comfortably in the car he used for us, four would be a squeeze. He may have other vehicles available, don't know.

I made contact with him before seeing this post.
OP, could you share the sites you visited with Oscar?
I am currently looking at:
Salt mines, Moray, Pisac
With a pickup at Tambo del inka and drop off in Cusco.
We do not wish to set off from TDI too early as we planned for a leisurely breakfast and maybe a dip in the pool.
Would you recommend hiring him for another day to visit other sites?

Hi all,

We did a Cuzco / Sacred Valley tour last year, and happened upon a great driver. His English was great, and had a newish SUV that could easily accomodate 4. Here's his information for future reference

Edwin Cosio
[email protected]
Cell: (51) (84) 984 634446

We paid S210 for transfer from Cuzco airport, Maras, Moray, Ollanta

Then Wanchac station to our Cuzco hotel for S20

Then from hotel to airport for S30.

He was always prompt, super laid-back, explained a lot of things while we were at Maras, Moray, didn't push us to go to any particular tourist / shopping areas.

I just got back from Peru and had hired Oscar as a guide for a day. Highly recommended. His English is excellent, and he had studied Tourism in University (5 years), so knows the area extremely well. He lives in Urubamba as well (seems like most guides are based in Cusco), so if you're looking for a tour starting/ending there, he's a great guy.

You know what the biggest problem with Oscar is? He sets the bar too high. Now, anyplace I go, I want to find someone as good as he is.

Does anyone have his number? He's supposed to pick us up but has been late for 30 mins... Can't get hold of him. Please keep if you can.

where you able to find Oscar? is he still as good as everyone mentioned here? I am a bit nervous now since we booked him for our trip too.

Hi, he missed our first day due to a car accident but turned up for the second day. Knowledge wise he was very good and engaging but when he couldn't find our hotel in Cusco and we spent a long time trying to find it. Locating a hotel should be quite basic for a guide. We stayed at tierra viva Cusco plaza just off the main square.

I would still recommend him for his guide services.

I was in Peru last month and had a wonderful guide. His name is Mario (Chico) Meza. He was born and raised in Ollantaytambo, so has an incredible knowledge of the area, as well as a vast network of "contacts."

His English is terrific, he's punctual, anticipates nearly everything, and he's light hearted and delightful to be around. We had a pick up in Cusco (excellent communication), a 4-1/2 day tour that included the driver, transport to and from the airport, a long Andean horseback ride on Peruvian Paso horses, most or all of the major sights (entrance fee and train transport to MP are not included), and a rafting trip w/ guide, lunches, and plentiful narratives, for about $400 each (party of 2). He priced out each activity by day... all prices were reasonable and seemed low compared to the couple of others we contacted. The horseback riding was one of the pricier activities, but worth every penny. The rafting was also terrific, with good equipment, wet suits, careful guides, etc. It was a great adventure. I can't recommend him highly enough.

He studied tourism in college. He's also very tech savvy & uses email, whatsapp, etc. He does the Inka Trail hike, and some high adventure climbing/camping stuff, too. He's amazing!

[email protected]
phone: (send me a PM)

Did that price include hotel/lodging as well? or did you arrange that on your own based on his itinerary he created?

We stayed at a little place called Picaflor, right near the heart of Ollay, an easy walk to the town square, train station, ruins, etc. It was not fancy, but clean, cheap and included breakfast. It was more of a quaint, small hotel type place. If memory serves, about $60 or less per night for 2 of us. I think SPG has a very nice, upscale hotel, if upscale is more your thing.

Mario will customize your trip. We told him what we liked, got his input, priced it out, and agreed to it all. We arranged our hotels using airb&b or hotels.com, but he mentioned that he does homestays for the Inka trail hikers. For us... The horse riding was expensive, but we love horseback riding, so wanted to see the Andes by horseback. It was amazing and I'm glad I did it.