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I'm planning to go to South America in April and would like to start with a tour. Am getting confused with all the choice of companies - does anyone have advice or views on who would be best to use between Dragoman, GAP and Tucan? I would prefer hotels/hostels to lots of camping and also to get off the beaten track a bit.

Also, are there many local tours about that you can book once over there?

Cheers

As for the local tours bit, yep, there are definitely quite a few, especially in the heavily touristed areas. In fact, I'd say the vast majority of travellers to South America come independently, then take short local tours, rather than doing one giant package tour of the continent. Where in particular were you thinking of going?

--Jessicah

Hoping to go to Chile, Argentina and Brazil....to start with!

You'll be fine doing local tours in Chile and Argentina - not so sure about the availability of local tours in Brazil, as it is a massive country and I stayed only in Rio when I was there. As for the larger organized tours, I know I have heard that GAP is a very reputable company, but most people really prefer not to use organized tours - I never talked to anyone personally that used them, so I'm afraid I can't give much more advice. Most people just do South America independently. Are you wanting to start with an organized tour because of safety considerations, or just because you would prefer to have it all planned out for you, or what?

--Jessicah

Mainly because I am travelling on my own so would like to do a tour to start with before doing it independently.

Thanks for the info and advice

try you with http://www.enaturchile.com
it is a company highly recommended in other boards.
they do not request money in advance

I traveled through Central America with Tucan, and I have to say that the tour was excellent. I chose to do an organized tour because it was a good way to see a lot of places quickly. But I am now traveling through South America solo and I prefer traveling this way. You are able to experience so much more when you are able to make your own choices. Give a second thought to traveling on your own... its not nearly as difficult as you may think!

I was thinking the same, looked into doing a tour with budget expeditions, found some blogs where people had travelled with them -

http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Lima/blog-27298.html

http://www.ballofdirt.com/entries/6047/102186.html

I think I'll just travel independently now

This is a little bit off the topic, but if anybody wants to write reviews of tour companies in South America, use this link below.

All of your help has been great so far.
Fill Out This Review Form

Best,
Donovan
BootsnAll Staff