Peru is popping up everywhere on the latest “best places to travel to in 2015” lists. According to Business Insider, Peru is one of 23 places one should visit this year, while National Geographic Traveler lists the country in its list of Top 20 destinations to visit in 2015 and the Los Angeles Times includes it on its list of 15 destinations for travelers to set their sights on in 2015. But months before these lists were created, the award-winning adventure travel company, Austin Adventures, decided to kick off the new year by focusing on “the Land of the Incas.”

“We send guests all over the world, but in the past few months we’ve seen a substantial uptick in interest in our Peru packages,” said Dan Austin, President and founder of Austin Adventures (www.austinadventures.com). “And it’s not just from adult adventurers with Machu Picchu on their bucket lists. We noticed such a strong increase in demand from families with young children that we were inspired to create a new family-friendly itinerary that explores Machu Picchu from a kid’s perspective.”

Austin Adventures currently offers five Peru adventure tour packages including Inca Trail Glamping—a 10-day luxury trek to “The Lost City,” Salkantay Lodge-to-Lodge—a 7-day journey that explores the “back way” of getting to Machu Picchu, Machu Picchu—a 9-day vacation package for adults that involves hiking and rafting, and an all-new Machu Picchu Family package that  allows families with kids as young as seven to experience the Andes mountains, Incan mummies and chocolate-making in Cusco. Finally, the company offers a 5-day Amazon River Luxury Cruise that takes travelers deep into the jungle to float the Ucayali River, fish for red-bellied piranha and even savor a 5-star Peruvian dinner.

Starting in 2016, the company will also offer the “Sacred Valley of the Incas” tour which was designed by Mountain Lodges of Peru and will allow travelers to experience the Lares Trail, an alternative to the Inca Trail. Guests will stay at brand new lodges and a deluxe base camp scheduled to open in early 2015.

The 2015 scheduled departures range in price from $3,000 to $4,800 or $444/day to $844/day, per person, double. Austin Adventures’ adventure travel consultants can also create custom trips for a variety of budgets that accommodate all ages and depart at any time.

As of 2015, Austin Adventures takes guests to all seven continents and offers several small ship cruises in addition to its extensive lineup of traditional multisport adventures. All of the 2015 scheduled trips can be found in the Austin Adventures award-winning adventure vacation catalogs. Custom vacations can be arranged by calling (800) 575-1540 or emailing [email protected].

Based in Billings, MT, Austin Adventures (formerly Austin-Lehman Adventures) has spent more than 40 years building an international reputation as a provider of scheduled small group tours and customized trips to all seven continents. In 2014, Kasey Austin, Vice President of Operations, was named the World’s Top Family Guide by Outside Magazine. In 2013, Austin Adventures joined the Xanterra Parks & Resorts® portfolio of experiential leisure offerings. Xanterra Parks & Resorts has operations in the Grand Canyon, including Grand Canyon Railway and The Grand Hotel; Yellowstone; Zion; Crater Lake; Glacier, Rocky Mountain and Petrified Forest National Parks; Mount Rushmore National Memorial; Furnace Creek Resort in Death Valley National Park and five Ohio State Park Lodges as well as the Geneva Marina at Ohio’s Geneva State Park. Xanterra Parks & Resorts also operates Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va., Windstar Cruises, and VBT Bicycling and Walking Vacations.

 

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