Veloso Avis 9

Alfon met all of our needs including our special requests regarding extra things we wanted to see. When a general strike broke out in Bolivia while we were there, he worked with us to rearrange the remaining itinerary to include more days in Peru when it became evident we would not be able to see what we had planned in Bolivia. As a result, we saw some outstanding sites we would never have seen otherwise.

This was my third bespoke tour with Veloso, having visited Argentina and Ecuador with them previously. Paulo and the team were unfazed when I approached them very last-minute. They worked very hard to find accommodation with vacancies at short notice in high season, particularly as my friend and I specified separate rooms. Paulo's advice extended to what he wouldn't let us do, (said there was no time to have a Pacific beach stay at the end, because we only had 8 days, "and every time you change location, you lose a day. There are plenty of lovely beaches in the Med,") was spot on. All arrangements - pickups, guided tours, hotel specifications - were exactly as outlined. I can't recommend Veloso enough. Indeed, I had had a completely different (lukewarm, uninformative) response from a bigger bespoke long-haul operator I'd approached for comparative prices. I didn't pursue that inquiry after my first conversation with Veloso. I can't recommend Veloso highly enough. I can't wait to ask them to send me away again!

Pre tour support was excellent my tour to Paraguay and Uruguay was planned and adapted for my interests. When I arrived everything worked to plan and I had a marvellous holiday. This is the third private tour I have had arranged by Veloso and all have been excellent.

As someone who is time limited when trying to explore the world, I was very pleased with the way Alfon and his excellent team worked to pare down a three week trip to meet my personal needs. He managed to create an amazing voyage of discovery and adventure, mingled with many wonderful experiences, into two weeks without me ever feeling overly rushed. I met so many wonderful, kind people who were highly knowledgeable and very professional in all they did. With transfers from Jakarta to Medan on Sumatra, back to Sumatra and then on to the jungle in Kalimantan before a grand finale with the dragons on Komodo, I was highly impressed by the seamless transitions arranged from one place to another; I always felt cared for and looked after. I’d just like to thank the myriad of people I met for making me so welcome in their beautiful country and would recommend this itinerary for those who’d like to get a taste of Indonesia. I may well be back.

Another great holiday with Veloso, in Chile this time. Paulo, Bernice and the team constructed a great and varied itinerary showcasing the best of Chile for a first time visitor. All the pickups, guides, flights ran exactly as planned and the activities and lodgings were up to the usual high standards we have come to expect. Thanks!

I have been visiting Latin America about twice each year for the last 20. I discovered Veloso quite early in this history so have probably travelled with them more than 25 times by now, including twice this year. I am just back from Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Uruguay, all places I have been before and where I spend some of my time working with local people trying to improve education. The fact that I always choose Veloso is perhaps the best recommendation for their services. I want to highlight one important feature in this review. Veloso has an excellent network of local agencies in all these places. This is important in adapting to local realities including the unexpected. In April I was due to fly home from Buenos Aires when a general strike closed the airport. The local agent immediately found me a new hotel for two nights and rebooked the flight. This October I found the altitude in La Paz (10,000 feet) hard work and learnt the value of carrying bottled oxygen. In Lima, some hotels changed their standards following the pandemic and Veloso agents found me an excellent moderately priced hotel that I have used ever since. A year ago I changed my mind about my itinerary mid-journey and the Velosos office booked me an alternative (flights, transfers and hotels) more-or-less overnight. This in-depth back-up is a crucial support to the working traveller, indeed any traveller given current global instabilities.

We wanted to do a tour of South America to celebrate our 60th birthdays and choose Veloso based on a recommendation from my parents, who did a similar tour with them 13 years previously. Veloso did not disappoint! The put together an amazing personal tour of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru, including the Amazon. The tour guides at each location were knowledgable and friendly and we felt completely looked after throughout the whole trip. We made so many incredible memories that will stay with us forever. I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Veloso to anyone wanted to have a personalised tour of South America.

We travelled to Costa Rica with Veloso in January 2025. They created a perfect itinerary for us spread in a very relaxed way over a couple of weeks. Our travel and hotels were all very well organised and of a high standard. Everyone we met was so helpful and couldn’t have been more friendly. We really enjoyed our trip and would definitely recommend them.

This was the second time we have used Veloso to book our trips to South America. Firstly Peru, Galapagos and the Amazon, secondly Chile, Patagonia and Antarctica.
Both trips have been absolutely amazing and I could not praise Vekoso highly enough.
The advice and attention to detail, listening to our preferences and fulfilling the brief could not have been better. Booking was simple, they took care of every detail and the information provided was first class.
Paulo Veloso real knows his business and spent hours on the phone and email with us making sure both trips were exactly what we wanted.