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Crillon Tours

Crillon Tours

Crillon Tours
4.5
Multi-day ToursCultural ToursEco ToursHiking & Camping ToursPrivate Tours
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
2:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
2:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
2:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
2:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
2:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
About
We offer authentic local and regional itineraries as well as tailor-made journeys. Our main programs and products are designed for a market eager to discover some unique places combining luxury adventure with a still alive millenarian indigenous culture. Together to a professional team, safety policies, own infrastructure and operation we keep the well-deserved tourism leadership since 1958.
La Paz, Bolivia

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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.


4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles30 reviews
Excellent
23
Very good
3
Average
2
Poor
0
Terrible
2

Jane P
San Francisco, CA155 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2017 • Couples
The Salt Flat outside of Uyuni are unique and spectacular - a must visit in this isolated and remarkable country. We spent 2 nights/2 days in the salt wilderness staying in an airstream caravan. During the day we toured the villages, caves and islands of the salt lake - climbing, hiking and just marveling at the amazing, slightly disorientating landscape. At night we sat outside our airstream and gazed at the milky way and constellation. As we are on the equator the stargazing was phenomenal!
The surrounding villages are small and some are quite primitive, sparsely populated. There is little to purchase if shopping is your thing but we did go to a small craft market in Colchani where we picked up a few small items. The surroundings are like a moonscape and we found it endlessly fascinating. We had a jeep with driver and english-speaking guide with us all the time. Our guide, Ivan/Crillon Tours, was knowledgeable and energetic. Our daily itineraries were flexible and changeable depending on when we set off in the morning and what we felt like seeing/doing. The caves with mummified skeletons were fascinating and we loved hiking up to the fort on the hillside. The area is virtually untouched and the Bolivian people are also anxious not to pollute or over populate any of the attractions. Uyuni is a 50 minute flight from La paz. It was a 75 minute drive from the airport to our Airstream camp near the village of Coquesa (the camp moves location every so often). Two days/Nights was sufficient to do and see everything. Unforgettable trip.
Written November 9, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for choosing Crillon Tours. :)
Written February 22, 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Rumpelstiltskin777
Miami, FL134 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2016 • Couples
Salar de Uyuni is truly a place worth visiting in Bolivia. It is the world's largest salt flat located in the Potosi Province -southwest of Bolivia at an altitude of 3,656 meters above sea level. It is a 50 minute plane ride from La Paz. A tour was arranged with Crillon Tours
by Kuoda Travel from Peru- this is the tour company we used when we visited Peru. It is a good idea to arrange some type of tour from La Paz rather than just arriving at Uyuni, since most tour companies are fully booked- specially when traveling around this time of the year. Our guide and driver were waiting for us at the tiny Uyuni airport and from there our adventure begun. We were truly lucky to be able to go on a night star gazing tour! We watched the sunset, the scenery was unlike anything I've ever seen in my life! Truly beautiful, a place that you should visit once in a lifetime.
Just bring along a camera, a pair of comfortable walking shoes, raincoat- umbrella and jacket, sunglasses and sunscreen. Dressing in layers is a good idea since temperature tends to fluctuate.
Written February 22, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for choosing Crillon Tours :)
Written April 19, 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

rob103
Atlanta, GA179 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2019
Our travel agent in the U.S. subcontracted with Crillon Tours to arrange a private two week trip for us in Bolivia. Our La Paz-based guide for the first several days ("Freddy") was really excellent, as were the vehicle drivers we were assigned. We loved the itinerary for La Paz, Tiwanaku and the Lake Titicaca area. Our hotels and the restaurants for "included" meals were also very good. This review for Crillon Tours would have been rated "excellent" if the guide for the second part of our trip had been as good as "Freddy" was for the first part. Unfortunately, she was not. Crillon subcontracted with another company (out of Uyuni, I think) for our guide for the Uyuni Salt Flats, lakes in southern Bolivia, Potosi and Sucre portion of the trip. While this woman was very pleasant and handled the logistics well enough, she was not nearly knowledgeable enough about the areas we were visiting, and as a result, we felt that we missed out on a lot of information about what we were seeing that would have been helpful. Nonetheless, we had a very nice trip overall and really enjoyed seeing Bolivia.
Written November 5, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you very much for your review. We hope to serve you again in the future.
Written November 6, 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Jeff K
Pittsburgh, PA2,372 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2019 • Couples
I was looking for a travel company that would help refine my itinerary for a Bolivian trip and provide some private tours with English speaking guides. Crillon looked like a good fit as they claimed to create unique trips and “bespoke luxury experiences.”

I hired them for four tours from La Paz: the Oruro Carnaval, a city tour, the Death Road bike trip with Gravity, and a trip to Tiwanaku. I also booked a half-day trip in Sucre to see Cal O’rck’o. The total cost for the tours, including a few meals but no lodging, was $2600.

Based on similar tours I booked in Peru and the Uyuni salt flats their price seemed very high. It’s a little difficult to tell how high because they didn’t provide detailed pricing information, just a lump sum price. The lack of pricing transparency reinforces my assumption that they charge a lot more than their competitors.

Our guides were independent contractors who work for various travel companies. Our La Paz guide was nicknamed German. He was very good - knowledgeable, friendly and very calm when needed. Our guide in Sucre, Anna Marie, was also good. There were couple of glitches with the tours but overall they were very good.

I give them bonus points for the Oruro Carnaval trip. I couldn’t find any travel groups offering this trip but Crillon was able to arrange it.

The only trip I regretted booking with Crillon was the Death Road bike trip with Gravity. The Crillon driver and guide drove us 10 minutes to the meeting point and picked us up when the trip was over. The bike trip was great but it would have been simpler and cheaper to have booked directly with Gravity and taken taxis.

In terms of planning, I provided Crillon with my tentative itinerary and asked for any comments/suggestions. They cut and pasted different trips from their website that matched portions of my itinerary. They didn’t recommend any changes, raise any issues or offer any new ideas.

Based on hindsight there were 4 or 5 parts of my itinerary that I should have changed. By way of example, I planned on touring museums and other sights in La Paz on my own on Tuesday of Carnaval week. I should have rearranged my schedule as everything was closed due to the holiday. Another example - I should have scratched the Tiwanaku trip from La Paz and added a day in Sucre to see Potosi.

I didn’t expect Crillon to identify all of these issues as some are simply a matter of preference. I did, however, expect them to raise a few issues instead of just taking orders.

If you’re looking for a travel company to provide day tours in Bolivia I would shop around. While our Crillon tours were very good, they charge very high prices, use the same guides as other travel companies and don’t provide any special services.
Written March 10, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Cloudhopper
London, UK17 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2019
We booked with Crillon a 3D2N round trip tour to Uyuni salt flats from San Pedro, Chile.

In a nutshell, we were asked to pay an additional 800 USD two days before our trip due to a detour required on the trip in relation to protests in the area. The detour never happened and we ended up staying at a much lower class hotel than originally booked. When we asked for a refund of only the additional amount we have been refused.

Please note Crillon prices are already set at a much higher premium compared to other tours. And we were forced to pay additional on top of this. Communicating with anyone at the La Paz office was difficult - they will never call you back - you are expected to call them. We wasted a lot time on our trip in the lead up to the trip trying to sort out the complications.

Details below:-

Two days before our trip we received an email asking for an additional $200 USD per person for our trip due to protests and road blockages in Uyuni and region. This included a change of route avoiding Uyuni on the final day however, the rest of the details of the trip remained the same. Whilst on our trip our tour guide told us that the blockages had been happening for three weeks, yet Crillon told us of the issue two days before our trip.

When we asked what this extra charge covered we were told for the extra mileage the tour would incur due to the detour. X4 pax.... they were asking for an additional 800 USD for petrol.

When we refused to pay this they gave us an ultimatum to either do the trip without the salt flats (the main part of the trip!) or cancel the trip entirely (with no promise of a full refund). This was the day before our departure. Backed into a corner with little time to prepare alternative plans we were forced to pay the additional.

On the 2nd day of the tour we were told by our tour company that:-

a) our driver had run out of petrol and had trouble finding somewhere to refuel due to the blockages and

b) the hotel we had booked for the evening near Uyuni had been affected by the protests and we would now need to check in to a new hotel.

We had 800 USD for petrol for a detour which was to happen on the final day yet there was no additional petrol onboard in the car? We are still baffled to where this 800 USD was spent. We lost out time on the salt flats on the second day whilst the driver went to find petrol.

The original hotel that we had booked was a 4* Hotel and we were booked into a basic B&B for our final night.

On the final day - when we expected to take a detour back to San Pedro our guide had told us that the protests had stopped in Uyuni and we were free to take the original route.

Save yourself the hassle and money and book direct with Hijora tours the company Crillon outsourced our trip to - both driver and tour guide were brilliant. Better to deal with them direct than go through Crillon and pay an additional premium.
Written October 4, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

garethleeds
Leeds, UK145 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2017 • Couples
For my Honeymoon I looked at booking the Airstream adventure in the Salt Flats. The dates were confirmed and a deposit form sent to make the payment. Due to low availability of flights and accommodation I then went ahead and made airline and hotel reservations to prepare for the trip.

The company then (before taking any deposit) said that the confirmation was a mistake and that the Airstream was not available. I could do the same trip in hotels for the same (very expensive) price but no Airstream available.

Given this was my Honeymoon I didn't wish to take the hotel option (and trips with the same hotels were available elsewhere at around 1/3 the price of the Airstream option). However on the advice of Crillon I had booked planes and hotels which were non refundable.

Crillon refused to offer any refund for the hotel and air reservations, leaving me with hotel and air reservations that I no longer wanted and only booked upon their advice.

Eventually they no longer replied to my emails - basically their stance was "we made a mistake, tough luck if you're out of pocket".

I am angry that they didn't try to make things right, that they tried to make us stay in hotels at the inflated Airstream price and that they began to ignore me.

I would say avoid Crillon and their Airstream trip.
Written December 15, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We sincerely regret we didn’t have availability for one of the nights requested in our Airstream, but we have provided many alternatives which were not accepted by Mr. Brown. We didn't take any payments and that is the reason we could not give any refund. All emails were answered until a final decision was communicated. We are especially sorry since they were in their honeymoon, but fortunately our colleagues in Uyuni confirmed us that they had a good time in the area. We do apologize for the inconveniences.
Written December 18, 2017
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

PanAm2005
Meckenheim89 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2017 • Friends
We had choosen Crillon Tours for a one-day-trip from La Paz to Puno including boat trip on Titicaca Lake with visits to Sun and Moon Island as well as a short visit of the Limachi family, builders of totora boats which had been used by Thor Heyerdal.

Compared to the bolivian price level the Crillon tours are very high-priced. But positive: if everything works as scheduled, you get a lot to see and do in just one day. It is then probably the best (and only) way, to travel from La Paz to Puno (or the other way around) in just one day, including sightseeing as mentioned above, a nice lunch on Sun Island and a save and convenient border crossing plus transport of luggage.

But in total we were not very satisfied.
• The pick up at our hotel at 5:30 did not take place, although re-confirmed by email a few days before. The guide (Martin) had the information that we would come to Crillon office. When he called us around 6 we had already been waiting and finally he picked us up at 6:40.
• When we left Sun island we were told, that the moon Island visit was canceled, due to strong wind. Martin said, that it is the decision of the boat captain. Well, as we saw other boats going to Moon and Sun island on our way back to Copacabana, we were quiet sure, that it was more of all the delay of more than one hour, caused by the late pick up, which caused the cancellation.
• At the end we had the strong impression, that everybody (boat crew, guide, driver) wanted to finish the day / the trip as soon as possible. As there were road blocks due to local protests between La Paz and Copacabana on that day, to get back to La Paz seemed to have priority for the staff.
Written October 8, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We are very sorry to hear about your experience. It’s our goal to deliver the highest quality of service to all of our customers. We prioritize the safety of our passengers and the conditions to dock on the island were not favorable that day. Thank you for your feedback.
Written October 10, 2017
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Sam W
Leicester, UK52 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2018
We were lucky enough to have Crillon Tours booked for us by Audley Travel and they were fantastic. We were travelling from La Paz to Lake Titicaca with our guide early in the morning and everything had been thought of. It was cold first thing leaving La Paz, so blankets and heating were provided on our bus leading us through the dock. Such a positive start to the trip. Once we boarded the Hydrofoil we took our seats, which were very comfy and set off across Lake Titicaca. On board we were given water and sweets to keep us going and the back of the boat was opened up to allow pictures to be taken. We stopped at Copacabana and Moon Island before making our final destination at Sun Island where we stayed the night. I can’t stress how well organised the trip was, seeing beautiful islands and getting an insight into typical life the locals had. Thank you to everyone who made our trip so enjoyable!
Written July 25, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you very much for choosing Audley and Crillon. Looking forward to serving you again 😀
Written July 31, 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

AAA
Paris, France130 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2017 • Couples
My first trip in South America! La Paz, Tiwanaku, Pumapunku, Salar De Uyuni was a true triumph for my wife and I. Thanks to the organisation in place which made it easy all the way -from the kind and professional guides and chauffeurs, leading a 5 stars excursion, to some fabulous places of Bolivia, we haven't seen such a coordinated team in years around the world. Bolivia is the place to go! Thanks to Crillon's Team!
Written June 5, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for choosing Crillon Tours.
Written October 10, 2017
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

WildingToronto
Toronto19 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2023
Fabulous few days in the amazing city of La Paz with an excellent guide and driver from Crillon Tours. La Paz is truly stunning with so many unexpected, very impressive things - the cable car transit system is one we could use here in Toronto!
Written May 22, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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