Books & Guides
Below you’ll find a range of books and available from Andean Trails.
All have been written by Andean Trails’ director and founder Kathy Jarvis, and will help you get the most out of your South American adventure.
Please contact the office to check availability and place orders.
Ecuador, Peru & Bolivia £14.00 / $22.57 / €15.68
A practical one volume guide book for backpackers covering the highlights of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia are the three most frequently visited countries in Latin America. This backpacker’s manual describes the most exciting activities and places to visit, and gives an extensive introduction to each country.
This guide suggests itineraries and adventure activities for backpackers in this region and gives detailed advice on planning and preparation, health and safety, where to stay, and what to see. It also gives information on wildlife and national parks, and describes Inca and pre-Inca sites.
Peru £5.00 / $8.06 / €5.60
A country of great geographical diversity, Peru is culturally, historically and in natural heritage one of the richest in the world. Legends of buried gold and lost cities abound. Away from the modern capital, Lima, life goes on much as it has done for centuries, the pre-Hispanic beliefs and rituals dictating the patterns of daily life.
From the Amazon jungle to the heights of Machu Picchu, This way “Peru” explores the history, culture and sights of this ancient land.
Peru & Bolivia £13.00 / $20.96 / €14.56
Now in its eighth edition, this Bradt guide is co-authored by Kathy Jarvis of Andean Trails, and Hilary Bradt. Dozens of hikes are detailed, from short one day walks to longer seven or eight day hikes.
Each hike is described in detail, with a summary giving distance, altitude, approximate timing and a grade according to how difficult the author considers the hike to be. All the main trekking areas of Peru and Bolivia are covered.
Trekking in Peru £13.00 / $20.96 / €14.56
Published in February 2014. This is the most comprehensive, user-friendly trekking guide to Peru available. Peru’s mountains offer the most varied and dramatic treks in South America with the added attraction of Pre-Columbian ruins along the way.
Celebrating 40 years of Bradt, this unique guidebook is based on the Peru section of the very first Bradt guide. The original treks have been re-walked and new off-the-beaten-track routes added. Ideal for both backpackers and those in an organised group, it describes over 65 mountain treks and day walks with background information and travellers’ tales.
Special boxes throughout the text cover topics from guinea pigs to trekking with children.
Testimonials
M. Cook and D. Heyburn, UK. Jan 2025, Paine Circuit Self-Guided.
My friend & I recently did the 8 day O Trek self guided which was organized by Andean Trails. We are so pleased we paid the extra to have all the camps set up & food included rather than carrying all our camping equipment & food. The camps were run by two different companies. One company looked after Seron, Frances & Central where we had tents on stilts. These came with a very comfortable mattress that filled the whole tent, sleeping bags & pillows. The other company looked after Dickson, Los Perros, Gray & Paine Grande where the tents were on the ground with individual mattresses & sleeping bags. I was very impressed with the tents on stilts & found them to be more comfortable & spacious.
The included food was very good & sometimes excellent! We appreciated having a welcome drink which we had before our three course dinner, either a glass of wine or a pisco sour! Very civilized especially as we were in the mountains.
We received plenty of information from Kathy at Andean Trails before the trek began & we received all our vouchers for the transfers into & out of the park & the camps. It was all very well organized.
We also received a welcome pack at the bus station in Puerto Natales which included a sleeping sheet liner, a large travel towel & a water bottle. I had brought my own but I need not have done although it was handy having two water bottles. I filled one with water & one with a fruit tea.
I have wanted to go trekking in Torres del Paine for many years & choose to do it as part of my 60th birthday celebration whilst I'm still fit & able! We are very pleased we choose the O Trek rather than the W Trek as we explored the whole circuit & the first four days from Central to Gray were much quieter & we made friends with some lovely people from all around the world. It was very special. The trek from Gray to Paine Grande was the busiest day on the trail as many people doing the W Trek were doing a day walk there & back. We were also there during peak time. We started the trek on 26th January.
We were very lucky with the weather. We only had one day of rain although it was on the longest day when we trekked over the John Gardner Pass from Los Perros to Gray. We were able to dry our wet clothes by pegging them up in the back porch of our tent & they dried overnight thanks to the wind!
My friend & I enjoyed taking our time every day except on the longest day as we had to be at El Paso ranger hut by 14.00 plus it was raining! We took our time to enjoy the scenery, take photos & we made our packed lunches last most of the day!
We also appreciated having a hot shower every evening except at Los Perros camp which is the most basic camp. Originally we were advised there would be no food provided there but we were offered a simple dinner which consisted of rehydrated food. It was better than nothing!!
It would have been good to have had an extra night at Frances then we could have had a more leisurely trek up to the Mirador Britanico although it would have been backtracking but it was less than 2kms to the Valle del Frances.
The last trek up to Mirador Base Torres was quite emotional. We saw many of the friends we had made on the O Trek plus it was goodbye to an Amazing Memorable Adventure. Thank you Andean Trails for your organization. We have been recommending you to all our friends!
M. Cook and D. Heyburn. Jan 2025, Paine Circuit Self-Guided. UK
» Paine O Circuit Full Trek: Self-Guided
Deb O. and Lisa B., USA, Self-guided Tailormade Patagonia, Feb 2025. There were so many highlights! The summits and glacier excursions were magnificent. We were blessed with great weather most of the time. Having our own guide in Chalten was great and our guide was fantastic! There were a lot of details to this trip and they all came together nicely. The accommodations were very good. Very clean -no complaints. Guides were wonderful. Food was amazing -everything homemade. I think we benefited the local people. We acknowledged their services with appropriate tips and we patronized many local establishments while there. I can’t think of anything right now that I would do differently! Patagonia has been a “bucket list” trip for me. I will turn 60 and retire this year so it was my treat to myself. It was everything I hoped it would be. I hope it doesn’t change with the ever increasing tourism. It’s such a special place. They are very proud of their heritage and it deserves to be preserved. We found Andean Trails online and the e reviews were good and prices reasonable. It was a leap of faith that paid off. Thank you so much for bringing this experience to me.
» Patagonia Highlights Trekking Trip
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