The Best Way To Visit Machu Picchu
One of the Wonders of the World, Machu Picchu is high up on any traveller’s list of places to see. Unlike some of the other wonders of the world though, getting to Machu Picchu can be quite the journey. There are several legs of the trip that require a bit of planning including buses, trains, and car transfers as well as booking for a specific time window when you’re physically on the mountain. In addition, there are many different hikes you can do, but all have to be reserved and coordinated prior to arrival. Usually we are the types of travelers that coordinate everything ourselves, but for Machu Picchu, we decided to plan our entire trip with ExploorPeru and they made it incredibly smooth. Now we’ll jump into a breakdown of each step of the journey, from start to finish, as well as some of our tips on things to include or avoid.
AT A GLANCE
· Currency: Peruvian Soles, most places take credit card
· Language: Spanish, most people speak some English
· Typical Weather: Rainy season is from November to March while dry season is from April to October. Since elevation is so high, Machu Picchu is typically a bit chilly, ranging from 50-75 F during the day, and colder at night. Recommend packing in layers and including rain attire.
· Nearby Airport: Alejandro Velasco Astete Cusco International Airport (CUZ)
· Best way to get there: Daily flights in from Lima
· Days to spend: 3-4 days
GETTING AROUND:
· Taxi: It is relatively inexpensive to get around Cuzco. For example, it only cost us $5 USD for a 20 minute taxi to our accommodation. It is quite a large city, so depending on where you want to go, grabbing a taxi could be a good option. (Pro tip: make sure to ask cab ahead of time for fare cost and don’t be afraid to negotiate)
· Walking: It’s totally doable to just walk everywhere you need to go in Cusco if you stay near the center. We recommend staying near the Plaza de Armas, as this is where most of the activity is happening. There are groceries, restaurants, and many shops and markets to explore!
· Bus: Always an option, but we would not recommend this if your time is limited or if you don’t speak Spanish as buses can get delayed or change schedules frequently.
Day 1
Acclimate in Cuzco
Depending if you are coming off a connecting flight from Lima or just planning to add this on to your current trip in Peru, you will most likely arrive to Cuzco later in the day. You will want AT LEAST 24 hrs on the ground in Cuzco to acclimate before moving around too much, due to the altitude. The locals recommend drinking Coca Tea or Muña Tea (we tried each and found they both really helped). Aside from that, staying hydrated and resting is the best thing you can do for your body to acclimate. Enjoy settling in to your accommodation and taking time to rest and prepare for your journey to Machu Picchu. There is quite a bit to experience in Cuzco alone, but some of our favorite things we did were: explore around Plaza de Armas, visit the Chocolate Museum, shopping in the markets, buying a poncho, eating Authentic Peruvian food, and strolling the historic streets.
Day 2
Our coordinated tour through ExploorPeru started first thing in the morning and they handled our whole itinerary for the day trip to Machu Picchu. They handled all of the tickets and timetables ahead of time, so we didn’t have to worry about our transfers at all. At every transfer, we were greeted and handed off to our next guide for the itinerary making the whole day super stress-free! Here’s how it went:
Our driver met us at 6:15AM at our accommodation and drove us for about 2 hours to the train station in Ollantaytambo. From there, we hopped on the train up to Aguas Calientes which is at the base of Machu Picchu. The train also took about 2 hours and was one of the most scenic trains we have ever been on. It travels up along the Urubamba River, weaving around the mountains of the Sacred Valley. Once we arrived to the town of Aguas Calientes (called ‘Hot Waters’ because there is a hot spring you can visit right next to the town!), we were met by a local guide who showed us around the town.
The town is nestled right into the cliffs of the Andes, with lots of food options and shopping opportunities. Some travelers plan to stay overnight here in order to reach Machu Picchu earlier in the morning, but due to our travel schedule, we chose to only visit for one day. Depending on where you are starting in the morning, and what you want to do, you have different options to explore the gorgeous surrounding area. There are so many viewpoints and such rich history surrounding the area, you could easily spend a couple days soaking it all in.
After getting off the train in Aguas Calientes, we had about 45 minutes until our bus was scheduled to take us to Machu Picchu, so we grabbed a quick bite and enjoyed the nice weather. The shuttle bus to the top of the mountain was about 30 minutes of winding switchbacks with incredible views of the sweeping valley.
Out tickets to enter the park were at 12 noon, which we were glad about, because it seemed that most of the crowds arrived early in the morning for the longer hikes and were leaving when we arrived. Our guide was waiting for us once we got off the bus and we proceeded to explore the archaeological site. We started first hiking about 10 mins up and around the upper steps for gorgeous views into the valley before entering the ancient city and walking through the ruins. In total, we spent about 2-3 hours on the top of the mountain, exploring the valley and learning about the history of this sacred site.
We were sad to leave, because we really lucked out with sunny weather in the rainy season, and we couldn’t stop taking photos! But the journey back was going to take some time, so we left Machu Picchu in the mid-afternoon. In order to return to Cuzco, we took the bus from Machu Picchu down to Aguas Calientes, then the train down to Ollantaytambo, then our driver took us to our accommodation. So our trip looked like this:
Cuzco — Driver — Ollantaytambo — Train — Aguas Calientes — Bus — Machu Picchu — Bus — Aguas Calientes — Train — Ollantaytambo — Driver — Cuzco
Day 3
Rest from yesterday’s visit to Machu Picchu, and perhaps catch an afternoon flight out of Cuzco. If you have more time, you can stay more days in the area and experience more of the Sacred Valley. As we mentioned, there are SO many ways to experience Machu Picchu, and we recommend checking out the different options on ExploorPeru website to see what is possible.
To be honest, it was a lot to do in one day, but we were happy for our choice. If we had more time, we would have explored more around the Cusco area on this 5-day Peru tour and probably would have spent more time around Lima with ExploorPeru. But as we only had a couple days for the experience in the Andes, this itinerary worked out perfectly. Visiting Machu Picchu has been on our list for quite some time, and we were absolutely blown away at the experience. We felt lucky given the weather conditions on the day we visited, but regardless of weather or crowd, visiting this sacred site will be an unforgettable experience!