Machu Picchu - and how to get there?

Already more than a month ago I packed my backpack and headed to the bus station of Antofagasta looking forward to great experiences while travelling alone and exploring two countries I had never visited before. At this point I can only say that my adventure Lima-Cusco-Machu Picchu-Puno-Copacabana-La Paz turned out to be perfect and even better I could ever have wished for. Due to the tons of new experiences, new friends and hardly any problems, the whole story would be impossible to be told, as you know, you need to travel by yourself in order to understand the glamour. Hence, I will concentrate on Machu Picchu because I know there is a great number of people dreaming of going there and while organizing the trip, I realized there is surprisingly little information about how to get there. Let this text serve you as a guide book to get started!

First of all, going to Machu Picchu is gonna turn out to take a big slice of your budget but it is definitely worth it. You’d also better make your plans well in advance in order to make sure you get the entrance and the train tickets. As you might imagine, there are a lot of people eager to visit this Inca town and therefore the entrances are often sold out already weeks before the planned date. It is possible to book a tour as well and the agency will organize everything for you, but I don’t know anything about that option so I’ll focus on the independent travel that worked just fine at least for me. However, if you go with a tour, it usually means that you take a bus from Cusco to somewhere close by Aguas Calientes a.k.a. Machu Picchu pueblo and after that you need to walk an hour or two to get to the village, so make sure you'll have the energy and remember that the altitude may cause some problems which means that your body might not be working perfectly.

First thing to do is to buy the entrance to Machu Picchu which alone costs about 36 euros. If you want to, you can buy a ticket to the Machu Picchu Mountain as well which makes the price slightly higher but it’s probably worth it (I don’t have that experience but I heard that it’s great). Anyway, decide now what kind of a ticket you want because you cannot buy the additional parts separately. The web page for buying the tickets is a mess and doesn’t provide with any information you are looking for, so Google is your friend if you want to know more about the different destinations in Machu Picchu. Buy your ticket here and remember to print it out before trying to access Machu Picchu. The international student card (ISIC) makes you entitled to 50 % discount and in that case, you need to buy the ticket following the instructions under the “Tickets para estudiantes”.

Before paying the entrance, it is worth checking if there is still space in the train that takes you to Aguas Calientes. You can buy the train tickets here. Make sure that you choose the right stations for leaving and coming back. If you are staying in Cusco, the station is called Poroy and therefore you would be buying the ticket Cusco-Machu Picchu-Cusco with the station Poroy. Poroy is about half an hour taxi trip away from Cusco but it's the closest station. There are three different classes in the train for you to choose from. I travelled to Aguas Calientes with the lowest class and came back to Cusco with the second class. When coming back, at least in the second class they had a show of traditional dances and modeling, showcasing the clothes made of alpaca wool. I was happy with my choice of traveling in two different classes and the train trip back to Cusco was amazing, AMAZING! Please, beware that you need to be at the train station half an hour before the train is scheduled to leave and only hand luggage is allowed. Don't forget your passport.

When you finally get to Aguas Calientes, you need to either buy the bus ticket to Machu Picchu (return ticket 19$) or start walking. The walk to Machu Picchu takes approximately 1-2 hours and it's logically uphill. Some people say that the only acceptable way to get up there is by walking, in that way respecting the hard work the incas did, but, remember that the seeing Machu Picchu itself includes also a lot of walking and climbing, and you are not allowed to enter with food nor big backpack, so make sure that you’ll have also the energy to enjoy this wonder of the modern world. Depending on what you want to see on Machu Picchu, it easily takes 3-4 hours in total, maybe even more.

Aguas Calientes

Aguas Calientes

I stayed one night in Aguas Calientes in order to have the possibility to go to Machu Picchu already at the dawn. I really do recommend this. Aguas Calientes is a lovely tiny village and you can easily spend a day there, tasting guinea pig or alpaca or wandering around shopping the local handicraft. The first buses to Machu Picchu leave at 5.30 am and there is a long long line already before 5am. During the day time, you don’t need to queue for the bus but I bet that it’s not that pleasant to wander around Machu Picchu when there are 2 000 other people there. I really appreciated the possibility to see the place still having some privacy and possibility to take pictures of the place, not only of the other tourists. Already around 8 am the place is full and, unfortunately, some of the magic is gone.

Since you were interested in reading this, I suppose you already know that Machu Picchu is definitely worth visiting. Now the only thing left to do is to buy your tickets and get going! Don’t forget sunblock, water and good shoes!

Feel free to leave a comment if there is something you want to ask or get clarified.