How To Visit Machu Picchu

Here’s, in order, what you need to do to visit Machu Picchu well:
1. Buy your Machu Picchu tickets at http://www.machupicchu.gob.pe/. We have bought them online but it took us about a week because our Credit Cards got rejected and we needed to email somebody at Visa Peru to male things work: mvaldivieso@visanet.com.pe or taguayo@visanet.com.pe. An alternative is buying them from agencies in Peru. A bit more expensive but faster.
There are three types of tickets
– Machu Picchu alone
– Machu Picchu + trek Huyana Picchu (likely sold out)
– Machu Picchu + trek La Montana

2. Buy your train tickets
I advise you to buy an evening/afternoon train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes and the return the next day as late as possible. Spend one night in Aguas Calientes and the next in Olantaytambo. There are two operators, IncaRail and Peru rail.

    Now that you are all set, here’s how you can make the most of your visit:

  • to get from Cusco to Ollantaytambo there are shared minivans for 10 soles each, 2 hours.
  • once in Aguas Calientes you can buy your bus tickets to Machu Picchu in the evening, 24$ return, 12$ one way. If you are taking an evening train and/or hiking I advise you to go for the return
  • to be there as soon as possible you need to be queueing at 4:30, 4:45. We started queueing at 5:20 and boarded the bus one hour later
  • you should probably either get a guide to make the most of your experience or buy a book. We used a good audio guide from Tupuy.
  • the Montana trek is 1.5 hours of steps with great views. Get something for a picnic.
  • stay until close to closing time to enjoy the site almost devoid of people
  • catch a late train to Ollantaytambo
  • the next day you should visit Sacred Valley as you make your way back to Cusco. You can start early with the Ollantaytambo ruins and city. Next, catch a minivan to Urabamba for 1.5 soles. In Urabamba you can hire a taxi to visit Maras/Moray and get you back to Cusco. We had a very pleasent ride with Miguel: 974281565

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