Planning a Trip to Machu Picchu? Read This First! (Complete Guide + Aguas Calientes Tips)
When we planned our trip to Peru, there was one experience we knew we couldn’t miss—checking off one of the New Seven Wonders of the World: Machu Picchu. Visiting this iconic site had been on our bucket list for years, and it absolutely lived up to the hype! That said, figuring out how to visit this epic wonder did require a bit of research and planning. And we wanted to make it easier for anyone else planning a trip to Machu Picchu to have all of the information in one place! So here is everything you need to know about visiting Machu Picchu.
Where to get Machu Picchu Tickets
The best way to get Machu Picchu tickets online is directly from the Peru Ministerio de Cultura. Here you will need to choose what day, time, and Circut you want to do when visiting Machu Picchu. We booked our tickets around 3 months in advance and we recommend booking as early as you can so you can get the day and entrance time you want.
We chose Circut 2 as it’s the most popular for photos and views, but do your own research to see waht you would enjoy the most. We entered early in the morning, like around 7:00 AM, and note that there will likely be fog/clouds covering the mountain early in the morning. It starts to clear up around 7:30-8:00 AM so if you just wait you will get an amazing view!
You don’t have to book tickets in advance, once you get to Aguas Calientes there are ticket offices where you can buy tickets to visit Machu Picchu last minute— but there are long lines, they sell out quick, and you might get stuck with a day/time that is inconvenient. That’s why we booked ours online in advance!
How to get to Machu Picchu Pueblo (Aguas Calientes)
To visit Machu Picchu, you will first need to get to Aguas Calientes — the town at the bottom of the mountain. Aguas Calientes is definitely one of the most beautiful and scenic towns we’ve ever been to. The views are insanely gorgeous and we definitely recommend staying overnight here when visiting Machu PIcchu.
Some people choose to do the Inca Trail which is about a 5 day hike from Cusco to Machu Picchu. But we wanted to do the scenic train ride from Cusco to Aguas Calientes. There are two trains that do the route from Cusco to Machu Picchu — PeruRail and Inca Rail. We went with PeruRail because for the dates we were going it was slightly cheaper.
On PeruRail, we recommend booking the Vistadome train car so you can watch the amazing views on your journey! Vistadome is slightly pricer but we think worth it for the scenery. We booked our train tickets a month in advance on the PeruRail website. But if you can book earlier, do it because it gets more expensive as you get closer to the date.
How to get from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu
You can choose to hike from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu, it takes about 2 hours uphill. But we opted for the Consettur Bus which takes about 30 minutes. We bought our bus tickets online about a month in advance to secure the timeslot we wanted. Again, you don’t have to book the bus tickets in advance, because there are tons of buses that go every hour. But we recommend it because the lines can get very long.
Where to stay in Aguas Calientes
Aguas Calientes is a tourist town, so it tends to be a little bit more expensive than the rest of Peru. You can find any accomodation that works for you & your needs! We recommend booking through Expedia because in our opinion they are trustworthy and reliable. You can find Aguas Calientes hotels and accomodations here on Expedia!
Best Things to do in Aguas Calientes
As we said above, Aguas Calientes is a tourist town, but there is still some cool stuff to do and see if you’re staying there. Here’s our recommendations:
Visit the Machu Picchu Hot Springs, Baños Termales - natural, sulphur thermal pools that you can soak and recharge. The entry fee is about 20 sole ($5 USD) per person and it was so relaxing to do after hiking or walking around Machu Picchu all day!
Explore the Mercado Artesanal - probably our favorite market in Peru! Here you can find amazing souvenirs, jewelry, clothing, accessories, and more.
Take a photo with the Paddington Statue - as we all know, Paddington the bear is from Peru! In Aguas Calientes, there is a Paddington Statue on a bench!
Walk around the town - the town is fairy small which makes it easy to explore. We walked around all the little streets with shops and restaurants, took photos on the bridges, and even sat by the water. There’s tons to see and the town is extremely picturesque.
Find other activities to do in Aguas Calientes here on Expedia!
Where to Eat & Drink in Aguas Calientes
Green House
Coffee Trotter
Chullos
Mapacho
La Chuta
La Rivera Coffee Center
Hopefully this guide was helpful for you when planning your trip to Machu Picchu! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us on social media or in the blog comments and we would be happy to help! If you want to see what our experience visiting Machu Picchu was like, make sure you check out our YouTube video of the trip below!
As always, all opinions are honest and our own. Some links on this post are affiliate links of which we receive a small commission, but the price is the same for you.