Lima - Cusco. Machu Picchu Step by Step Tour Machu Picchu Tours

One of the New Seven Wonders of the World, the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru is truly worth seeing at least once in a lifetime. This post is about how to get to Machu Picchu, including different alternatives and practical tips. By the way, Machu Picchu means “old peak” in Quechua.

How to get to Machu Picchu?

Those who follow me Instagram, remember that I shared tips on how to get to Machu Picchu. In this post, I have organized all the information.
In short, there are two options.
1) Difficult but economical.
2) Expensive and simple.
We went rather the second comfortable way, but in its moderate version. If you don't plan to travel as a backpacker, but go to the other extreme and spend a couple of thousand dollars is also not in your plans, then it suits you. Therefore, first I will tell you how to get to Machu Picchu, following my path.

Do as I do or step by step instructions

1️⃣ Fly from the Peruvian capital of Lima to the city of Piece - this is the closest major city to Machu Picchu with an airport. On the way 1.5 hours, LatAm, Peruvian fly. We flew with LatAm.

Advice. The cheapest flight to Cusco from Lima is with the Peruvian low-cost LCPerú (67 soles). Another economical option to get to Cusco from Lima is by night bus. Reviews about him are good.

2️⃣So, you are in Cusco. Now you need toBuy a Peru Rail or Inca Rail train ticket for a direct flight from Cusco to the nearest town to Machu Picchu. It is called pueblo Machu Picchu, another name for it is Aguas Calientes. We traveled from Peru Rail, I’ll tell you more about these trains below.

Advice. You can go from Cusco with a tour of the Sacred Valley ($ 25 + entrance 70 soles) and ask to leave you in the main square of the city of Ollantaytambo (abbreviated as Ollanta). From there you take a direct train to Aguas Calientes, the city of Machu Picchu, which is exactly what we did. In this scenario, you skip the last point of the excursion program, the Chinchero complex, but it is not so important.

3️⃣ The next morning you get up at 5 am in the town of Machu Picchu, where you spent the night the day before, and go to the bus stop, from where buses depart every minute to the entrance to Machu Picchu. since all hotels are located within a radius of 400 m from the bus stop. You can also opt for a free walking trail.

Advice. If you were prudent and bought tickets for this bus in advance in Cusco (at the Consettur office), you can afford an extra hour of sleep.

4️⃣ You get back down on the same bus and go to the same railway station. From there, the already familiar train departs to Ollanta. Upon arrival in Ogliatna, a forced transfer to a bus to Cusco, since the train does not go further. But everything is included in a single ticket and you will be taken literally by the hand to a stop five steps from the station.

Now that you have a general idea of ​​how to get to Machu Picchu, let's dive into the details.

Trains to Machu Picchu

Two companies provide transportation from Cusco to the lost city of the Incas: Perú Rail and Inca Rail. Trajectories: Cusco-Urumbamba-Ollantaytambo-city of Machu Picchu (Aguas Calientes). They have one railway track, and the prices differ little, only the departure time,so the choice is irrelevant.

The most comfortable, fastest and most direct trajectory Cusco-Aguas Calientes costs $65 in Expedition class (single timetable 06:40 - 09:54) and $105 in Vistadome class (departure time 7:35, arrival 10:52). In this case, you will not see the Sacred Valley, as you are simply driving past it.

The difference in classes is small, the Vistadome has more panoramic windows and more space between the seats, but the price is almost twice as much.

Advice. You can also buy tickets upon arrival in Cusco - one office is located at the airport itself at the exit, other points are at the railway station in Cusco and on the central square of the city Plaza de Armas. There were no queues at these offices when I was there.

Any ticket of "bimodal" companies, that is, combined: train + bus. All schedules are on their websites. I bought tickets in advance on the Peru Rail website, there were no problems (and even commissions) with the Chilean card, I don’t know how it will be with the Russian one💳. The company also has an office in Cusco, in the same place as the Poroy railway station.

Advice. You can also buy a ticket for the Peru Rail Urumbamba-Machu Picchu train ($93). It makes sense if you plan to stay in the Sacred Valley for the night.

Peru Rail has three classes of service:economy Expedition, premium Vistadome, and business Belmond Hiram Bingham, in honor of the discoverer of Machu Picchu. In the latter, everything is serious: leather chairs, furnishings, menus and more. Passengers of this class are even given a special pass to Machu Picchu, a sort of turnkey trip. Belmond is an independent company and only leases the Peru Flight train. Belmond also owns a luxury hotel right opposite the Machu Picchu mountain - you can make morning runs with a view of a million. So many stars stayed at the hotel that I'm too lazy to list.

We traveled with Perú Rail twice

🚆First time: from Ollantaytambo to the city of Machu Picchu by Expedition class, the latest flight at 21:00 ($66), as I was afraid not to be on time after the tour of the Sacred Valley. And in vain: we were left in Ollantaytambo at 16 pm and in the end we whiled away the time at the station. Conclusion - it was necessary to take the train at 19:04. We arrived in the town of Aguas Calientes at 23 pm, checked in and immediately went to bed. All the hotels in this tiny town are within a 5 minute radius of both the station and the bus stop which is a big plus.

🚆Second trip: from Machu Picchu to Cusco on the very first flight at 16 pm in the Visitadome class ($109). The single ticket includes the train to Ollantaytambo and the subsequent bus to Cusco. The advantage of this class is the huge panoramic windows, really worth the pleasure, you can see the jungle up close. It was comfortable, and besides, we were also entertained - there was even a performance in a costume reminiscent of a Chilean carnival in the north of La Tirana. Business is not needed at all with such a premium.

How to get to Machu Picchu from Cusco cheap (economy way) via Hydroelectrica

🚌A mini bus departs from Cusco to the Hydroelectric station, from where you will still have to walk about 12 km to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu town). The distance can be covered in an average of 2.5-3 hours. Trip price: 60 soles, $20. The trajectory passes with a stop in Ollantaytambo, so you can combine the route somehow else if you wish. These tickets are sold at agencies in the center of Cusco on Avenida de Sol, and are the most common way of economical transportation as far as I know.

🚌Also, you can get from the Hydroelectric station to Aguas Calientes in half an hour by train if you are too lazy to walk: with Peru Rail for $31. Departure times at 14:30 and 16:05.
The return train runs at 12:00 and 13:00.

Entrance fees to Machu Picchu

Whichever way you choose to get to the lost city, you will have to buy entrance tickets to the MP, and you need to do this in advance - there are no ticket offices at the entrance to Machu Picchu. Everywhere they are afraid of the need to buy at least a month in advance (up to 2,500 people a day are allowed into the complex), but to be honest, I think this is slightly exaggerated.

There are four types of tickets:

1️⃣Common access to the complex (Machu Picchu solo) – $70. The ticket is valid for 2 days. 3267 tickets of this type are issued per day.
2️⃣With climbing the popular mountain Huayna Picchu $86. They let only 400 people a day, in two groups: at 7 and 10 in the morning.
3️⃣With climbing Montaña Machu Picchu $86. Access restrictions, as well as Huayna Picchu.
4️⃣Machu Picchu + Archaeological Museum Manuel Chavez Bayon.
It is curious that for citizens of the Andean Community Comunidad Andina (includes Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia), the price of all tickets is almost two times lower.

By time, tickets are divided into 2 groups

Ciudad Inca Machu Picchu Turno 1: from 06:00 to 12:00 hours. They give 4 hours to stay in the citadel.

Ciudad Inca Machu Picchu Turno 2: entry from 12:00 to 17:30 horas.

Where and how to buy tickets to Machu Picchu?

I bought on the site boletomachupicchu, everything is simple and fast. Therefore, all the above prices are the prices of this company. True, this is an agency, so their prices are at an extra charge. You can also buy tickets on the official website of the government machupicchu.gob.pe, but personally, the purchase did not go through on this very slow site (plus, on the site, of course, only Visa is accepted for payment, as elsewhere in Peru). There are only 3 physical offices where entrance tickets are sold - two in Cusco at Plaza de Armas, and one more in Aguas Calientes.

Bus to Machu Picchu from Aguas Calientes

Having seen enough passions about long queues for tickets at 5 am in AK itself, I decided to play it safe and buy them in advance in Cusco. There is such an opportunity - exclusively at the Consettur office on Av. Infancia (quite far from the center, it is better to take a taxi for a couple of salts). The ticket costs $24 round trip (78 soles).

Advice. The alternative is to climb on foot (the path is a little further than the stop along the riverbed). Unless, of course, you are not afraid of a couple of hours of intensive lifting - from one to three, depending on physical fitness.

The lines that weren't there

And what was my disappointment ... When we came to Aguas Calientes for a stop and ... did not see any queues! Two meters away from the stop there is a ticket office where they sell bus tickets (where everyone buys them) - there were only two people in line! Can you imagine? We spent much more time in Cusco looking for the Consettur office. There were no queues for the bus either. In addition, they come up every minute and several pieces at once.

What is the best time to go to Machu Picchu

One of the possible explanations is that we arrived at the bus stop by 6 am. And the very first bus leaves at 5:30. Most likely, there was a blockbuster. But it makes no sense to come to Machu Picchu before six in the morning (at least in March and if you do not climb one of the two peaks) - the sun comes out after 6. Until then, one gloomy fog creeps over the peaks. An exception is if you plan to climb one of the two peaks. And what a beautiful road that leads there! It was with great pleasure that we examined the surroundings and the faults of the serpentine.

P.S.

The moral is that Machu Picchu is not as scary as they are scared. I hope this post was helpful and clarified how to get to Machu Picchu on your own with different budgets. Comments are always welcome.

In the next post you will find a detailed photo report of a walk to Machu Picchu and a story about my impressions.

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How to get to Machu Picchu on your own - detailed information and tips was last modified: October 17th, 2017 by Anastasia Polosina

Restless dogs on the streets of Lima, a magical night in Cusco and a long road to Machu Picchu - in the story of the winner of the Helsinki Airport competition Natalia Dronova, who won a four-day trip to Peru.

At the end of summer, Helsinki Airport summed up the results of the "Coolest Job" contest. For several months, the participants chose the cities they wanted to go to, and after the trip they posted reports on the days they spent. There were three stages in the competition, in each of which the winners were determined by users during voting on the site. The final trip was won by Natalya Dronova, a geography teacher from St. Petersburg, who decided to go to Peru.

Day One: Lima Airport and Bolivar Hotel

She put me in a taxi and in a stern voice told the driver where to take me. The drivers of Lima prefer to follow the traffic rules as a last resort, the ride is accompanied by screams, screeching horns and the heartbeat of passengers. I breathed a sigh of relief only on San Martin Square, near the Bolivar Hotel, where I had booked a room. Hotel Bolivar is the best way to convey the former colonial splendor and the current dilapidation. I couldn’t resist and went to wander along its corridors: it was clear through my legs, it seemed that a figure in white was about to emerge from around the turn.

Day two: city center and dogs

More or less wealthy residents gradually left the city center, so now, after dark, it is better not to climb into the alleys. And even during the day, the police shook their heads reproachfully, pointing at my camera hanging carelessly around my neck, and the little old lady clearly demonstrated to me that it is better to wear a backpack in the front, and not on the back. In Peru, even dogs are trained to constantly protect their lives: just point the lens - they already bare their teeth and growl. One of the most attractive places in Lima for tourists and wealthy citizens is the Miraflores area. Just there, on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, we gathered to meet with my friend Yulia. As an economical person, I ignored the calls of taxi drivers, deciding to go there by metro. Of course, I saw different metro, I also met this one: “Lima-Metropolitana” will surprise an unprepared person, as it is one dedicated line for high-speed buses. But do not stand in traffic jams.

Miraflores is a convenient area for living, shopping, evening walks and restaurant gatherings. So we were sitting in a restaurant on the high coast of the Pacific Ocean, I listened to Yulia’s story about how she was brought to this country far from Russia, watched how slowly and lazily the ocean rolled its waves, how a flock of surfers waited for a wave for an hour, like the sun slips over the horizon. A beautiful sight, the first and last delicious dinner. However, not in order to sit in restaurants and wander around the shopping centers of Miraflores, I flew for 15 hours. Julia gave me good advice on how to get to Cusco and Machu Picchu. Early in the morning I rushed to the airport again.

Day Three: Cusco

The Spaniards slightly altered the name Cuzco (“humped”) and almost completely rebuilt the city. Modern Cusco is extraordinarily beautiful, but all this beauty stands on the foundation left by the Incas. By the way, numerous buildings of the Spanish period were often destroyed by earthquakes, but the foundation stood like a rock. These places are filled with magic, and you don’t consider an Indian blowing a lingering sound from a shell an ethno-decoration, on the contrary, these sounds, this endless bright blue sky, frozen snow-white clouds, mountains, winding streets, high araucaria - all this seems to dissolve you in time, and it is already difficult to understand: you are still here or already there. Since 1993, Cusco has also been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Numerous buildings of the Spanish period were often destroyed by earthquakes, but the foundation of the Incas stood like a rock

The day turned into evening, it was time to think about how to advance towards Machu Picchu. In the historic center of the city, on the streets adjacent to the municipality, you can find many travel agencies that offer tour packages for every taste and budget (from $300). My purse was thin, and there was not much time. Even a car tour for $ 220 did not tempt (especially since there is practically no road to the village near Machu Picchu). They also offer walking three- or four-day trekking, but, alas, I had only a day at my disposal. But I couldn't leave without Machu Picchu! And I decided to go myself.

It got dark. Darkness in the mountains comes early and quickly. I took a taxi to the station at Poroy (20 minutes from Cusco, agreed for 20 soles, minibuses also go there). While driving, it turned out that the train from the station Sometimes runs four times a day, it is quite expensive ($ 88), but it is much easier to get from the station with the hard-to-pronounce name Ollantaytambo. A kind man named Jose Luis persuaded me to go to this station - it's an hour and a half in complete darkness along a road similar to the mountainous Yalta. We agreed for 100 soles (this is about 30 dollars, a minibus is half the price, but where can you find it at night). Rushed. For a long time, Louis could not understand how I was traveling all alone and where my husband was, how he could let me go. Helped at the station with tickets. From Ollantaytambo, the ticket is almost half the price and the ride is closer. But I took a return ticket to Poroy, and it cost $144 round-trip. The last train leaves at 9 pm, the earliest at 5:07 am. I got a ticket for it. In complete darkness, under completely different, not ours, stars, I wandered along the road in search of an overnight stay and thought about how much had changed in me. I have never really traveled alone. Always with family, with children, with friends. And here is my third independent journey, and God knows where I am: another hemisphere, a foreign country, night, the Andes, a deserted village. And, of course, I found accommodation.

Day Four: Machu Picchu

It is said that the Incas gave their cities the shape of totems. In Cusco, you can see a puma from a bird's eye view, in Machu Picchu - a condor. The Inca cities, like civilization itself, have left us with many questions and mysteries that are unlikely to be answered. Machu Picchu has long been considered a lost city. Only legends circulated about its existence. Many archaeologists dreamed of finding it, but the American Hiram Bingham was lucky. July 24, 1911, climbing one of the mountains, Bingham, with a Peruvian porter stumbled upon two families guarding the "lost city". A little boy, having received a one-sol coin as a gift from the professor, showed him the path to the ruins of the ancient city on the top of the mountain.

Machu Picchu has long been considered a lost city. Only legends circulated about its existence. Many archaeologists dreamed of finding it, but the American Hiram Bingham was lucky

Cusco is an amazing city located in the southern part of Peru. It is the capital of the ancient Inca empire. The village itself is very colorful, most of the inhabitants of Cusco wear national costumes. I was here last year, my journey started from Lima.

To Cusco by bus

Two buses from Lima to Cusco run daily. The first one leaves at 14:00 and the second at 17:30.

On the road you need to spend 21 hours and 30 minutes. The carrier is Cruz del Sur. Buses depart from the Alameda bus station. I marked its location on the screenshot.

The bus looks like this.

Prices

A ticket to Cusco costs $56 (185 Peruvian sols or 3,575 rubles).

Buying a travel document

You can buy a ticket on the carrier's website (link to it above) or at the box office at the bus station.

To Cusco by plane

This is the fastest way to travel on this route.

The Lima Jorge Chavez Air Gate is the largest international airport in the country. At least thirty planes fly from here to Cusco every day. You only need to spend an hour and a half in the sky.

Many airlines fly on this route, for example:

The air gate of Cusco named after Alejandro Velasco Astete is located just five kilometers from the central part of the city. You can get to the city by taxi in ten minutes and 7 dollars (25 Peruvian soles or 450 rubles).

Prices

A ticket to Cusco costs from 36 dollars (from 119 Peruvian salts or 3,000 rubles). It turns out that flying by plane is even cheaper than traveling to Cusco by bus.

Buying a travel document

You can buy a ticket in advance on the website of the company with which you will fly to Cusco, or on aggregator websites.

conclusions

As for traveling by train on this route, there is no single railway network in this country. Several railway lines are represented by private companies. There are no trains from Lima to Cusco. I don’t advise you to travel by car along this route, it’s not about the distance - it’s not critical, just a thousand kilometers. It is not safe on the roads of this country, you can simply be robbed. Also, the condition of the roads themselves, to put it mildly, is unsatisfactory, in addition, there are many dangerous sections along the way. Flying is the fastest way to get to Cusco.

Having bought tickets to Brazil, we did not intend to spend all three weeks there, although, undoubtedly, this would also be an amazing trip. Realizing that we will most likely not visit South America again in the coming years, we tried to include as many attractions as possible on the continent. There was a very good report on Vinsky called "Almost everything I wanted from South America: Rio, Iguazu and Machu Picchu". It was these places that also shone in our hit parade, but the Pantanal was also added due to a week longer vacation than the author's.

Of course, to consider Machu Picchu a must-see when you arrive in Rio is something like: “Why not visit the Eiffel Tower, since I’m in Istanbul?”. But, contrary to common sense, I began to plan this race, studying similar reports, which, by the way, are not very few. If the Pantanal became my fixed idea, then my husband dreamed of visiting the mysterious impregnable city. Reading and looking at the photos, I got fired up to look at the beauty.

In our rubber three weeks, I also wanted to cram the Uyuni salt marsh in Bolivia, and Lake Titicaca, and the lines of the Nazca desert, but, alas, I had to cut.

The route loomed large, and only four full days were allotted to Peru. It’s not every day to Lima from Iguazu, but there is a direct evening flight from LAN, and they started off from it. In total: we fly to Lima, spend daylight hours there, fly to Cusco, see the sights of the Inca Valley, take the train to Agvas Calientis, which is already located among the mountains that sheltered Machu Picchu. We return back to Rio without leaving the airports: Cusco - Lima - Sao Paulo - Rio.

A little more about transport links to Machu Picchu. It seems that the attraction feeds the whole country, the popularity does not subside, so you can raise prices and establish a public and private monopoly on everything related to this place. So, there is no road to Agvas Kalientis. That's not all. Only the railway, on which the trains of the Peru Rail and Inca Rail companies run. Prices for trains for foreigners from Cusco start at $ 90 one way, but almost free for locals.

There are ways to save some money. The first is to take the train not to Cusco, but further away - in the city of Oyantaytambo. So you can already get a train for 60 dollars. There are public buses, taxis and numerous group bus tours to Oyanta. The second two allow you to see other sights of the sacred valley of the Incas, but the bus costs only about 6 soles, which is less than 100 rubles.

The second option is extreme. The closest point to Machu Picchu, reachable by car, is the so-called Hydroelectrica, i.e. the power plant where the locals work. Then there are two ways: 10 km on foot to Agvas Kalientis or another train, already cheap, about 20 dollars. However, the existence of this train for tourists is in question, I mostly read about 10 km on foot, almost across the plain, however, that in this area is a great success. Hydroelectrics can be reached with transfers by local buses, and enterprising Indians have also learned to make money on backpackers, offering a transfer there directly. Sometimes these tours even include lunch, a return trip, etc.

It is quite possible that we would have taken advantage of this option, leaving large backpacks somewhere in Cusco. But such a journey takes a whole day, and you will not see any sights along the way. If there were extra days - why not.

Therefore, the plan was as follows: we arrive in Cusco in the morning, take a taxi and through all the important places we reach Oyantaytambo, which in itself is also famous for its Inca fortress. There we sit down on an honest train.

We decided to go back straight to Cusco, more precisely, to the Poroy station, about 15 kilometers from the city.

Peru Rail has two types of trains: Expedition, which is cheaper, and VistaDome, which is more expensive. The difference is in the number of seats in the car, the presence of panoramic windows, feeding and entertainment. Since the difference in price when buying a two-way ticket was already insignificant, somewhere around $ 10, I took the VistaDome train during daylight hours - the scenery around is very beautiful.

For a set of tickets for two Oyant - Agvas Kalientis - Sometimes it turned out a little less than $ 300, a nightmare. I bought it on the official website of PeruRail, everything is good and clear there.

It remains to resolve the issue with tickets to Machu Picchu itself. Here, too, everything is not easy. In addition to visiting the city itself, it is very interesting to look at it from above. To do this, there are three routes starting on the territory of Machu Picchu: Mount Wayna Picchu, Mount Machu Picchu (the city was named after it) and the path to the Gates of the Sun (Inti Puncu). The first two - for a separate small fee, but have a limit: 400 people per day. The Gates of the Sun, on the other hand, do not give a view from the most successful angle, as I understand it, but without restrictions and surcharges.

Wayna Picchu is the mountain that is visible in all the "postcard" views in the background. It rises 300 meters above the city, the path is not easy: steep steps, narrow paths-cornices. Indeed, a restriction on attendance is obviously necessary. There are also Inca buildings on the mountain itself, interesting. The route is incredibly popular.

Mount Machu Picchu is located on the opposite side of the city and is the highest of the adjoining mountains: a height difference of 600 meters. It was from this mountain that the Incas took water to feed their famous aqueducts. Oddly enough, the route is considered easier: a fairly wide road without cornices. There is nothing on the mountain except for the view of Machu Picchu and the surrounding area, but amazing.

Tickets for Machu Picchu, respectively, are of three types: city only (128 soles), city + Wayna Picchu (152) and city + mountain Machu Picchu (142). Tickets are sold via the Internet both on the official state portal http://www.machupicchu.gob.pe/ without extra charge, and through several agencies that take a good commission, for example, http://ticketmachupicchu.com

Also on the Internet you can see the number of available tickets for a specific date. So, tickets for Wayna Picchu were completely sold out a month before our trip!!! The end of May is the beginning of the high, dry season of visiting ... In the rainy season, they write, you can buy tickets directly in Agvas for tomorrow.

I decided not to take risks and purchase tickets for the first of the days allotted for Machu Picchu with an ascent to Mount Machu Picchu.

I understand why people use ticketing agencies with a commission. It would seem - here is the site, there is no extra charge, buy for health. In fact, buying offline tickets can lead to infuriation, despair and loss of hope. Without knowing Spanish, you go to the kindly provided English version of the site, choose a date, a ticket, and then nothing happens. Just nothing. Fortunately, I found a wonderful article in English with step-by-step instructions for buying tickets on the Spanish version of the site.

Another, not so significant, trap lay in wait for me at the stage of paying for tickets: only VISA cards are accepted. And my husband and I have six cards for two - and all MasterCard! It helped me that the Bank of St. Petersburg has a service for issuing a virtual VISA card. For 50 rubles, I received a full-fledged card for online shopping for six months, and it worked.

It is important to note that the tickets are nominal, that is, travel agencies cannot redeem a block of tickets and resell them. A passport is required when buying and at control.

Lima

Why Lima at all? To be honest, we didn't want to go there at all. But flights to Cusco fly in the morning, and the flight from Iguazu arrives late in the evening. At this point, either sit at the airport until 5 in the morning, or sleep for several hours in some hotel near the airport, or, as we decided, fly out one morning and take a walk around the city.

The flight IGU - LIM takes 4 hours. We arrived at 10 pm, and Lima is a very unsafe city. It is believed that a tourist can only use a licensed airport taxi, going out and catching cars is strongly discouraged. We rented a room through airbnb, and the owner offered a private driver for almost the price of a taxi, who will meet him with a sign at the exit. We didn't give up.

While researching what to do, I came across free walking tours in English that take place in several cities in Peru: http://www.fwtperu.com/fwt-lima. html

Considering this an ideal option for a quick acquaintance with the city, we arrived at the appointed place at 11 in the morning: Kennedy Park in the only completely safe area of ​​\u200b\u200bLima Miraflores, where we lived

Guide Arturo gathered a group and took us to the historical center by public transport - the Metropolitano bus. Buses travel along constructively allocated lanes, and the metro is just being built in the city. Ricardo Palma Station is next to Kennedy Park and the main square is close to Jr. de la union. Drive about half an hour.

Now, no more than 2,500 people can see Machu Picchu a day. And only four hundred of them will be lucky to be on the highest peak of Huayna Picchu, which rises 360 meters above the archaeological complex. From there you can take the most spectacular photos and appreciate the grandeur of the old city, abandoned by its inhabitants in 1532. If you believe in your luck and believe that you will certainly be able to be among those 2,500 people who will be allowed into the city over the Urubamba River, then you are probably interested in the question, but how to get to Machu Picchu? Arm yourself with patience, because getting there will not be easy.

The road to Machu Picchu should be divided into several stages:

• fly to, the capital of Peru;
• get to the main city of one of the Peruvian provinces - Cusco;
• from to get to the village of Aguas Calientes, which is located next to Machu Picchu;
• From Aguas Calientes Station, take the bus to Machu Picchu.

From Russia to Lima

There are no direct flights connecting Lima, the capital of Peru. You will have to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, and this is the only way to quickly cross a huge distance of more than 12 thousand kilometers, with at least one transfer. The modern traveler can choose a point of transit at his own discretion. Flights with a connection in some city in the United States are considered popular options, but for this you will have to take care of obtaining a transit American visa in advance, which creates additional difficulties. The most acceptable flight to Lima (about 18 hours) is offered by Air France. Docking is carried out in. You will have to spend an hour longer in the sky with the Iberia carrier, which changes the plane to. In about 21 hours you can get to Lima with a change at Aeroflot and Avianca El Salvador.

How to get to Machu Picchu, and first to Lima from? It is better to immediately choose a flight with two connections. Because the one-stop option takes too long (after up to 1 day 9 hours). But tourists with a Schengen visa can happily spend a few hours in the Dutch capital while waiting for their flight to Lima.

From Lima to Cusco

There are few options for traveling from Lima to Cusco - only two: by plane; by bus. If you don’t want to ride a bus on Peruvian roads for 22 hours, then it’s better to choose a plane. The flight will take just over an hour. Tourists can choose from ten daily flights that link Lima and Cusco airports.

From Cusco to Aguas Calientes

From the outside, it may seem that the Peruvians deliberately complicate the life of tourists, forcing them to change transport on a quest called "How to get to Machu Picchu." But for the sake of a huge prize - the city of the Incas lost in the mountains - it is worth trying! The city of Cusco is connected with the village of Aguas Calientes by rail. Please note that not all trains go to Aguas Calientes Station. Some follow to the town, from where you can take another train to Aguas Calientes.

How to get to Machu Picchu by bus

At the railway station of the small town of Aguas Calientes, all tourists who are eager to see the city of the Indians, covered with legends, are picked up by a bus. Before Machu Picchu, you have to overcome 8 kilometers of a very difficult road that goes uphill.

Some experienced travelers are planning a very interesting and difficult route along the old Inca trail, which is laid along the Urubamba River. After a few days of hiking, Machu Picchu opens up before the travelers in all its splendor. It is not worth going on this journey alone.