Planning on visiting Machu Picchu, one of the new seven wonders of the world? My husband and I visited Machu Picchu in May 2023 and were so impressed. It doesn’t happen often that over-hyped and over-visited places live up to the expectations. This bucket list destination not only lived up to our expectations, but completely exceeded them. Below is a short guide on what you need to know before visiting Machu Picchu.

Ticketing System

In order to help protect the historic site, new rules were introduced in 2017. This includes hourly time slots in which you can enter for a maximum of 4 hours. The hourly time slots start from 6am and the last one is 2pm. We wanted to get there early so we chose the 7am time slot (the earliest one for our circuit – more about this later). In reality, it is impossible for the guards to impose the 4 hour rule.

Other rules include ban of selfie sticks, tripods, food and utensils and finally walking in the circuit that you choose (before, you could just roam around freely).

The first thing you want to do is make sure you purchase your ticket in advance, and I mean as soon as you know the dates of your trip. We visited in May and bought our tickets in February. Tickets can be booked directly here. Adult tickets are 152 sols (£33). Make sure you print your tickets before you come and bring ID.

There are 4 circuits to choose from and not all of them are equal when it comes to photographing the ruins. For the iconic photo of Machu Picchu, framed by the mountains – you need to be standing on the upper terraces, which are circuits 1 and 2. The lower circuits 3 and 4 do not include access to the upper terraces. We chose ‘circuits 1 + 2 and Inca Bridge’ – this option only became available in August 2022 and is a new favourite. If you want to visit Huayna Picchu Hike and the Montana Picchu Hike, make sure you book this in advance as only 200 tickets are sold each day.

Getting to Aguas Calientes

There are a few option that you could take to get to Aguas Calientes, the town just below Machu Picchu. You could hike the Inca trail, which would take a few days or you could book train tickets to Aguas Calientes and then take a bus up to Machu Picchu.

Currently, there are two companies running trains to Machu Picchu – Inca Rail and Peru Rail. We booked Peru Rail (Vistadome 603), the tourist train from Ollaytambo to Aguas Calientes. Even though it is downright expensive (£95 return pp) I highly recommend this as this is an experience in itself – there are various shows that happens in the carriage and the views are stunning!

Make sure you book these tickets the same time you book Machu Picchu as these also sell out months in advance. They also give you snacks and drinks during the journey. We then stayed the night in Aguas Calientes so that we could get to Machu Picchu first thing in the morning.

How to get to Machu Picchu

• Bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu

As we booked an early time slot, we spent the night in Aguas Calientes and then took the first shuttle bus (30 mins) to the entrance. As soon as you have checked into your hotel, I recommend purchasing your bus tickets for the next morning. Roundtrip bus tickets can be purchased from a little building just across the bridge from the train station in Aguas Calientes – it has a sign that says ‘Venta Oficial de Ticket de Bus’ on it.

We booked a return ticket which cost us £19 return – extortionate for a 25 minutes bus ride but its fine. The first bus leave at 5.30am but the line gets long, so make sure you get there early. Our entrance time was 7am and we reached the queue at 6.10am, which was perfect timing.

• Hike to Aguas Calientes

You can also opt to hike there but it does take 60-90 minutes and it’s quite a steep hill – you gain 2000m in elevation on the way up. From what I could see and from everyone I spoke to, the hike isn’t worth the effort (we could see the face of people that we passed and they looked tired!). However, this is a great budget option and it will save you a lot of money.

• Inca Trail Trek

The final option is to walk the official Inca Trail and be the first people in Machu Picchu. We didn’t have time in our itinerary to do this but would have loved to do the famous 4-5 day trek.

The town of Aguas Calientes

Aguas Calientes is a sleepy little town just below Machu Picchu. There isn’t much to do here apart from hot springs and a cloud forest hike. We only spent one night here but I didn’t feel like it needed more.

We stayed at Mistico Machupicchu Eco B&B, a 10 minutes walk from the bus station. It was a great hotel for the price we paid, which was £26 including breakfast for 2 people. The room has a beautiful balcony overlooking the river and waterfall. You really feel like you are in a middle of the rainforest! The staff were really friendly and they also give you a takeaway breakfast if you are leaving early the next day. We were also able to leave our backpacks at the hotel for free whilst we are in Machu Picchu (some hotels charge for this), which also helps.

What to bring

Make sure you bring some breakfast to eat on the bus there, if you are leaving early as there are no restaurants/ cafes inside Machu Picchu and the café by the visitor centre is VERY expensive. Luckily, as we left too early for breakfast, our hotel put a sandwich and some snacks in a takeaway bag – which was good.

Make sure you also bring mosquito spray – I would recommend buying this before you get to Aguas Calientes. As the city is near water, you will be attacked by mosquitos unless you use a repellent. We didn’t know about this until a hotel staff member told us a few days before our trip.

When visiting the site, your backpack should be 40cm x 35cm x 20cm. This rule is in place so that you do not cause damage when walking around the ancient walls. We had one backpack between us to store water etc. and I left mine in the hotel and then collected it after.

Machu Picchu

It is important that once you are on your circuit, you only have to move forward and follow the circuit – there are many guards with whistles watching and you won’t stand a chance. The signage isn’t the clearest so we did get lost and accidentally joined circuit 4 when we were meant to be on circuit 2.  Be careful as there are quite a lot of guards around and they do start shouting at you if you are going on the way (as we experience numerous times).

Places to visit in Machu Picchu

We really enjoyed exploring the Inca ruins and seeing the vast stone structures that used to be buildings for the people living here. Here are a few ruins that stood out for us:

• Terraces

We first walked past the 600+ terraces that were built and used for growing crops and as drainage.

• Temple of the Condor

The temple of the condor is named for the giant carving of a head of a condor. It highlights the stonework Inca masonries achieved. It is believed that the head was used as a sacrificial alter. The diagonal rock are the outstretched wings of the condors and was made using rock outcrops. The rock on the floor represented the head and this was used as a sacrificial alter at the time. The small cave below was also used for rituals. This site is a must see!

• Temple of the Sun

This temple is an enclosure built on a natural cave that was used by the Incas to pay tribute and give offerings to the sun. Back then, only the priests and the elite of the empire could enter this temple. It is the only construction of the Inca city that has a circular shape. According to some, the mummy of the famous Inca emperior, Pachacutec – the person who ordered Machu Picchu to be built was buried there.

• Temple of the Three Windows

This got the name from the three substantial trapezoidal windows that is located near the main square of Machu Picchu. There are many theories as to what these three windows represent, with the most popular theory being that the windows represent the different planes of existence – underworld, heaven and Earth.

• Temple of the Moon

We almost walked past this one as it was tucked away in a series of beautifully carved caves hidden from the main ruins, on Huayna Picchu. This has transcendental religious value for the community and is worth visiting.

And there we have it – a day trip to Machu Picchu. It was completely unforgettable and something I will never forget for the rest of my life.