Travel Log: Machu Picchu, Peru

If you follow me on Instagram, you have already seen a peek at my recent bucket list Peru trip. This trip was one that I originally started to plan for spring 2020 and was rescheduled a couple of times; I was thrilled to be able to finally make this trip happen the last two weeks of May 2023. Our itinerary included visits to Cusco, Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, Arequipa, Puno and Lake Titicaca, La Raya, Lima, and the last couple of nights in Mexico City. You can read my posts on Cusco here, The Sacred Valley here, The Belmond Andean Explorer Train here, and What I Packed and Wore in Peru here.

After spending two days acclimating in Cusco, we got up early and headed to Poroy Station to catch our 8:25am Peru Rail train to Machu Picchu. Our hotel recommended pre-arranging a car to pick us up and drive us to the train station, since it was early in the morning, but as I mentioned in my Cusco post Ubers are plentiful and could be a good option as well. The train had a few stops along the way to drop off and pick up passengers, and took about four hours total to arrive at Aguas Calientes, the town that sits right below Machu Picchu. Please continue on to see more photos, some tips on navigating Machu Picchu, and some of what we learned on our guided tour. 

When you step off the train, you will get to walk through the town of Aguas Calientes. This town is named for the nearby hot springs that Inca trail hikers often stop at to rest and relax at the end of their journey. There are hotels and restaurants here, and many travelers choose to stay here for a day or a few days to not only explore the Machu Picchu citadel, but also hike one or more of the three mountains: Huayna Picchu, Huchuy Picchu, or Machu Picchu.

To get to Machu Picchu from Aguas Calientes, you can take one of many buses that run every five minutes between the town and the entrance to Machu Picchu. The bus costs ~$12 USD each way per person and takes about 20 minutes. The road is a series of switchbacks, which the drivers navigate with ease, and the view is incredible as you head up the mountain.

We decided to splurge and stay one night at the Belmond Sanctuary Lodge, the only hotel located right next to the entrance to Machu Picchu. The buses drop off passengers right at the hotel lobby doorstep, and the Belmond team made our travel convenient by meeting us at the train station, coordinating our bus tickets, escorting us to the bus and taking care of our bags. When we reached the top, we hopped off the bus and the Belmond team grabbed our bags and ensured that we had a smooth check-in.

The Belmond team gave us a warm welcome and since we arrived on a beautiful, sunny, warm afternoon you can bet I took some time to enjoy sitting outside on the terrace. You can see a virtual tour of our room in my Instagram reels. It was a beautiful retreat! This hotel is not cheap, we paid about $1,200 USD for one night, but this hotel is "full board" meaning you receive one lunch, dinner, and breakfast included in your stay with a variety of alcoholic drinks included. Food, drinks, and service were all excellent with local favorites such as lomo saltado (pictured below) and trout ceviche along with American favorites like club sandwiches and burgers. There was something for everyone. The Belmond team also kindly upgraded us to a Deluxe Terrace Room with an average cost of approximately $2,100 USD per night, so we absolutely felt like the room and experience was well worth what we paid.

After we checked in and enjoyed some lunch, we met our tour guide for an afternoon tour of the Machu Picchu citadel. We purchased our Machu Picchu tickets in advance as is recommended, and while there are a number of sites selling tickets the official site is through the Peru Ministry of Culture here. I purchased two sets of "Llaqta de Macchupichu circuit 1, 2, 3, or 4" tickets, because we chose not to hike the neighboring mountains. You certainly can, but be sure to pay attention to the entry times available for the options you want as tickets are limited to a certain amount per day and early times do sell out early. I highly recommend hiring a guide to maximize your learning experience, ours was a scholar of Incan history and we learned so much from her. We leveraged the Belmond team to book a guide for us, you can likely ask your hotel or there are a number of third party sites that offer guide bookings.

Our guide spent about three hours with us during an afternoon tour. She shared with us that circuit routes 1 and 2 are the same, and routes 3 and 4 are the same. Routes 1 and 2 are the upper routes that enable you to reach the postcard views of Machu Picchu as seen above. Our second morning we did the lower route by ourselves, having learned so much from our guide that first afternoon that she advised us on specific things to see in the lower route (such as the Temple of the Sun) and we were able to just spend time wandering at our own pace. We learned about the three different types of architecture in the citadel, with the Incas spending the most amount of time shaping and smoothing rocks to fit together neatly in the religious area, the middle being in the area where the Incan royals stayed, and the roughest/least smooth rocks in the industrial workers area.

We learned that the Incas started working on Machu Picchu in the 15th century, likely the early 1400's, and that they started down at the Urubamba River and worked their way up over time. Some of the biggest stones were left in place, with the rest cleared and shaped with water and harder stones until they fit neatly together. It truly is amazing to see Machu Picchu in person and get a sense of how much effort it took to build.

We learned that the Incas built certain features in the Machu Picchu citadel around the sun. They built a Temple of the Sun with a window placed such that at sunrise on the winter solstice the sun would shine through the window onto the stone altar. If the sun shone on the altar on the solstice the Incas believed that year would have a good harvest, and conversely they believed that there would be a bad harvest if the solstice was cloudy and the sun did not shine on the altar. They also used the Temple of the Sun and other areas of the citadel to observe the skies/stars, and carved out shallow stone bowls that could be filled with water and used as mirrors to observe the skies.

You may notice ropes in some of my photos - something to note when you visit is that there are areas roped off for safety and there are security guards who walk around and ensure that tourists stay in the designated walkways and areas. You can still get plenty of incredible photos, so don't worry about that. Another thing to note is that it is frowned upon to sit on the ancient rock structures/walls or place your personal things on them. You can, however, sit on the path or steps that have been created for public walkways, which you can see I did below. Please be a mindful tourist and ask if you aren't sure.

You can see even more footage of Machu Picchu in my Instagram reels from both days we toured the citadel. It truly is an amazing and special place that I will not forget.

Have you visited Machu Picchu? If so, please don't hesitate to leave me a comment below to share your experience or favorite moment. I hope you enjoyed this Machu Picchu travel log, thank you for visiting my blog today, and stay tuned for Peru's Sacred Valley travel log next. I hope you have a wonderful week!