On a trip around the world in Peru: How to get to Machu Picchu without rip-off

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MYou really can’t leave Peru without seeing Machu Picchu. But if you look at the prices for visiting this spectacular Unesco World Heritage Site, you won’t be surprised – or you’ll get sick: All in all, the average tourist pays at least 200 euros just for the journey to and from Cusco and for admission to the Site. Accommodation not included.

How can that be? In a country where you can get a good lunch for less than two euros and where the average monthly income is less than 500 euros? The banal answer: Because there are thousands of people every day who are willing to pay such moon prices.

I – as a world travel saver – don’t want to miss Machu Picchu, but try everything to get it much cheaper. And still take the full pleasure with you.

Machu Picchu is often covered in fog in the morning

First to the tickets: You should buy them early, because you will only be admitted to Peru’s biggest attraction with a time slot (four hours). However, one should not follow the widespread rule and leave as early as possible, because morning fog can spoil the view and the selfies.

And so it’s a stroke of luck that I get a time slot ticket for 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. about a week beforehand. Because on the same morning it is actually still foggy and the sun does not shine until midday. Another advantage: the number of visitors is generally significantly lower in the afternoon.

The author did it – he got to Machu Picchu comparatively cheaply

Source: Martin Lewicki

You can also save yourself the very expensive and coveted tickets for visiting the neighboring peaks. Because the site itself offers more than enough perfect views, it doesn’t get any more perfect than that. The cost of a normal entrance ticket is at least 40 euros, depending on the season they can be higher. Important: The ticket is only valid in connection with a passport.

You can save yourself the train from Cusco

Now comes the most expensive part: getting there. Anyone researching how to get to Machu Picchu on the Internet will come across a train that runs from Cusco to Aguas Calientes everywhere. The cost of the three-hour trip there and back: at least 130 euros. Aguas Calientes is a village built purely for tourists to leave for Machu Picchu. The village is not accessible by car, only by train or on foot.

Peru: In the mountain village of Aguas Calientes, the tracks of the Perurail narrow-gauge railway run directly through the village

In the mountain village of Aguas Calientes, the tracks of Perurail’s narrow-gauge railway run directly through the village

Source: pa / Uwe Gerig

In Aguas Calientes there are buses that every few minutes chauffeur tourists 400 meters up to the ruins. A further 20 euros will be charged for this. All in all, you quickly get to the said 200 euros.

But if you research a little longer, like me, you will eventually come across a low-budget variant: You take a minibus from Cusco to the Hidroeléctrica hydroelectric power station. Although the journey takes seven hours and the route is winding, it only costs the equivalent of 23 euros there and back. From Hidroeléctrica you can either take an expensive train to Aguas Calientes. Or you can walk this distance completely free of charge.

Peru: In Aguas Calientes there are buses that take tourists 400 meters up to the ruined city every few minutes

In Aguas Calientes there are buses that take tourists 400 meters up to the ruined city every few minutes

Quelle: Getty Images/ElOjoTorpe

Apparently a lot of people do that, because there are plenty of restaurants, bars and mini markets along the way, where you can take a break. This short hike takes about three hours until you reach Aguas Calientes, the tourist village near Machu Picchu. It is best to follow the tracks.

Hiking in the dark to Aguas Calientes

I chose this cheap option. It’s stupid, however, that the departure from Cusco is brought forward because of an impending strike and our driver throws us out of the minibus at around 4.30 a.m. at the hydroelectric power station – it’s still pitch black outside.

Unfortunately, our hiking group overlooks a sign right at the beginning and we walk for a while in complete darkness along a dead-end track that does not lead to Aguas Calientes. At the end of the track we have to climb up a hill through bushes and undergrowth armed with cell phone light to finally get to the right rails.

Only after an agonizingly long two hours does the longed-for daylight arrive, hours later we finally arrive in Aguas Calientes. I’m exhausted, but I’m still happy about the adventure I’ve completed – and of course about the money I’ve saved.

Peru: From the hydroelectric power station Hidroeléctrica you can walk to Aguas Calientes

Always follow the tracks: From the hydroelectric power station Hidroeléctrica you can walk to Aguas Calientes

What: pa/NurPhoto/Artur Widak

Apropos: You can also save yourself the tourist bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu. Because there is a hiking trail in the form of a stone staircase that leads up to the Inca ruined city. It takes about 1.5 hours to climb it. But if you have some basic fitness and enjoy exercise, you will make it. This saves another 20 euros for the bus ride.

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This money can be better invested. For example, you spend it in the local thermal springs, where you process your impressions after the Machu Picchu visit and relax your strained leg muscles in the hot water. Or you can treat yourself to one or the other Pisco Sour, Peru’s typical drink based on Pisco grape schnapps, which is mixed with lime juice, sugar and egg white.

In the end I made it to Machu Picchu with 63 euros for the ticket and minibus, plus a few euros for the cocktail. Hello!

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Read more parts of the world tour series “One Way Ticket” here. The column appears every two weeks.

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