Everyone who’s planning a visit to Peru knows Machu Picchu, it’s probably the highlight of the trip or even the whole reason for going. Tickets start at about £45 (2025), but quickly increase when adding Huana Picchu, Inca trails and other additions, which also get sold out months in advance. The standard tickets stay available much closer to the time but I’d book as soon as possible. For me it was definitely a highlight, so much so that I planned it on my birthday.

Things started incredibly, finally seeing Machu Picchu! However, we left the site extremely frustrated, with then a huge journey ahead of us to get back to Cusco the same day, where I then got a fever for the evening and next day – nice.

What I Wish Someone Told Me

So what happened and what do I greatly wish someone actually told me before? Well firstly I’ll bullet point what I wish I was told and what I think you should know, which may not apply if you are already doing a guided tour of the site at a specific time. So, here you are:

• The number 1 and most important thing – the site has one-way signs everywhere, so if you decide to leave the top of the site (where you get those perfect Instagram pictures) to go and take a closer look at the houses and llamas, you cannot get back up to the top again. The guards really enforce this and are absolute pricks about it with no respect for tourists at all by lying to you and saying that you can re-enter, or misdirecting you.
• There’s no re-entry to the site if you leave if you have the basic ticket, but there are signs at the main entrance stating this too.
• The most basic ticket for Machu Picchu is enough to get that “postcard picture”.
• Being the 1st person in the site isn’t the best thing that everyone thinks it is, as the sun isn’t even above the mountains yet. Remember, sunrise is about 1 hour later than normal due to the mountains – now obviously it’s daylight after the real sunrise but Machu Picchu will be in shadow. Pictures from the top will be darker and not so stunning or vibrant. The site is as quiet as it’ll get this early but it stays like that for a few hours anyway.
• Every tourist you meet becomes a meteorologist suddenly, telling you which times the clouds come in – with people telling me morning, afternoon and evening. I didn’t see any clouds over Machu Picchu at any time in 2 days. For the best idea of weather ask the locals, check online for that time of the year and just hope for some luck! Always the case with the weather.
• Everyone also becomes selfish animals, from the buses in Aguas Calientes to the queue into the site – hold your ground and tell people when they are being rude pricks, we need to learn to share these wonders of the world.
• You don’t need to hire a guide to enter the site despite the rules, as it’s not being enforced yet (August 2019).

So there are the main helpful points that I wanted to put down, but how do you get to Machu Picchu from Cusco in the first place?

The Ways to the City in the Sky from Cusco – 2 Options

So, getting to the big Machu Picchu from Cusco without taking the train, that’s our aim. Without doing any hiking trails and simply going to MP, you have to get to Aguas Calientes first, a small and quite beautiful village at the base of the mountains. Now there are no roads to this village, just a train track, so what have those cheeky Peruvian rail companies done? Formed a nice tourist trap of course! A round-trip from Cusco to AC costs around €150/£125 minimum…for a slow 2 hour train ride, with admittedly apparently amazing views, but still, I heard it costs locals $1 although I don’t have any proof of this, but it sounds about right. Then from AG you have to take a 30 min bus ride to and from MP which costs £12 each way…nice.

So, there is another way in to this sky village, and that’s by walking to it along the live train tracks from a mysterious place called Hidroelectrica, some kind of village built for the nearby hydroelectric power station. This is the other side of Aguas Calientes as Cusco but not too far away, and where the train line terminates. So apparently what you can do is get a shuttle bus to Hidroelectrica (7h) and then walk along the train tracks to AG (2h).

If you have the money then by all means take the train and return bus as it’s much much quicker and looks like a really nice journey! If, however, you can’t afford this, don’t want to spend that much, or fancy a more adventurous option, then here’s the way we got to Aguas Calientes from Cusco via Hidroelectrica!

Cusco to Hidroelectrica

So how do you get to Hidroelectrica? Well that was our main question as you don’t see it advertised in Cusco or much online, it just says a shuttle if some sort. We asked our hotel and they were very helpful and gave us the details of a travel agency that they know, we then asked them on WhatsApp and they told us about the shuttle bus. They asked us to go to their office in Plaza de Armas that evening and book it, so we did!

The shuttle leaves at 07:30 the next morning morning (they leave every day), after meeting outside their office at 07:00. It then makes a pit stop in Ollantaytambo for 10 minutes so we can get food etc. for the journey ahead, so no need to worry about panicking last minute the night before buying copious amounts of crackers and coca leaves. We would be scheduled to arrive in Hidroelectrica at about 14:30-15:00, where we would then start walking beside the train tracks to AG for 2 hours next to the river and amongst the trees and mountains!

As for the return journey which you can book together, a shuttle picks you up in Hidroelectrica at either 14:30 or 15:00 for another 7h journey, apparently there are 2 shuttle departures which leave at each of those times. This is again a daily pickup, and I assume are the vans which arrive to drop people off which are then leaving back to Cusco with people they pick up, hence those fixed times. It turns out that nothing seems to leave until around 15:30 anyway and it’s a lot of confusion and chaos, so keep asking the drivers what names they are expected to be sure.

So how much is this? We paid S/.70/£17 each for a return journey. The price difference between this and the train is insane, and is much more of an adventure! This is also quite a popular way amongst tourists for this reason, so you won’t be alone along the way either, which makes it feel safer. After all this is a 2 hour journey along live train tracks, although there’s more than enough space on each side of the tracks to walk safely.

5:50 alarm – always so nice. We made it to the tour agency’s office in Plaza de Armas by 07:00 and got our names called about 15 minutes later and taken to minivan around the corner. We then began our voyage to Hidroelectrica!

The stop in Ollantaytambo was actually very nice and much needed! There are a number of nice buildings right before entering the centre of Ollantaytambo itself which are a combination of restaurant/shop/toilet and we stopped at one of them. We got some simple sandwiches for S/.5/£1 each and some supplies from the shop, and the toilets cost S/.1 each and are actually nice! There was also cats and dogs hanging around so it was a nice place for a break, which was about 25 minutes 🙂

Be prepared for the that bitch of an altitude also, as the highest point of the ride is at a Hamlet called Abra Malaga which is at about 4,350m. Someone in our minivan was sick, but that could also be due to the twists and turns in the roads. If you feel bad, as I did, just make sure you have something with coca and try to distract yourself until you are decending, otherwise ask the driver to stop and they will, as they don’t want vomit in their minivan 😉

We ended up stopping just after the hamlet and my god, the views were incredible. Thank you person who was sick, as we got to take some proper pictures of these views.

There is also another quick stop, just 10 minutes this time in a small hamlet called Huamanmarka with similar offerings as the previous stop. And although I didn’t see any restaurant this time, I heard the locals mentioning sandwiches with all sorts of fillings. But you can go the toilet and get more food here and stretch those legs! As this is now the final leg in this minivan to Hidroelectrica! Our minivan did stop at Santa Teresa, the last village before Hidroelectrica, but just to let some people out who were going there instead.

Information on the road – since passing through Santa Maria the road is extremely bumpy as it is not paved, so good luck getting any sleep on the last couple of hours of this crazy voyage 😉 Finally, after about 7 hours, we have arrived in Hidroelectrica!

I was worried that this place was kind of a secret, that the authorities didn’t want you there and that we would be alone and even possibly in danger – but that doesn’t seem the case at all. I thought this because, as mentioned earlier, I didn’t see a single tour agency in Cusco advertising transport to Hidroelectrica, however if you ask them then they will do it. I still felt like we were booking something dodgy, becusse why isn’t it advertised, especially if it’s popular?

Anyway, upon our arrival there were shit loads of minivans and tourists ready to walk to Aguas Calientes, and others awaiting their return to Cusco. We followed the crowd, arrived at a security kiosk where you sign in with your name, passport number, age and whether you are returning to Hidroelectrica at some point or not. Then, follow the signs (which are in no short supply) towards Machu Picchu/Aguas Calientes!

Now get waking before it gets dark!

Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes

How’s the walk? Easy! 🙂

And the scenery? Beautiful with the mountains and trees and the wildlife, and you even get a glimpse of Machu Picchu from down there too.

I saw people without proper shoes and clothes, the main problem you’ll face are the small bridges over the tributaries to the river, where you have to walk on the tracks themselves, so be super cautious of the trains and minding your steps here. The trains themselves sound their extremely loud horns constantly on this route, and 6 passed us in total on the way, but still don’t walk with headphones in as you don’t want to risk it.

You don’t even need to bring rations, although I’d always suggest having water, but there are so many random kiosks along the route, as well as “restaurants” and camping lodges! I couldn’t believe it, I thought this was a treacherous and lonely passage through the jungle, but it really isn’t.

Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu

So as I previously mentioned from here you can get the bus (30 min) or if you feel adventurous or don’t want to spend the money then you can hike up (about an hour to 90min).

We decided to take the bus there and walk back down, a good middle ground I think. If you want to be the first one in line for MP (which opens its gates at 6am) then hiking will beat the first bus if you race up there, and maybe even the tour groups doing the Inca trails, as they also arrive super early.

So we got in line for the buses at about 4:45am, and still didn’t get the first bus which leaves at 5:30am, but we got on the 3rd or 4th which all leave immediately after one another anyway. We arrived around 6am just behind the other buses and got in the monsterous queue, and saw a lot of the hikers arriving who had raced up the mountain. Elevation here isn’t a problem as it’s just 2,340m at the top of MP, which is relatively low for Peru, much lower than Cusco, and just below the limit for common altitude sickness.

Machu Picchu Site

So I pretty much summed this up at the top, but once you enter the park there’s a set path to follow which takes you to the top with the views over MP, and only takes a few minutes to get there. The further you follow this path the higher you get until you find that perfect Instagram shot spot. Now I found that there are a few perfect shots, there definitely isn’t just one place. My favourite spot was actually if you keep going around the left side on one of the ledges, until you pretty much can’t go any further, and you get a really nice shot with plenty of space for everyone to get the same one and without obstructions (people on ledges below etc).

Now if you’re here at sunrise, stay up here until the sun rises over the mountains too! Then you can get much more vibrant shots with greener grass and more textured mountains, otherwise your shots can be a bit dark as MP will be in shadow.

If you have the basic ticket, once you start heading down to the houses you cannot get back up! So go to the sun gate too first and then head down to the houses and llamas below, which are all fantastic.

The site is really interesting, and we heard a lot of info from passing guides, or you can get a guide if you want to know everything. They might have even enforced the rule of having a compulsory guide now.

So that’s it for MP! Once you’re out you can get your passport stamped for free right outside of the exit, then head on down to AC either by bus (only if pre booked) or walk. The walk down is quite nice but not amazing as you can’t see much and it’s a calf killer! But it’s still nice and saves money.

Aguas Calientes back to Cusco

So basically all in reverse now! As we booked the return shuttle journey which covers Hidroelectrica back to Cusco, we had to start that incredible 2 hour train track treck from Aguas Calientes to Hidroelectrica. Once back there, and finding the area where the shuttles dropped us off in the first place (which isn’t hard as it’s a village basically), we were plunged into the chaos.

What happens here is you essentially need to find your original bus from the previous day, which amongst the many identical buses and confused tourists shouting their names, is not as easy as you think. I don’t even know if the bus or driver were the same, but each bus has a list of the passengers who booked a return journey. So, shout your name to every bus driver before the departure time of anywhere between 14:30-15:30 and you’ll be ok.

I don’t think the buses will leave without you and they know everyone is confused, and you most likely arrive to Hidroelectrica well before the departure time anyway if you’ve had a sunrise Machu Picchu visit.

The rest of your day will now be on that crazy 7 hour altitude busting minibus, where we stopped multiple times for people to be sick due to crossing over the 4000m mountain passes.

And by evening time, welcome back to Cusco! You did Machu Picchu via the mysterious Hidroelectrica and walked on a live train line!