Aguas Calientes Machu Picchu

Aguas Calientes or Machupicchu Pueblo is located between the rivers of the same name and the Alcamayo River on the banks of the main river Urubamba at an altitude of 2400 meters above sea level located in the province of Urubamba in the department of Cusco in Peru.

Climate: the climate of Aguas Calientes is warm temperate with a minimum temperature of 16 ° C, besides it has two rainy and dry seasons.

AGUAS CALIENTES ATTRACTIONS:

Machupicchu Butterfly Farm
Mandor Falls
Alcamayo Waterfalls
Gardens of Mandor
Hot springs of Aguas Calientes
Machupicchu
Putucusi Mountain
Manuel Chavez Ballón Machupicchu Site Museum

To get to Aguas Calientes there are currently 2 ways from the city of Cusco to Aguas Calientes:

The route by train
The route through Hidroeléctrica

The train route: It is the shortest, most popular and best known route for both domestic and foreign visitors.

There are 2 companies providing this service: INCA RAIL and PERU RAIL with its 4 train stations in Cusco:

Ollantaytambo train station
Poroy train station
Wanchaq train station
San Pedro train station

Travel time by train will depend on the station from where we will take the train service.

From Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes: Approximate time 1 hour and 30 minutes.
From Poroy to Aguas Calientes: Approximate time 3 hours and 40 minutes.
From Cusco (San Pedro and Wanchaq Station) to Aguas Calientes: Approximate time 4 hours and 20 minutes.

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How to get from Cusco to Ollantaytambo station?

To get to the Ollantaytambo station you will have to take a cab or bus from the city of Cusco to the town of Ollantaytambo where the station of the same name is located. The cost of the bus is approximately 20 soles per person, the buses are taken from Pavitos Street in the same city of Cusco.
If it is a cab or private transport the cost will be higher, depending on the type of vehicle and the number of people between 130 soles approximately.
Travel time from Cusco to Ollantaytambo is approximately 2 hours.

How to get from Cusco to Poroy station?

To get to the Poroy train station you will have to take a cab or bus that will take you from Cusco to the train station in Poroy. The cost of the bus is approximately 8 to 10 soles per person.
If it is a cab or private transport the cost will be higher, depending on the type of vehicle and the number of people between 80 soles approximately.
Travel time from Cusco to Poroy station is approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

How to get from Cusco to Wanchaq station?

The wanchaq station is located in the city of Cusco, 4 blocks from the main square or Plaza de Armas of Cusco.
Cab service will cost an average of 15 to 20 soles, of course this will depend on the location of your hotel in relation to the distance to Wanchaq station.

How to get from Cusco to San Pedro station?

The San Pedro station is also located in the same city of Cusco, 3 to 4 blocks from the main square or Plaza de Armas of Cusco.
Cab service will cost an average of 15 to 20 soles, of course this will depend on the location of your hotel in relation to the distance to San Pedro station.

The route through Hidroeléctrica

This route is also known as “the alternative route to Machupicchu by Hidroeléctrica” or “Ruta Amazónica”.
The cost of this route is approximately 80 to 90 soles per leg, i.e. 160 to 180 soles one way.
It is a trip of almost the whole day, with which you will need a hotel, lodging in Aguas Calientes one day before visiting Machupicchu and recovering energies.
Mostly done by visitors who like adventure and hiking, not recommended for seniors with problems and people with small children.

This route consists of 5 well-marked sections:

Cusco – Santa Maria
Santa Maria – Santa Teresa
Santa Teresa – Hydroelectric
Hydroelectric – Hot water

Cusco – Santa Maria: This section can be done either by bus or private car, the travel time is approximately 5 hours.

Santa María – Santa Teresa: In this case, there are mostly only collective cabs that offer the service. The average travel time is 4 hours and 40 minutes, taking into account that they are currently working on road improvements and the construction of a tunnel.

Santa Teresa – Hidroeléctrica: Similarly to get to Hidroeléctrica there are only collective cabs that offer to Hidroeléctrica, beginning of the walk the approximate travel time is 1 hour.

Hydroelectric – Aguas Calientes The final stretch to reach Aguas Calientes is done in 2 ways:

By train: It is a 45-minute train ride from the Hidroeléctrica station to the Aguas Calientes train terminal.

The train departs 3 times a day: at 2.17 p.m. / 2.50 p.m. / 5.10 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the station.

Great Final Hike. – It is a hike along the train tracks, it lasts about 2 or 3 hours depending on the walking speed you have, on the way you will see abundant vegetation that characterizes the Peruvian jungle eyebrow, plus you will cross a couple of bridges and short tunnels, it is recommended to bring repellent as there is a negligible amount of mosquitoes that could ruin your quiet walk.

HOW TO GET FROM AGUAS CALIENTES TO MACHUPICCHU?

To reach the Inca citadel of Machupicchu “Llaqta Machupicchu” we must pass through the town of Aguas Calientes or also called Machupicchu Pueblo.

From Aguas Calientes or Machupicchu town there are two ways to get to the entrance of the citadel of Machupicchu.

Take a bus.
Take a walk.

Below we detail both ways to get to Machupicchu.

Take a Consettur S.A.C. bus (the only company providing the service).

Once in Aguas Calientes (Machupicchu Pueblo) we must take a bus of the company Consettur S.A.C. that will take us through the Hiram Bingham road to the entrance of Machupicchu.

First to board the bus we must have the respective tickets, which can be purchased through an agency or directly with the company Consettur S.A.C. in person either in the city of Cusco or at the ticket office located in Aguas Calientes (very close to the bus station) or virtually through its website, (currently you can only buy bus tickets for the month in which we are; that is if we are in March is only possible to issue ticket dated in the month of March).

How to buy bus tickets? We must present a valid document (ID card, passport or foreigner’s card).

Cost of bus ticket:

	UPHILL AND DOWNHILL	UPHILL ONLY OR DOWNHILL ONLY
FOREIGN VISITOR	24 USD	12 USD
NATIONAL VISITOR	15 USD	8 USD

Once we have our tickets, we can board the buses, making a small line of people, until we reach the checkpoint and arrival of buses, where the staff in charge will check our bus tickets and documents.

The bus ride lasts approximately 20 to 30 minutes, from Aguas Calientes to the entrance of Machupicchu, this bus will travel a slightly steep mountain in a zigzagging way, allowing you to appreciate the vegetation of the area.

Buses are available to visitors from 5:30 HRS to 15:30 HRS for the uphill buses and the last bus schedule for the downhill bus until 17:00 HRS.

These buses leave every 15 minutes; (every 5 minutes in the early morning hours) the time can be shorter, since the way of working is: bus that this with the seats completely occupied leave towards the entrance of Machupicchu.

Take a walk :

It is a short hike of approximately 2 hours (FREE OF CHARGE) from the town of Aguas Calientes to the entrance of Machupicchu, where we will ascend a slightly steep mountain.

The hike has a degree of difficulty Easy – Moderate, so a regular physical condition is required.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR SMALL CHILDREN OR ELDERLY PEOPLE.

In order to start our hike we must carry the entrance ticket to Machupicchu and our personal documents, because we will travel a stretch of the Hiram Bingham road, where the buses of the company Consettur S.A.C. circulate, near the Ruins Bridge is located a control booth of the Ministry of Culture, where the staff in charge will ask us for our entrance tickets to Machupicchu to allow us to continue our hike to Machupicchu.

After traveling a stretch along the Hiram Bingham route we will ascend the mountain slightly steep through stone steps (in the rainy season something slippery) the road is signposted (difficult to get lost), as well as we will also find some stops as viewpoints of rest for visitors, finally after approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes of climbing the mountain we will arrive at the entrance of Machupicchu or control gate.

If you wish to hike from Aguas Calientes to Machupicchu, we recommend doing it in the morning, to avoid fatigue and tiredness due to the sun.

It is recommended not to make the climb to Machupicchu on foot if the passenger has an entrance ticket to Machupicchu with any option of Machupicchu Mountain, Waynapicchu or Huchuypicchu, because it will end up exhausted.

For this hike you should bring: