I’m going to be honest. I’ve procrastinated writing this post for no less than 7 months. You’d think I would have wanted nothing more than to immediately get home and look at all my insane fake-looking travel pictures from one of the most epic bucket-list trips I’ve taken so far…. But alas, life got in the way. And thinking about the sheer volume of pictures to go through (2,572 pictures and videos between my iPhone and Sony mirrorless, to be exact) made me want to throw up. So here we are, 6 months later… but timing couldn’t be better! We went at the end of May, and planned our trip to Cusco and Machu Picchu in January and February – especially because now you pretty much can’t get into Machu Picchu without a guide, and they book up FAST. It was tricky, fitting this lifetime bucket list trip in with our full-time work schedules, but SO entirely worth every penny. Check out my ultimate guide to exploring Cusco, Machu Picchu tours, and how to get to Machu Picchu with limited time.
Whoa there nelly! This post is PACKED to the hilt with as much information as I could possibly cram in. Don’t want to read the whole thing? Here are some sections that might be of interest you can jump to:
- Cusco Restaurants
- Things to Do in Cusco
- All About Machu Picchu
- Best Photo Spots in Machu Picchu & Cusco
- Sample Peru Itinerary
Best Area to Stay in Cusco & Hotel Aranwa Cusco
Surprisingly, it was not Riley’s first time to Peru (or Machu Picchu). It was fun letting him do a big chunk of the planning, as opposed to what normally happens with our vacations! Therefore, we had a pretty good idea that we wanted to stay near the main square in Cusco.
When it comes to considering the best area to stay in Cusco, it really depends on what you prefer to do. San Cristobal is an area to consider (but is a hike from a lot of the main downtown area), as well as the San Blas neighborhood – which is more artsy, and has great restaurants and nightlife.
We opted for the downtown area proper near Plaza de Armas at the Hotel Aranwa Boutique Hotel Cusco. I cannot recommend it enough. It used to be an old colonial mansion, of the XVI century and has been converted to a beautiful museum hotel, which holds over 300 pieces of art.
The staff is exceptional. Breakfast was included every day, and our waitstaff remembered us and was full of knowledge and suggestions. On the day we got picked up at 4 AM for our odyssey to Machu Picchu, they even packed us a to-go drawstring bag with water bottles, breakfast, snacks and other goodies because breakfast didn’t start until 6 AM and we had a longgg day ahead of us. I was blown away by the care the staff took to make our stay as enjoyable as possible.
Our room also had heated floors in the bathroom and a large tub (which was perfect for soaking after all the hiking we did), plus the rooms are also equipped with oxygen. If you’ve ever tried to sleep at high altitude, it can be pretty uncomfortable (see my post about Breckenridge here!) and having the oxygen was extremely valuable. More on the elevation later!
Cusco & Machu Picchu Restaurant Rundown
Peruvian food is amazing. I took the opportunity to be pretty adventurous and actually tried guinea pig and alpaca – and I also tried a number of other things Peru is known for, including the Chicha drink, ceviche, and of course, pisco, while we were there. Here are a few of the restaurants we checked out while in Cusco!
Chicha Restaurant Cusco
Chicha was a recommendation of Riley’s; he’d eaten there the last time he was in Cusco. It was amazing! It probably one of the fancier dinners we had but it was pretty moderately priced (if you’re from a big city, the prices won’t surprise you). As I mentioned above – if you want to try the local delicacy, cuy (aka guinea pig), I would suggest trying it here. They prepared it really well – it kind of tasted like chicken thigh meat! (They also serve it with tortillas and a really yummy sauce so you can make little taco-like morsels).
We also ordered pisco sours (because duh) and the octopus, which Riley had said was some of the best he’d ever eaten… and he wasn’t wrong. He said it still tasted as good the second time and I can confirm it was amazing. I also loved the Lomo Saltado and the ravioli (with pumpkin, cheese and sage). And be sure to check out the dessert menu!
Organika Cusco
I can’t decide if we loved this for the incredible food… or if it was moreso because we literally stumbled into it nearly exhausted, needing to pee and drink water after hiking a little more vigorously at Sacsayhuaman than we’d anticipated. Up in the San Blas area, Organika is tucked away in an unassuming corner storefront amongst narrow, winding white-washed streets. It looks like a tiny little coffee shop or café – but it proves delicious things come in small packages; it is an absolute must. There were pictures of their ceviche all over the menu… we got the hint.
We ordered one (with an eyebrow raise from the server; ‘are you sure you don’t each want your own?’ We decided to share one and immediately regretted it). Everything is, as the name implies, organic – it all comes from the restaurant’s own garden in the Sacred Valley of Urubamba! I’ve never eaten so many edible flowers; the dishes are full of bright shocks of color and amazing flavors. Riley and I each got our own entrée – I had the fettuccini with pesto and chicken and Riley had the beet fettuccini. And pisco sours… are you sensing a theme on this trip? The one thing to mention is that it’s cash only – so make sure you save some for a visit!
LIMO Cusco
If you’ve picked up anything from my food-related content, I hope it’s that we enjoy a fair amount of Asian food (because that would be true). We went to LIMO the night before our Machu Picchu trip because they offer sushi and I needed to bribe Riley for all the pictures I was about to take the next day. In addition to ceviche (again, duh) and pisco sours (these had fun spicy twists to them), we ordered a couple of maki rolls and an incredible fried rice dish. I highly recommend it – it was nice and light!
Inka Grill
After our semi-departure from local cuisine, I wanted to make sure we had one last authentic hurrah before we had to leave Cusco. Inka Grill was a great option – and the wait wasn’t too long (other than Chicha, we had pretty good luck getting into places without reservations – I do recommend them for Chicha and Inka Grill), AND they had some amazing live music. If you can, I recommend requesting a table upstairs, near the railing – it’s not quite as loud but you get a great vantage point of the musicians. Riley had steak and I decided to go big or go home – I tried alpaca here. Preparation-wise I opted for the chef’s suggestion, and it was good! I will be honest – it was a little gamey. Like moreso than lamb. But it was definitely an experience and I’m pretty sure you can’t get alpaca anywhere in the US. And if you guessed I also ordered a pisco sour, you get a gold star!
Things to Do in Cusco
Aside from the very obvious, Incan ruins-specific to-do list item, there are a lot of activities to do in Cusco. No matter if you’re staying for a couple of days or longer than a week, there are plenty of options!
Hike Sacsayhuamán
If you want to take a practice run before heading to the big dance (Machu Picchu) or want an incredible view of Cusco (or both!), Sacsayhuamán is a great option. We opted to walk up to the site (which is about 20 minutes on foot from the main center city square) on our first full day in Cusco. There are gorgeous panoramic views and some really incredible ruins.
We read the price of admission wrong (actually, I just basically did the math wrong) – it would probably have been more cost-effective to get the “boleto turistico” – which means “tourist ticket”. The full ticket is ~130 Peruvian soles, (which is about $48 USD, give or take) and gets you into 16 different sites. The ticket to get into Sacsayhuamán is basically the “partial ticket” of the pass and for two of us was ~$50 USD – so you may as well buy the complete pass if you’re going to want to see anything else!
Also, there will be a lot of people with baby llamas and alpacas and the like… but if you will be going to Machu Picchu, there will literally be llamas roaming around, all wild and free-like, so you’ll also have opportunities that don’t require payment. However, I am a supporter of paying for photos in the sense that it helps people make a living!
Mercado de San Blas
I’d read about this and really wanted to meander around San Blas – which is known as the more “artsy” area of the city… and sits at a higher altitude than the main city center (which gives you great views). We wandered up this way in the morning of our last full day in Cusco and stopped at the Mercado San Blas – an open-air covered market with vendors selling everything from produce to freshly squeezed juice, food items and various souvenirs.
This was one of my favorite stops on the trip - when we arrived, a 4-piece band was having a straight up JAM SESH and people were positively losing their MINDS.
I’ve never seen someone let their body move to the music quite like the pair of women I observed. The whole thing gave me chills – I was like, ‘YES. I can literally feel the energy of the Peruvian people filling this place’. While I can’t guarantee you’ll witness this, it’s definitely worth a trip up to this joyous and unique area!
Museo de Pisco
This was another item I’d read about and I really wanted to make sure we were able to visit. As you have probably gathered, I became moderately obsessed with Peruvian pisco sours during our trip (so much so, that SPOILER ALERT we ran to Binny’s the day after we got back for a bottle so we could make the recipe at home). The Museo del Pisco, or Pisco Museum, is just what it sounds like, and then some. They offer pisco tastings, cocktails and other drinks, a full menu (with tapas-style bites as well as full entrees – we had tapas and I highly recommend the bacon and shrimp skewers!) and a number of gathering areas for parties big and small.
Photo credit: Riley
They also offer cocktail lessons – and you are actually allowed to get behind the bar and get your hands dirty! Definitely one of my highlights of the trip.
The Main Event: Machu Picchu
Let me put it to you this way: nothing will prepare your eyeballs for what you will witness at Machu Picchu. No doubt you’ve seen pictures of the incredible landscapes, but seeing this UNESCO world heritage site in person may possibly bring you to tears. I tried to put my finger on exactly what was so breathtaking about it, and though I still haven’t totally identified the ingredients of this landmark, know it has something to do with the mix of difficulty of getting there, the altitude, and the surrounding landscape of the Andes, standing tall, majestic and protective of this magical place. My lazy elevator pitch of an explanation? It’s so beautiful it looks FAKE. There’s no other way to explain it.
Where is Machu Picchu?
Machu Picchu sits high up in the Andes Mountains, in Peru, in South America. The closest large city to Machu Picchu is Cusco – so most people will camp there for their stay. It is fairly difficult to get to (but not impossible, by any means!) and so you either have to take a train from Ollantaytambo or trek a multi-day hike to get there. Once you get to the main base of Aguas Calientes (basically a tiny town that was constructed for the railroad workers), you’ll need to take a bus or hike up the rest of the road to the site.
Cusco to Machu Picchu Train: How do you get there?
Ask anyone and a majority of people who have been to Machu Picchu probably did the multi-day hike. There are a couple of different options; everything from a short 3-day hike, to a 5-day (or more) and even a simple 1-day hike up the Inca Trail. Since we are working professionals and we sadly had only 4 days in Cusco, we decided to do the car to train to bus route to get to Machu Picchu from Cusco and booked our tour through Llama Path Tours (which I’ll cover in more detail further down).
Essentially, if you are not hiking on foot, the only way to get to Aguas Calientes (the tiny town at the base of the mountain) is by train. You will need to find your way to the PeruRail station in Ollantaytambo. Our tour booked us in a car, which took about 1.75 – 2 hours from Cusco.
Once you disembark the train in Aguas Calientes (after a 2-hour train ride), you’ll need to take a bus up the steep, winding road to get to the site entrance (you can actually also hike this too) – according to my research, the hike up the trail from Aguas Calientes takes about 3 hours. The bus takes about 30 minutes. We opted for the bus because we also had to make a certain train back in order to meet our car back to Cusco. So overall, it takes about 4 – 4.5 hours to get to Machu Picchu from Cusco, one way, if you do the car to train to bus route.
A Note on the Buses: Allow a LOT of Time When Leaving Machu Picchu!
Of course, we encountered a line to get on the buses to go up the mountain to Machu Picchu, but since we arrived very early in the morning, it was nothing really long. HOWEVER, it was a very different story on the way back down to make it to the train station. I would allow yourself a good 2 HOURS between whenever you want to leave and whenever your train is disembarking so that you aren’t sprinting through Aguas Calientes to make it to the train on time. Also, the town of Aguas Calientes is awesome and worth spending some time in too – so don’t waste your entire day! You can also haggle with the vendors – everything is negotiable (but obviously try not to offend them!).
Bonus Tip: Stamping Your Passport
I had no idea, but there is a special self-stamping station for your passport outside the entrance to Machu Picchu. We waited in line to do it before we got in line for the buses. I would recommend getting in line for the buses and then having each person go one at a time to stamp your passport while the other saves your spot, essentially killing two waiting birds with one stone!
Machu Picchu Elevation?
The elevation of Machu Picchu is 7,972 feet above sea level. Cusco is actually 11,152 feet above sea level – so it’s a good idea to get acclimatized there for a day or two before you visit Machu Picchu. If you have been to Breckenridge or anywhere high up in the Rockies and didn’t have a problem, you’ll be fine in Cusco! (Check out my post about Breckenridge and how to combat altitude sickness here.) When you arrive, you will probably be offered coca tea – it can help with nausea and acclimatizing to the altitude.
Machu Picchu weather – what’s it like?
Machu Picchu weather is dry and can be very chilly. Let me put it to you this way. It changes – a LOT. In June and July it can drop to as low as -36 degrees Fahrenheit and in some parts of the year, get as high as 79-80 degrees Fahrenheit. When we went at the end of May, it was definitely very cold in the morning – about 35 degrees. But later that day, I wound up taking off all my layers and walking around in my tank top because it got up to 70 degrees and the sun was strong! We swore by our ultra-light down roll-up jackets from Uniqlo – they are puffy down jackets but roll up to about the size of a large potato. Definite life savers! (Similar option here.)
When is the best time to visit Machu Picchu?
The best time to visit Machu Picchu is in May! Though I might be biased because that’s what we did. Obviously, Machu Picchu is breathtaking at any time of year. We had read that the busiest season was from June – August, which aligns with a lot of people’s summer vacations. Rainy season is from November to March, supposedly. So, we decided to go after the “rainy season” (side note, we’ve been places where it’s supposedly “rainy season” like Ireland and Aruba and never really had an issue) and before the peak season in June.
Machu Picchu tours – do you need them?
From all the research that we did prior to our trip, it seems like you need a guide – there were many people who said they were not enforcing the new rule, but also many people who said you needed a guide. When we were in Cusco, we did see that there were tours available to purchase and presumably would allow us to go if we had waited to book one there – but seeing as it was a challenge to get to Cusco and we had a very small window, we left NOTHING to chance.
Apparently, you can also hire guides at the entrance of the site once you get there for about $50 USD or so (according to my research on TripAdvisor). However, I will say that even if we didn’t need one, we’d book the tour again – because they took care of our visas and all of our bus, train and admission tickets and we didn’t have to worry about any of it, or exchanging money, etc. (except for tipping our guide). We booked our tour through Llama Path Tours – which Riley had used when he was there back in 2014 and we had an amazing time. Our guide was excellent and offered to take a TON of pictures of us.
Other Notes on Machu Picchu
Shift Times & Re-Entry
When we got there, we learned we had the early “shift” – in order to get as many people as possible through the site each day, they operate in two 4-hour shifts. You are only allowed 1 re-entry for your shift and you cannot enter after your 4-hour window. So, we arrived with our guide, did the tour of the ruins with him, and then re-entered before our 4-hour window was up.
Sun Gate Machu Picchu
After we re-entered, we did the Sun Gate hike which took about an hour and a half and moseyed around some of the areas we wanted to check out again. (We didn’t opt to pay the extra fee to hike Huayna Picchu – plus you also need a separate reservation to do that and we didn’t want to bother. Plus, the hike is apparently VERY steep and isn’t for the faint of heart or first-time hiker.) We were really happy with Sun Gate (which is included in your admission). The terrain has a medium grade and the path is basically made up of giant rocks – so I recommend wearing some very sturdy shoes. It can get a little treacherous, but if you’re not a stranger to hiking, you should be okay. Always make sure to consider your own abilities – it might not be a bad idea to test out the trail before committing to hiking all the way up.
The other awesome thing about Sun Gate was that we finally got to see some llamas – they literally just hiked up the pathway with everyone else. They were great sports about taking selfies with me!
Bathrooms
As far as I saw, the bathrooms are only outside of the site. So before we went back in the second time, after our tour with our guide, I took a bathroom break. You also have to pay to use them – I believe it was 2 or 3 Sol. Andddd a note on my previous Sun Gate hike – if your schedule doesn’t allow, it might be a decent place for a bio break, if you know what I mean.
Drinking Water
Much like the rest of South America, it is not advisable to drink the water. We brought a small Osprey backpack with a removable Platypus bladder and filled it up with large bottles of water we purchased when we got into Cusco. The price for bottled water is actually very reasonable. We also took this to Machu Picchu with us, which definitely came in handy!
Packing for Peru: What to Bring to Machu Picchu
Again, the biggest tip I have is to dress in layers. Since we went at the end of May, we knew there was going to be a lot of temperature fluctuation. (Also, please note, we had limited time in Cusco so we did not do a multi-day hike. We stayed in Cusco for 4 days and did the day trip to Machu Picchu – so this is what I brought for 1 day). I wore gym shoes and socks, workout leggings, a sports bra, a tank top, a backless sweat-wicking long sleeve shirt, the ultra-light down jacket (similar here) and brought a light scarf with (which I ended up needing in the morning!). Riley wore a hat and definitely felt like he needed it. We also brought some Cliff bars, the water bladder, bug spray and LOTS of sunscreen.
For the rest of the trip, I brought comfy walking shoes, one nice pair of wedges, jeans, a few tops, a maxi dress, a couple pairs of shorts, a maxi skirt, a few tank tops and a few bathing suits. Cusco is pretty casual and it can get really cold in the evenings, so don’t worry too much about your outfits. Just make sure all your pieces can create multiple outfits that you can layer up in!
Best Photo Spots in Machu Picchu
If you’ve gathered anything from this post, you’re probably aware by now that there are no bad angles of Machu Picchu. Here are a couple of my other favorite spots of the site – and also in Cusco as well:
- Sun Gate Machu Picchu – if you get all the way to the top there’s a ledge you can sit on and get some shots of Machu Picchu in the distance!
- The Guard Tower – this landmark is on the way back down from Sun Gate, it’s one of the best aerial views of the ruins and of Huayna Picchu. Almost makes it look like a fish eye lens!
- The terrace farm ledges – if you look down when you enter the site, you will see some gigantic ledges that are seemingly built into the mountain. This is how the Incans were able to farm at such high altitudes with limited space. They offer a really cool perspective!
Best Photo Spots in Cusco:
- San Blas Cusco – hike up to San Blas and check out the lively scene at the market. You’ll also see some pretty incredible views of the main city too!
- Sacsayhuamaán – as I noted above, we did Sacsayhuamán our first full day in Cusco to get our hiking legs about us. The walk up is gorgeous and you will find tons of cobblestone streets and winding alleyways. Once you get up to Sacsayhuamán, try to find the lookout area that will give you beautiful panoramic views of all of Cusco.
- Paddy’s Irish Pub – while it’s basically just an Irish pub, it does have an incredible view of the main square in Cusco. Try to weave your way to the second room and snag a table by the balcony doors!
Peru Itinerary: 4 Days in Cusco & Machu Picchu
- Day 1: Cusco - arrive around 11:30 AM, check in to the hotel, acclimate with coca tea, explore the main square and Cusco proper, locate the nearest grocery store to buy bottles of water, snacks, etc. and eat dinner at Chicha
- Day 2: Cusco - breakfast at the hotel, warm-up hike to Sacsayhuamán, lunch (and ceviche) at Organika, quick nap, drinks at the hotel bar (with a complimentary Pisco Sour from the hotel!), dinner at LIMO Asian-fusion restaurant
- Day 3: Machu Picchu - EARLY 3:45 AM wakeup and pickup for Machu Picchu, arrive to Aguas Calientes, explore Machu Picchu, stop at Mapacho for lunch, haggle at the markets, train/car back to Cusco, dinner at McDonalds
- Day 4: Cusco - breakfast at the hotel, hike up to San Blas, visit the San Blas Market, shop at some of the stores near the main square, bar hop from Paddy’s to the Museo de Pisco, tapas lunch at the Museo de Pisco, dinner at the Inka Grill
Have more questions? Is there something I missed or you want to know more about? Feel free to leave a comment here!