We had a Once-in-a-Lifetime Visit to Machu Picchu (Now We Know What it’s Really Like )

I’ve wanted to visit Machu Picchu for many years. I loved the idea of lacing up my hiking boots and following a path built by the Incas through the mountains right into this legendary archeological site. I imagined that it would be busy, of course, but I hadn’t fully anticipated what it’s like to visit a wildly popular world heritage site with global tourism on the rise. Whoops.

Our journey to Peru was an adventure in three chapters. First, soaking in the history and culture of Peru’s highlands in Cusco. Next, an epic and somewhat luxurious trek over one of Peru’s steep mountain ranges. Finally, joining the tourist throngs for a look at Machu Picchu, a sight that seems to be on everyone’s bucket list.

Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a direct flight from Toronto to Cusco. After three flights, a slow-moving line at passport control, one night in a transit hotel in Lima, and a final hop to Cusco, our visit to Peru officially began. 

A week in Cusco

Cusco turned out to be more beautiful than we expected, particularly the well-preserved old town. The historic centre features colonial architecture sitting on top of impressive Inca foundations. As every guide book mentions, the Incas were master engineers and fit their building blocks together perfectly without any need for mortar. 

I anticipated a battle with altitude sickness, so we took every precaution: no alcohol, lots of water, a light itinerary, and many, many cups of coca tea (which turned out to be an excellent substitute for coffee). We also made sure to follow the mountaineering strategy of hiking high and sleeping low; every evening, we did a steep walk up to one of Cusco’s many lookout points to take in the views.

Since we were staying for a full week, we booked an Airbnb with a kitchen so that we could prepare breakfasts and stretch out in the living room. It turned out to be a charming little apartment in a historic building overlooking a pleasant, leafy square.  

That said, our full week in Cusco turned out to be a bit more time than we needed. Sure, we had ample opportunity to find our favourite restaurants, but we found it a little tiring to face down all the touts and vendors every time we crossed the Plaza Mayor, which was multiple times a day.

The tourist hazards came in the form of young men selling artwork; young women selling massage services (apparently on behalf of legitimate businesses, based on our research); and little girls and mature women dressed in traditional garb selling photo opportunities with baby llamas (who would certainly be better off with their mamas). 

Top picks for Cusco

Despite the onslaught, we still enjoyed Cusco and would recommend at least a few days here to learn more about Peru history and culture. Here were our favourite activities:

• A guided tour of Cusco’s most significant archeological sites including Saqsaywaman, Q’enco, and Qorikancha. This can certainly be done as an independent activity using buses, Uber or the more popular local app Indrive but we appreciated having a guide along to explain the sites in detail

• Shopping for trail snacks in the lively San Pedro market. Often markets in historic centres are geared more towards tourists; this one is still popular with the locals — especially if you visit on a Sunday when whole families are crowded into the food stalls for lunch.

• Wandering through San Blas, a traditional neighbourhood with hipster boutiques and plenty of photo opportunities on its steep, narrow streets

• A whirl through the small, well organised Pre-Columbian Art Museum. There are a few museums in town but I chose this one because it was particularly well reviewed on Google versus the others.

• Early evening strolls up to miradors or lookout points, particularly San Cristobal, Cristo Blanco, and San Blas. Cusco looks quite spectacular from up high, ringed by green mountains. 

• Making repeat visits to standout restaurants for Peruvian classics and vegetarian fare, including Qura, Yaku, Vida Vegan, Organika, Chakruna Native Burgers, and Jack’s Cafe.

We decided not to hop onto one of the many day trips to Rainbow Mountain. It’s a six-hour round trip from Cusco — more time in a van than I was interested in — and we had plenty of mountain climbing on our itinerary already. 

Hiking the Salkantay Trail

There are a number of ways to hike to Machu Picchu. The most popular route is, of course, via the Inca Trail. This is the only way to hike right into the site itself, thereby avoiding the tourist swarm at the Aguas Calientes, the feeder town for Machu Picchu — and would presumably provide the most magical experience on the day of the visit. 

This is the hike that I had always expected to do and was even ready to book in early 2023 — until political unrest broke out in Peru and we were forced to change our travel plans. When we started thinking about Peru again, we noticed that there was a major Black Friday discount available for the Salkantay trek from Mountain Lodges of Peru, one of the country’s premier trekking companies. We couldn’t resist. 

Instead of three nights of camping on the crowded Inca Trail — with no showers after those long, hard days of hiking — we signed up for a very comfortable 7-day lodge-to-lodge trek. The route took us over the chilly Salkantay pass at an elevation of 4,630 metres or 15,000 feet — a tough but manageable hike. Then we made our way through the cloud forest over the subsequent days and eventually to the town of Aguas Calientes, positioning ourselves for our visit to Machu Picchu.

Over the course of the trek, we had challenging mornings of hiking and then lazy afternoons in cosy lodges tucked in the mountains. A glass of wine in the hot tub while we take in the views? Fine by me.

There were also cultural activities along the way that made our trek feel extra special. We took part in a mountaintop ceremony with a shaman; we sampled Pachamanca, an ancient form of barbeque that involves burying food under hot rocks; we sipped freshly roasted coffee (and some local hooch) at a family-run plantation.

We took a chance and booked a less expensive trip at the tail end of the rainy season. This put us in a small group of six hikers with one guide, which meant that we were well catered to in every lodge. However, it also meant that we had to hike through the rain on a few occasions and take some detours to avoid landslides.

The upside of hiking in March was that our group was largely alone on the trail the entire time, rarely encountering other hikers. The only traffic was the occasional line of horses carrying supplies into the villages. Of course, the quiet and the feeling of exclusivity melted away the moment we neared Aguas Calientes.

Visiting Machu Picchu

The moment had finally arrived. After a week in Cusco and another week on the Salkantay trail, we were finally getting our chance to visit Machu Picchu.

The day started at 4am. That gave us just enough time to freshen up and then pack up our lovely room at InkaTerra, one of the finest hotels in Aguas Calientes. We had breakfast at 5am and checked out at 6am, leaving us enough time to make our 7am admission at Machu Picchu.

We joined a shockingly long lineup of fellow 7am visitors in downtown Aguas Calientes; showed our bus tickets and passports to the officials; and were eventually swept onto one of the many shuttle buses making the 30-minute hairpin drive up to the site.  

If this all sounds like a highly regimented experience, it most certainly was. I might have been hoping for a few quiet moments to commune with one of the wonders of the world, but this was not going to be that day. 

Technically we were there during a quieter time of year, although it certainly didn’t feel that way as we joined one lineup to visit the washroom, another to go through the entrance turnstile and a final lineup to climb our way up the stairs into the site. Given the crowds we faced, I wouldn’t want to imagine a busy day when the site hits its limit of 5,000 visitors. 

Once inside, there was no possibility of wandering aimlessly on our own; we had to follow our guide along the official circuit we had been assigned to, stopping regularly to hear the highlights.  

The main disadvantage of our March visit was that the entire site was shrouded in heavy clouds when we first arrived. If your priority is to capture sunny views of Machu Picchu, spring is definitely not the best time. 

Fortunately, none of this detracted too much from the grandeur of Machu Picchu. The clouds eventually lifted over the course of our three-hour visit and the site was expansive enough that the tour groups could space out from each other. We left feeling truly awed by this archeological treasure but also thankful that we weren’t there in peak season. 

How much it cost

Now for the final bill: how much did this once-in-a-lifetime visit to Peru set us back? In fact, it was a lot more than we care to admit. We’re used to the costs associated with slow travel where we spend a couple months in a country. We normally take advantage of Airbnb monthly discounts, cook most of our meals at home and visit major attractions on our own, not with a tour.

With this visit to Peru, we did it all as time-pressed tourists. We stayed in an Airbnb for a week at a very reasonable cost of $298 USD but stayed four nights in hotels for a cost of $336 USD. Accommodations came in at a total of $634 USD.

Our entertainment in Cusco was a little spendy at $146 USD. This included entrance fees to sites plus the extravagance of a private guided tour. The tour was a great way to see all the major sites in one day but, if I was looking to cut costs, that would be the first item to go.

Our food for the Cusco portion of the trip came in at a total of $410 USD, which is $37 per day. This is on the high end for us as we typically do a lot more cooking at our Airbnb but we weren’t interested in stocking up on groceries for such a short trip. 

Our lunches and dinners out ranged from $18 to $25 USD for two people; this was for eating in restaurants that catered to tourists, not locals (as an alternative, the San Pedro market is the place to go for meals at local prices). We didn’t drink much alcohol in order to stave off altitude sickness but some of the local drinks like chicha morada were just as expensive as a cocktail.

Our 7-day lodge-to-lodge trek through Salkantay was an all-inclusive experience that cost a hefty $1,628 USD per person — and this was the Black Friday discount of 50% off the low-season rate. I never would have convinced Gillian to go on a luxury trek at full price but she was more than happy to snap up this deal. 

We also paid an additional $150 USD for gratuities for our amazing guide and also the porters who carried our luggage on the last day within the national park (horses did that job on the previous days but they are not allowed with the park).

Our total spend for just over two weeks in Peru was $4,445 USD. It’s a lot more than our usual budget for a month of slow travel but, then again, our usual month doesn’t include unlimited pisco sours and a nightly turn-down service.  

Final take on Peru and Machu Picchu

To be honest, if visiting Machu Picchu had been the sole focus of our trip, working to a tight timeline and shuffling along with the other tourists would have been a disappointment. 

Fortunately, we considered the visit to Machu Picchu to be just one part of our journey to Peru. It was a highlight of the trip but not the only highlight. If anything, the trek was really the best part of the trip, particularly our triumphant crossing of the Salkantay Pass and then finally arriving in the lodge after a cold and rainy descent. 

We’ve never done a luxury-calibre trek before — certainly we’ve never had staff whisk away our wet, muddy outerwear and settle us in front of a fire with cocktails and empanadas — but it was an absolutely delightful way to experience Peru without the crowds.