Machu Picchu: One of the greatest wonders of the world. You must check this off your bucket list at least once in your life.

Situated in the Sacred Valley, the Lost City of the Incas is definitely not “lost” anymore. There are many ways to travel to Machu Picchu Pablo aka Aguas Calientes, the base area below the ruins. I took the easiest route. I booked train tickets on PeruRail prior to arriving in Peru and took the train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes. By the way, the only way to get to Machu Picchu is by train, so please be prompt as the train will leave without you if you are not on time. There are no other options besides the train if you miss it. Once I arrived in Aguas Calientes, I realized the small village was completely car-free (besides the buses that transport you to Machu Picchu City). Get ready to walk! Pack lightly if possible!

Here are 5 money saving tips for Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu City.

1. Water: If possible, load up on bottled water prior to arriving in Aguas Calientes. Since Aguas Calientes is very isolated, it is a complete tourist trap when it comes to prices. Get ready for 8 soles bottled water at most places. Your hotel may have better prices, but again be prepared.
2. Souvenirs: I’d suggest not purchasing any souvenirs from Aguas Calientes. You can purchase the same Machu Picchu souvenirs for a better price in Cusco or Lima. At first, I did try to negotiate with the lady in the small shop, but she would not budge. She was probably used to getting whatever price she set since, again, Aguas Calientes is so isolated.
3. Machu Picchu Food: There is a buffet restaurant and a small fast-food style cafe before the entrance of Machu Picchu. They are both owned by the same luxury hotel, so the food is quite good. The price for the buffet is about $40 USD per person. I do not think this is worth it since who wants to eat a huge lunch before or after hiking so much!! Also, there are no bathrooms once you enter Machu Picchu. On the other hand, the small cafe was great. There you can get pizza, quiche, a sandwich, fries, cheeseburgers, fruit, etc. What I did was I packed a few snacks in my backpack, toured Machu Picchu and have a protein bar and then headed to the cafe for a small lunch. After lunch, I re-entered Machu Picchu and hiked up to the SunGate and had another snack. If you do decide to pack snacks/lunch, please realize there are no garbage cans in the Lost City, so be mindful of the environment and do not litter 🙂
4. Machu Picchu Tour Guide: Instead of hiring a tour guide prior to your trip or even in Aguas Calientes, once you get to the entrance of Machu Picchu, there are many authorized tour guides trying to get smaller groups together. I was in a small tour with 3 others and it was perfect. It lasted 3 hours and he went through the history of basically all the different areas of the Lost City, as well as spoke great English. He charged a group rate of 200 soles including tip for 4 of us, which came to about 50 soles or $15 USD a person. I think he might have charged us a little more than normal since we did not negotiate, but I was OK with spending 15 dollars to get a tour of Machu Picchu. I’m sure we could have haggled down to 150 soles or even 120 soles for the 4 of us, but it was not worth the haggling since our tour guide was exceptional. $15 USD seemed like a bargain to me!
5. Bus and Machu Picchu Ticket: Please make sure to book your ticket to Machu Picchu ahead of your trip to Peru. Also, make sure you have the printed copy of your ticket and your passport! When I was there, I saw a group of college boys who unfortunately spent upwards of an hour haggling with the entrance attendants of Machu Picchu because they did not have their tickets. You are NOT allowed to purchase tickets at the entrance of Machu Picchu. If for some reason you did not purchase prior to your trip, you can still purchase tickets in Aguas Calientes, but if you already paid the $24 USD on the roundtrip bus ticket (the ticket counter actually prefers you to pay in USD so please make sure you have some US currency with you), you would have to take the bus back down to Aguas Calientes to purchase the ticket and purchase another roundtrip bus ticket. That bus ride takes about 20 minutes. Do not make this mistake.