I’ve been debating whether or not to visit Machu Picchu since I decided to travel to South America.

And before you start yelling, “Of course you should visit! Are you insane?” Let me give you the facts.

I’m not a hiker. Hiking is in fact one of my least favourite things to do. I’ll happily walk cities for days, block after block with no problems at all. But hiking through the wilderness, just doesn’t float my boat.

This may be because I’m not overly stable on my feet, my knees just don’t like being putting under the stress of uneven ground, or it might just be a bit of laziness.

But that’s not to say that I haven’t hiked amazing places. Temples in Cambodia, castles in Scotland, and cliffs in Ireland I’ve tackled enthusiastically. For me, short distance is the key. If it’s a really spectacular place that I only need to hike a short time to get to, then yes hike I will.

So back to Machu Picchu. The ‘usual’ way that visitors get there is by taking the 4 day Inca Trail trek. Hiking approximately 12km each day through stunningly beautiful scenery, and finally reaching Machu Picchu’s Sun Gate peak on the final day. This trek is on many people’s bucket lists.

It is however an expensive bucket list item, everything Machu Picchu is expensive. 6 day trek tours starting and returning to Cusco start at around $1,200 and increase from there depending on any additional locations you might want to visit.

As I’m a budget traveler and also not overly interested in hiking, a second option appealed to me. There’s a bus then train route that travels from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, then continues up into Machu Picchu. Over a couple of hours you can sit back and relax in comfort, enjoying the scenery as you ascend. This is much more my style, but again it’s expensive. The lowest 1 day tour price that I’ve found is $530AUD. Whilst this includes all entry and travel costs as well as an English-speaking guide, when I’m on a $50AUD per day budget, it’s quite the splurge.

So not knowing what to do or whether Machu Picchu is worth the money or the effort I did what any good traveler would do – put it on Facebook.

Luckily for me I have friends who have been to South America, are desperate to go or are currently there. This week fantastic advice was given to me which has been excellent.

So what’s my decision? Am I going to travel all the way through this huge cultural continent and not visit one of the most popular and reportedly spectacular places in all of the world?

No I’m not missing it, I’m going to take the train.

A couple of days ago I was planning to book the $530, 1 day tour. I’ve read and been told about the 500 person per day limit Machu Picchu officials enforce. According to the large international tour companies, these places are taken months ahead and the only way to get into Machu Picchu is by booking well in advance.

However a friend of mine is currently in Peru and was at Machu Picchu earlier this week. She said they were able to book a train tour the night before with no problems at all for only $210USD. The guide even told her that in peak season the maximum wait is only 3 days.

So my mind is made up. I’m just going to book when I get there. I’m fortunate to have flexibility in this trip. Since I will be in Cusco at the beginning of August in the middle of peak season, if I need to wait a day or two to get on a tour, that’s not a problem.

In the end I asked myself, “How many chances might I get to visit this beautiful, remote, world heritage listed site?” The answer, probably not enough to skip it this time.

Feature image credit: David Stanley