PLANNING MACHU PICCHU

PLANNING MACHU PICCHU was difficult with the small amount of time we had available in Cusco thus access to viable information leading up to the trip to Machu Picchu to make a decision.  When you arrive in Cusco, you will see tour offices on every street by the handful and it is daunting when searching for the right trip.  We only had an afternoon to plan this trip so we got stuck going with the first tour office we went into, so after, I made a list of all the prices and talked to some other travelers to compare.  In total, we spent 250 USD for a one day, two night trip to Machu Picchu covering transportation and rooms.  Other travelers with different tour offices seemed to pay similar prices, but here is the break down for your knowledge...

   Train tickets from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes were 55 USD and 70 USD through Inca Rail.  Peru Rail exists as a competitor but only offer similar pricing.
    Bus tickets from Aguas Calientes up to Machu Picchu cost 18.50 USD for a round trip, so if you want to cut corners with cost, you could easily walk it.
    Machu Picchu and Mountana entrance ticket itself cost 50.50 for the day.

This totals out at 194 USD, so the rest was spent on our room in Aguas Calientes, transportation to Ollantaytambo and back and the rest, their profits.  Profits seem to be negligible so getting a tour office to make these plans for you seems reasonable, but again if you want to make things slightly cheaper, you can definitely make these plans on your own to attempt to do so.  Other than the option I have made available here, there are other options to get to Machu Picchu i.e. multipe day hiking treks.  I only spoke to one person regarding such and he quoted me 250 USD as well, but these prices vary greatly and can get expensive to do the Inca Trail and other hikes.