TOURS
IN CUSCO AND MACHU PICCHU, ECONOMICS.
Do you want to travel
to Cusco or Machu Picchu without spending much? Have you ever wondered, what is
the best way to travel to these two beautiful tourist destinations of Peru? and
what is the best option to do so?
The city of Cusco is one of the most beautiful
and visited of all Peru. Its Inca and colonial architecture makes of it unique
in all America and its people is considered as very friendly and helpful, but
how cheap is it to travel to these two tourist destinations and what is the
best way to do it.
Transportation:
Cusco has an airport that has direct flights
from Colombia, Lima (the capital of Peru), Arequipa, Juliaca, Trujillo, Puerto
Maldonado (all these Peruvian cities) and La Paz (Bolivia). The prices of the
tickets vary according to the nationality of the passenger and according to the
airline that they choose. For example, if you are a Peruvian resident or you
are Peruvian and you want to travel from Lima to Cusco, all airlines will
charge you a special rate. However if you are not RESIDENT or if you are a FOREIGNER,
then LAN and AVIANCA (TACA) will charge you an additional approximate of USD $
179 that you must pay at the airport. On the other hand, companies like
Peruvian Airlines and Star Peru do not charge this additional and you can make
the purchase online and pay them with your Visa or MasterCard credit card.
Organized trips or buy them
directly in the city of Cusco:
Many travelers prefer to get to the city of
Cusco and buy tours in the same city, hoping to lower costs, but this is
totally relative and sometimes it can be annoying and even more expensive than
buying a package tour with everything organized. Many passengers arrive to the
city of Cusco in order to know the main attractions of the city, however these
are so many that one feels lost without knowing what to do and what place they
should visit first. Therefore, they choose to buy the tours in the small travel
agencies of the square or to take risks and to make the routes by oneself. Now
we will analyze what are the consequences of doing these two activities and
what are their disadvantages in front of an organized trip and with the advice
of experts in tourism.
Buy the tours in the same
city of Cusco.
It’s known that buying tours in the same city
is SOMETIMES cheaper than doing so in an organized package of trips; however,
you have to know that you run many risks in doing so. For example, be scammed
or receive a service of poor quality with what your trip to this beautiful city
becomes a nightmare instead of a pleasant and satisfying visit. There is also
the possibility that instead of saving, you had to pay more for receiving a
good service. For example, the rates in the city for a city tour (Traditional
City Tour) range from $ 15.00 to $ 18.00 and this is only services, that is,
transportation and tour guide (eye, this does not guarantee the state of the
transport or the level of the guide). If you want to enter each of the tourist
attractions, you would additionally have to pay for the income to each of the
tourist attractions increasing the cost. To avoid this there are two types of
tickets that group most of the tourist attractions that are visited during the
City Tour which are: PARTIAL TOURIST TICKET and the GENERAL TOURIST TICKET.
These two instruments will serve you a lot when deciding what places to visit
or how much time you have to visit the city and its surroundings, for example. If
you just want to visit the city and its main tourist attractions we recommend
you to buy the PARTIAL TOURIST TICKET, it allows you to save on income and
visit the main attractions of the city such as Sacsayhuaman, Qenqo, Puka
Pukara, Tambomachay, museums and other attractions as the entrance to the great
monument to the Inca Pachacuteq. But if you also have planned to visit the
Sacred Valley of the Incas or the South Valley of Cusco, that have excellent
tourist places worthy of being visited, then this ticket would only make your
trip more expensive since you would have to buy two tickets or PARTIAL TOURIST TICKETS, one for the city and another
for the Sacred Valley. To avoid this kind of inconvenience and extra expenses
there is the second tool that is the GENERAL TOURIST TICKET, which allows you
to visit both, the tourist attractions of the City Tour, the tourist attractions
of the Sacred Valley of the Incas and the Valley of the South, thus reducing
the costs. Taking this into consideration, an agency in the same city of Cusco
will charge you for the purchase of the ticket, for advice, transportation,
guide, etc., making the route more expensive.
Another clear example is the visit to Machu
Picchu. Without a doubt, visitors from all over the world arriving in the city
of Cusco have as objective to know one of the wonders of the world (Machu
Picchu) and for this, they have to make a trip of approximately 4 hours from
the city of Cusco towards Machu Picchu Town that is the district in which this
archeological wonder is located. For this, if you want to make the purchase of
the tickets separately you would have to take into consideration the time and
the number of visitors allowed per day since these are limited and subject to
availability. One of the big problems of buying the tour to Machu Picchu in the
same city of Cusco, is the excessive charge that is made for the service of
guidance and transportation. The agencies that work in the Plaza de Armas will
have to look for availability of trains, which sometimes do not exist, so to
get these prized tickets they will have to turn to other companies who will
charge the ticket more or wait for it some space on the train opens. This of
course will be reflected in your pocket since you will have to pay more for a
service that you could have paid less in an organized package of trips. Without
considering the state of the transport that will be used to transfer you to the
station of train that is to an hour and a half of Cusco and the extra amount
that you will be charged.
Well with these two clear examples of how to
handle the travel packages in Cusco, we will make a small comparison of costs so
that you leave your doubts and make the best decision regarding your next trip
to the city of Cusco and the archaeological center of Machu Picchu.
Example: Buy your
tours in the city of Cusco in the different travel agencies of the same city.
|
ONLY
SERVICES
|
PRICE
|
ADDITIONAL
|
TOTAL
|
|
CITY
TOUR
|
$ 15.00
|
$ 55.00 (General Ticket+Catedral+Qoricancha)
|
$ 70.00
|
|
SACRED
VALLEY
|
$ 18.00
|
$ 12.00 (Lunch in
the Sacred Valley)
|
$ 30.00
|
|
MARAS
MORAY
|
$ 18.00
|
$ 3.5 (ticket to Maras)
|
$ 21.50
|
|
MACHU
PICCHU
|
$ 225.53
|
Includes: Train,
Revenues, Bus Tickets and Guide
|
$ 260.00
|
|
TRANSPORTATION
|
$ 29.00
|
Towards
the train station plus taxis
|
$ 29.00
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
|
$ 410.50
|
TRAVEL PACKAGE, reserved with the proper
anticipation and without the risks of not finding the income to Machu Picchu or
the Train Tickets to Machu Picchu Pueblo.
ITINERARY:
- •
Day 1: Transfer to the selected hotel in the city of Cusco / in the
afternoon City Tour.
- •
Day 2: Sacred Valley of the Incas.
- •
Day 3: Maras - Moray.
- •
Day 4: Machu Picchu.
- •
Day 5: Transfer from your hotel in Cusco to the airport.
PRICE ONLY SERVICES: $ 400.00
PRICES WITH ACCOMMODATION SERVICE:
|
Category
|
Name of the Hotel
|
Price USD $
|
|
hostal
|
Inka's Paradise, Hostal Andenes de Saphi.
|
500.00
|
|
2 * *
|
El Triunfo, Hotel BozArt, Cusco Oblitas Casa hotel.
|
565.00
|
|
3 * * *
|
Casa Andina Classic Cusco, San Agustin Internacional, Best Western Los
Andes.
|
635.00
|
|
4 * * * *
|
Sonesta Cusco, Eco Inn Cusco, Costa del sol Ramada Cusco, Andean
Wings.
|
870.00
|
|
5 * * * * * *
|
Belmond Monasterio, JW Marriott El Convento Cusco, Aranwa Cusco Boutique.
|
1375.00
|
WHAT
INCLUDES?
- Transportation
Airport - hotel - Airport.
- Transportation to the train station of
Ollantaytambo.
- Transportation from Ollantaytambo train
station to Cusco.
- Lunch in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
- Bus to and from the archaeological
center of Machu Picchu.
- Entrance tickets (City tour, Sacred
Valley, Maras - Moray, Machu Picchu).
- Train
Tickets. (Tourist class of Peru Rail or Inca Rail).
- Professional tourism guide (English /
Spanish).
- Transportation and Professional Guide
for the City Tour, Sacred Valley of the Incas and Maras Moray.
As you will
see, often buying a scheduled tour in advance can be more economical and can be
less problematic than doing it in the same city of Cusco, avoiding the
aforementioned risks on revenue or train tickets to Machu Picchu Pueblo,
without considering the risk of poor attention, poor transportation service or frauds.
Choose
carefully and plan your trip to the city of Cusco and Machu Picchu, or allow
others to organize it to make your stay much more satisfactory and less
problematic.
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