| The Ruins of the Citadel | | | | The views from the train, as it winds and ascends |
| Photographs of the citadel just don't do it justice. Only | | | | through the mists, can be spectacular, but the most |
| people who take holidays to Machu Picchu will be able | | | | intimate sense of this region of Peru will come from |
| to properly understand the height at which the ruins | | | | trekking under your own power up an Inca trail. Tours |
| hang in the mountainside. At an altitude of 2430 | | | | start from several locations, depending on how |
| metres, the city achieves an amazing perspective | | | | strenuous you want your walk to be and long you |
| over the valley below, with breathtaking views in all | | | | would like to spend in the mountain environment. Some |
| directions. | | | | Inca trail tours start and finish in the city of Cuzco fifty |
| You will marvel that the Incas were able to build a | | | | miles away, others incorporate other mountains and |
| citadel in such steep inclines in the mountain, which also | | | | valleys. |
| takes the name Machu Picchu. Tours here will lead | | | | There are a several tailor-made Inca trail tours which |
| you up the terraced hillside into the buildings | | | | combine trekking with the bus and train making |
| constructed without mortar from carved bricks, and | | | | holidays to Machu Picchu into complete experiences. |
| using rudimentary tools. The Incas were able to | | | | Porters, cooks, guides and transportation will be |
| incorporate irrigation channels that still run spring water | | | | included. |
| along its terraces. | | | | Where to Stay |
| After the occupation of Peru by the Spanish | | | | The Hotel Inkaterra Machu Picchu is a good place |
| Conquistadors, the city was abandoned and forgotten, | | | | from which to start your Machu Picchu tours. It is |
| becoming the "Lost City of the Incas". Since it was | | | | conveniently positioned among large private gardens at |
| rediscovered in 1911 - centuries later - it has become | | | | the foot of the mountain, in a village called Aguas |
| one of South America's most important tourist | | | | Calientes, which is where the train stops. In the luxury |
| attractions, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors | | | | hotel's 'cloud forest' garden you could find any of |
| every year. But now, because of its popularity, Machu | | | | hundreds of species of orchids, birds and butterflies. |
| Picchu tours are restricted in how many people they | | | | The ruins are just a fifteen minute bus ride away. |
| are allowed to bring to the site. This is part of a new | | | | If that's not close enough for you, there's the option of |
| conservation statute to try to curb the effect the vast | | | | spending some time on your Machu Picchu vacations |
| volume of tourists has had on this historical wonder, | | | | at a small hotel at the ruins themselves. The |
| and reduce the impact thousands of footsteps make | | | | accommodation, called the Machu Picchu Sanctuary |
| on the paths and trails of the Lost City. | | | | Lodge, is decorated in Peruvian style, but its main |
| Getting to Machu Picchu | | | | appeal is the view, and the opportunity to better |
| There are a variety of options for getting to the citadel | | | | imagine the tranquillity and isolation of the lost city by |
| with a number of Machu Picchu tours. You can get to | | | | seeing the site without the tourist crowds. |
| the area by train or bus, on foot, or a combination of | | | | However long you spend at this wonder of the world, |
| these. The journey up the mountain is a great | | | | your holidays to Machu Picchu are certain to be |
| opportunity to get an impression of the landscape and | | | | memorable. |
| a feel for the Inca territory. | | | | |