Published on Sep, 2024
Amazing well organized trip to Machu Picchu. Aludi (Celeste) arranged everything - train, hotel, bus, MP tickets, guide - all I had to do was show up. It would have been a lot work to book myself. Greeted by guide at the Aguas Calientes, walked me to my hotel to store my over night bag (only bring a personal sized bag, no carry on size - no room on train) and then walked me to the bus stop to MP. Took my wife and my picture to send to the guide at MP. Arrived at MP and the guide found us. No sign with our name. Just stand in one spot and the guide will find you. Aludi selects excellent guides - Manuel had a ton of info. Guide was a private guide. This is one of the distinguishing things about Aludi vs larger operators. Aludi provides a private guide vs large groups with the large tour operators like Gate1. We stopped at more places for more history vs large groups. We took route #2. The first part is a climb to the infamous spot to take a picture of MP below. It is all modern stone to get up there - moderate effort to get up there - will need a couple of rests before getting to the top. If you are out of shape, it will be an effort. After that, we entered MP and walked around. Guide gave detailed history for each area we visited. At the end, the guide took the bus back with us and gave us directions to our restaurant - lunch was included. Lunch was a 3 course meal with lots of options. Aludi's selection of hotel and restaurant were great. I would not have found them on my own. The only decision I had to make was where to eat dinner night 1 and lunch day 2. The hotel had several highly rated restaurants within a 1 minute walk.
Another feature of Aludi is customization vs large tour operators. Large operators have some optional tours but no customization. We went to MP a 2nd day (not possible with larger operators) - originally to climb MP mountain - but it was too difficult for my wife, so we took route 3 instead. We did not go to Lake Titicaca as that would have been a long bus ride. Aludi did offer a train, but that was expensive. The cost/benefit was not there for me. Large operators would not offer any options and you would have to take a very long bus ride (train is not an option unless you go on your own and meet up later with the group).
