Machu Picchu Guidebook: A Self-Guided Tour Paperback – Illustrated, February 1, 2004

I'm a spaz. Anything that goes into my backpack better be dang worth the extra weight. This book 100% was. We hiked 5 days to Macchu Picchu and on the day we arrived 2 of our 5 had food poisoning. They hung outside the bathrooms and didn't even go in while the rest of us went on our tour.At first, I was bummed because I didn't use the book at all! The tour moved quickly and I didn't have time to take it out; just followed along, snapping pictures and listening to the guide.Now thankfully (Ha, I know they would not agree), my friends with food poisoning missed the tour. We ended up staying in Aguas C for a 2nd day so that the next day we could take the bus back up to MP and they could see what they just spent a ton of money and 5 days hiking to see :). That's when I got a chance to whip out this book and CRAP! It was fantastic. There was so much in here that our tour guide did not mention. Photos and descriptions; it was fantastic!Now: what I would actually recommend so that you get the best experience (heck, you prob only come here once), is get a tour guide and take his/her tour. They will show you around and also give you a chance to get familiar with the layout. They give you great information, great personal experience, etc. Plus they are pretty cheap. THEN either come up the next day, or I am sure your tour isn't that long. Then have this book and walk around by yourself. Lay out in a grassy area, and read up. Then walk around and read while you see what is in the book. The book also has great photos so now 6 months later when I pick it up, I see the photo, I see the description and then i remember how awesome it was. I'm horribly unorganized so my photos from the trip are great, but nothing is labeled so I've forgotten a lot of it. The book is worth keeping after the trip to remember the details.I also always buy a Fodor's or Lonely Planet book and then highlight or staple in menus. tickets, write notes in the pages about things we did. Such a fun way to reflect back on a trip!

Read for an important note for anyone visiting Machu PIcchu post-pandemic.This book is *the* best one out there for getting into the specifics of the individual structures of Machu Picchu for a visit. Other guidebooks may have a short section on Machu Picchu; this one is *entirely* about the lost city. In great detail, by an author/authority who spent many years researching it and visiting it.However, post-pandemic, Machu Picchu has completely re-done how you can visit the entire site. You are no longer permitted to wander the site freely, which is what this book was designed for and would be most useful for. You can now visit *only* by buying tickets to specific "circuits" that take you through the site one time only, in one direction, on a path. The good news about this is that it now never feels crowded and the number of visitors is strictly limited and enforced.This has the unfortunate side effect of rendering this book much less of a practical guide for when you're there, and instead turns it into more of a reference book.It still is GREAT, and I'd highly recommend it if you are headed to Machu Picchu-- its depth of information is excellent, and will give you a finer appreciation of the things you do see. (Also, hire a guide for your time there, for sure... there are plenty that solicit you on the spot or in town, you won't have trouble getting one and they're licensed and regulated.) So this book is still worth picking up. Just know that you won't be able to use it to just wander and explore the ruins, as it was intended. And that policy is unlikely to change.

I just returned from a trip to Macchu Picchu. I managed to do the 4 day Classic Inca Trek to Macchu Picchu and carrying along this book for 4 days was well worth the efforts. There are divided sections at MP and this book tells you all about it and the best way to tour it. There are detailed maps, drawings, and pictures of the entire area along with what everything was used for and the history.There are also some additional hikes to do while you are there and I would insist that you also visit Huaynu Picchu as it is every bit as fascinating and the views of MP from the tip top are stunning!I would recommend studying it a bit before you leave. It is impossible to read the whole book while you are there and walking around, not to mention you really want to be in the moment and not worrying about too many details. I would say read the book and use it while you are there to navigate to the important things you don't want to miss. If you are visiting MP, it is a must read!

This is a must-read just before a trip to Machu Picchu if you want to have some perspective on what you're looking at and what you're walking through. It does a great job of breaking down areas of Machu Picchu into easy to follow sections which are marked on the site map (included). I took it to a local shop to add a spiral binding (for a few dollars, well worth it). Reading it in advance helped in discussions with the group guide and since some of what he was saying wasn't new, I had the "oh wow here it is" not the "what did he say this was" feeling, which made the whole experience more comfortable, inspiring and less rushed. We had two days there in total, that still wasn't enough but I can always read the book again to bring it back. FYI: When we hiked up Huayna Picchu in May 2016 (take it seriously) the loop for the summit was mandatory one-way clockwise, which is different from the graphic/info in the book which recommends counter-clockwise (I assume when this was published hikers could choose for themselves).