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Machu Picchu is one of the dream destinations for many people as it was for us and fortunately, we can say that we have already visited this wonderful place.

However, something that made us uneasy was the reports of crowds invading the Machu Picchu, which might even be calling into question the integrity of this treasure in the long run. Something that has tended to worsen since Machu Picchu was chosen as one of the 7 wonders of the modern world, which even captivate more global interest.

Fortunately, the government of Peru, aware of the need to protect the wonder of the world decreed a daily limit of visitors and also a limit of 4 hours in the time of the visit that each person can remain within the space, what makes even more important for you to to acquire your entry ticket in advance, so you do not risk not entering and, you should think and decide about the time you will want to enter (learn more in our Machu Picchu article: 20 things you should know when planning your visit).

However, even with these changes, made in the search to decrease the number of visitors, there are still a lot of people visiting Machu Picchu daily and, there are times when you may have great difficulty in getting some quiet time during your visit, and whoever does this kind of travel, for sure wishes to have some does not want to make it always surrounded by other visitors.

Now let's be honest, it will be very difficult to be alone during your visit to Machu Picchu, but there are ways to be more alone or at least less surrounded by other visitors.

When to avoid going to Machu Picchu

Well, there are two months in which you should avoid even going to Machu Picchu, if you want to avoid crowds, it's the July and August. And the question of avoiding these months is because they are the most crowded months to visit Machu Picchu. This is due, among other reasons, to the fact that during these months academic holidays are taking place in many of the western countries, so it is used by many families to visit this destination. Of course, if you only have these months, we recommend that you go, nevertheless, you may have a chance to escape to the biggest crowds, but if you can go in months other than these, the better.

What is the best time of year to visit Machu Picchu?

In our article on: What is the best time of the year to visit Machu Picchu, we talk more about the theme, so we advise you to read to know more information before making your choice but, in a brief way, Machu Picchu will have only two wheater seasons, namely the dry season and the rainy season. The dry season runs from the middle of April until October and the rainy season runs from November to the middle of April.

If your goal is to avoid crowds, the best for you is to visit Machu Picchu in the rainy season, especially between November and the middle of April. However, when it rains in Machu Picchu, it may really rain, and spending the day in Machu Picchu with constant rainfall can make you lose some of the magic of the place and even be dangerous, especially for those who travel with children or, who have reduced mobility, because the place can get muddier and, you will walk on stones that, with the rain, become more slippery.

However, you can also pick up a few days without rain, which also occur, as well as some days when you can only catch rain for short periods of time, so you can still have a very pleasant visit. Do not forget only a question, when you buy your ticket, will do for a specific period of time on a given day, so you can not have the possibility to change your date if it rains immensely on the day of your visit.

Visiting in the dry season is more likely to result in better weather conditions during your visit but is also more likely to have larger crowds at your side. In this way, we can advise you, in addition to avoiding the months of July and August, to try to organize your trip closer to the beginning and end of the dry season, especially from the middle of April, May, and September, especially the second fortnight, and the month of October.

In these months, in addition to being more likely to avoid crowds, you are even more likely to catch up on good weather, and even if you can catch rainfall, chances are it will be small rainy moments that will not disturb your visit.

What is the best time of day to visit Machu Picchu?

We have also addressed this issue, so we also advise you to read our article on the best time of day to visit Machu Picchu. In order to avoid crowds, the secret is very simple, the periods during of the middle of the day are the ones to avoid so, plan your visit so that you can enter Machu Picchu at the time of opening, or closer to the end of the day.

So, since everything in Machu Picchu requires planning if you want to go in one of these periods, you will have to organize your trip to get there at one of these times, especially if you want to be one of the first visitors to Machu Picchu.

As mentioned before, you will have to buy your ticket in advance (click here to buy your ticket to Machu Picchu on the official website of the Peruvian government) and when you buy it, you should choose the entrance at 6am in the morning (when the doors open) or, more for the afternoon period, namely entering at 12 o'clock if you choose to stay near the end of the day.

Once you choose, you will need to organize yourself at the level of where to stay before your visit. Many people take the option of doing a day trip from Cusco to Machu Picchu, which, in our opinion, is extremely tiring and will lead to being in Machu Picchu in the hours of the highest flood, that is, in the middle of the day.

So, if you want to visit Machu Picchu at the beginning of the day, prepare yourself, that the enclosure opens at 6am and you will have to take the first bus that goes up from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu, which departs at 05:30. The point is that the first bus, or rather the first three buses, depart at 5:30 a.m. and each takes about 30 passengers, so to be one of the first to make this trip of about 20 minutes from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu, you will have to be in the queue well before 5:30, to secure his place. We recommend that to be sure of your place, that it is at least until 4:30 in the queue, being that in high season, it may be even earlier.

If you decide to take the route from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu on foot, you will have to reserve at least about 1h30 for the walk.

If the decision is to go by bus, we advise you to buy the bus tickets the day before, as you can learn more by reading our Machu Picchu article, 20things you should know when planning your visit.

As there is no train that will allow you to get to Aguas Calientes so early, you should make the trip to Aguas Calientes the day before and stay the night before in that locality.

If you choose to visit Machu Picchu in the afternoon, this no longer obliges you to stay in Aguas Calientes the previous day, you can stay in Cusco (which makes the day very tiring) or opt for another location, such as Ollantaytambo, for a most relaxed day (see here our article: Cusco or Ollantaytambo: What is the best place to stay before your visit to Mach Picchu and the Sacred Valley of the Incas?).

However, when booking your train schedule, please be careful about your return, as you will need to book a train that departs more at night if you do not stay in Aguas Calientes.

Conclusions

If you are reading this post, it is because you most likely dream of visiting Machu Picchu and maybe are even planning your visit. But as a result of being such a wonderful attraction, more and more people want to visit it, so from all over the world, there are people planning their visit every year.

Therefore, it is not at all possible to have Machu Picchu just for us, as we have seen in dozens of photographs, and the truth is that many photographs are taken with Machu Picchu stuffed with tourists. However, there are ways to seek to visit Machu Picchu by avoiding the floods or at least that the floods are not so great.

So, the solution is to ally the best months mentioned above, with the best times. We recommend the end of April and May, as well as the end of September and October, and also the beginning or the end of the days. However, something that is not much referred to, is that Machu Picchu is generally less populated in the late afternoon than early in the morning, especially from 4 pm, moments when we feel we had the best time on our visit to Machu Picchu.

We really hope that our ideas help you to prepare for your visit and if you are planning your trip to Machu Picchu, we always do our reservations with booking, they are our partners and its with them that we get the best deals. You can look for the best deals by clicking here, it won't cost you any money and, it helps us to support our blog.

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We would also like to invite you to leave your opinion and questions and, in case you have already visited Machu Picchu, let us know about your experience using our comments box. Thanks for your visit to our Non Stop Family Travel Blog, come back often and, if you liked our article, don’t forget to share it with your friends.

If you are planning your visit to Peru, here is a list of some of our destination-related posts that are sure to be very helpful in organizing your itinerary:

- 10 reasons why you should visit Lima
- 20 things you should know when planning your trip to Machu Picchu
- What is the Sacred Valley of the Incas? What to see in the Sacred Valley, Peru
- Sacred City of Caral-Supe: Best day-trip from Lima
- How to visit the Rainbow Mountain in Peru? Things to know when planning your trip

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Cascais is a Portuguese village by the sea, whose beauty and charm has been increasingly discovered by those who visit Portugal and, especially Lisbon. Within a short distance of Lisbon, about 30 kilometers away, it is becoming more frequent among visitors to Lisbon to do a day trip to know its wonders. Wonders such as the historical buildings linked to Portuguese Royalty, the streets full of charm, as well as its fabulous beaches, located in the heart of the "Portuguese Riviera".

These qualities make the price of housing among the most expensive values in Europe and, no wonder because its beauty is enormous. Cascais can easily be a destination for several days of holidays by the sea but is also perfect for a day trip from Lisbon. In any case, its proximity to Lisbon makes it easily accessible, whether for the individual traveler or a family trip.

As we know it is important to organize a trip, especially when traveling with children, we want to help you plan your trip and, if possible, help save on your travel budget. This is because this is a destination where the offer of tours is vast but also generally more expensive than the offers we propose. Therefore, the 2 possibilities that we will refer to get to Cascais from Lisbon are by Train and Car. We will not mention the car option, as you will be forced to spend more time, it is more complicated and offers no advantage.

From Lisbon to Cascais by Train

This is our main suggestion for anyone wishing to move from Lisbon to Cascais. In addition to the route, taking you through wonderful landscapes along the Tagus River and the Atlantic Ocean is the most convenient, quick and cheap option.

You can see the whole trip on this youtube video:

How to take the train

Catching the train is easy, and the journey relatively quick, approximately 30 minutes. To do this, you should go to the Cais do Sodré station (see the exact location in google maps here). There, you will take the train from the Cascais line, towards the village with the same name, which corresponds to a ticket of zone 4, with the price of € 2.25 for 2018 each trip for adult, and € 1.15 for children of 4 at 12 years (you can consult the price updated here).

The price should be charged to your Viva Viagem ticket, which costs € 0.50 and you can only carry one ticket at a time, so you should return to the same operation on your return.

You can purchase the ticket at the ticket offices of the station or using the loading machines that are in the station, which provide loading in various languages. For more information on how to purchase and use the Viva Viagem card, see here.

It is not possible to get your ticket online before, but there is no danger that the tickets will run out and, during the day, waiting times for a train rarely pass the 15 minutes because it is a train that works with great regularity be used not only by those who visit Portugal but also by the locals as a privileged means of accessing the center of Lisbon.

Hours of operation are from 5:30 am to 1:30 am but we suggest you check the schedule if you want to go early in the morning or in the evening. You can see it here.

Suggestion: Since a great part of the course is carried out along the banks of the Tagus River and the Atlantic Ocean, in order to take better advantage of the view, we suggest that on the way to Cascais, sit on the left side of the train towards your destination and, on the way back, do the opposite.

How to get to Cais do Sodré Train Station

Cais do Sodré Train Station is located near Lisbon's Baixa, a little more than a kilometer from Terreiro do Paço so you can take this route on foot.

If you are more distant, what we recommend is the use of the Metro, where the last station of the Green Line, Cais do Sodré, has a direct connection with the Railway Station. If you want to go from the airport directly to Cascais, you have to take the Metro at the Lisbon Airport Metro Station, go through the Red Line to Alameda Station and then take the Green Line towards Cais do Sodré. There is also the possibility of purchasing the "Traveling all Lisboa" ticket. This is a great possibility for those who want to walk around Lisbon and see Sintra and Cascais.

For € 10.40 (2018 price, for more detailed information, see here) you can buy with your Viva Viagem. And the ticket "Traveling all Lisbon", besides allowing you to travel by all trains, buses and metros of Lisbon, still allows you to use the train to Sintra and Cascais, being able to go out and return whenever you want, wherever you want.

There is also the advantage of being able to use the lifts in Lisbon, which is an added advantage to, among others, climb the Santa Justa Elevator in Lisbon (see more information here). However, this will not be the most cost-effective option unless you wish to spend fewer hours in Cascais and still wish to use more public transportation during the day in Lisbon.

By car to Cascais

Although this is a very frequent option for locals, especially on summer weekends, when they make the most of the good weather to enjoy the beaches of Cascais, this is a solution that we do not recommend.

In fact, renting a car to get to know Lisbon is rarely the best option. Besides being difficult and expensive to park a car, it is more confusing and tiring, and Lisbon is very well served by public transport. Like Lisbon, also in Cascais in the summer, it will probably be very difficult to park and sometimes the traffic queues make traveling difficult to be pleasant. We only recommend it if your plan is to extend your visit to other attractions in the area. In this case, the car may be the best option but we advise you to start your day early, to avoid the hours of traffic and to make the most of your day.

If the car is a method chosen to move to Cascais, we leave two options, the first, faster, the A5 motorway, the second, more time consuming but by the sea and landscapes that will dazzle you, the N6 national road. You can consult the routes in google maps here: A5 and N6.

We hope this information is useful to organize your trip. We are sure you will love getting to know Cascais. Do not forget to visit Sintra, another of the top destinations for day trips for those who visit Lisbon, which is sure to fascinate you and its perfect for a family trip. You can see here how to get there from Lisbon.

We hope that our article will help you plan your trip to Lisbon and if you still do not have a place to stay, we always do our reservations with booking, they are our partners and it's with them that we get the best deals. You can look for the best deals in your destiny by clicking here, it will not cost you any money and, it helps us to support our blog.

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We will be waiting for your question, suggestions, that you can leave on the comments box. And, if you like our article, do not forget to share on your social networks and see other Non Stop Family - Travel Blog articles.

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