Aguas Calientes is the very definition of a tourist town. It’s almost entirely hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops. It would not exist without the visitors who flock to Machu Picchu and all but shuts down during the rainiest months of January and February.

Yet, it’s not a tourist trap. The hot springs are lovely, as is the hike up to Allcamayo Waterfall (below). Aguas Calientes is perched between two ecological zones and has tons of wildlife, especially birds in the trees along the river. If you get up very early and are very lucky, you could see an Andean bear by the river. Also called Spectacled Bears, they’re cute little things that mostly eat fruit - think Paddington.

Aguas Calientes is squeezed in the narrow canyon next to the Urubamba River (also called the Vilcanota) and is divided by two smaller rivers that flow into the Urubamba. Río Aguas Calientes flows through the center of town and Río Alcamayo joins the Urubamba next to the Inkaterra, where the train tracks arrive.