A Quick Day Trip to Machu Picchu Filled with Unforgettable Experiences
Machu Picchu one-day tour from Cusco offers the best experience of the Lost City of the Incas. Day tours to Machu Picchu are available in 2026 and 2027
Description
Book Your Machu Picchu Day Trip by Train Now! The Machu Picchu day trip by train is a fascinating way to reach the legendary Lost City of the Incas! One of the Seven Wonders of the World and a top tourist destination, Machu Picchu showcases incredible Inca construction, history, and the most beautiful landscapes. Built on a rugged, seemingly inaccessible mountain, it stands as the most remarkable achievement of Inca civilization.
The Machu Picchu day tour starts early in the morning from your hotel. A Machu Picchut Travel representative will pick you up and transfer you from Cusco to Ollantaytambo. During the short trip, appreciate the breathtaking scenery and sunrise over the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Upon arrival at the train station, board the train to Machu Picchu and enjoy breathtaking views as you approach Aguas Calientes, a town located in the subtropical region.
Meet your guide at the train station and transfer to Machu Picchu. Upon arrival, appreciate the Inca citadel and explore this important archaeological site. Your guide will accompany you throughout your exploration.
In the afternoon, take the train back to Ollantaytambo and continue your journey back to Cusco, concluding your Machu Picchu day tour. Book now!
What to Expect
Sustainable Tourism: At Machu PicchuT, we are happy to promote and practice sustainable tourism by being eco-friendly and supporting local communities
Service Level: Comfortable private transport, activities and professional guided tour.
Physical Rating: Easy walking and hiking suitable for most fitness levels. Not too challenging66
Age requirement: 1+ / All travellers under age 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Style trip: Independent trips are private tours that you take by yourself or with a group. Local staff are available 24/7.
Tour Operator: Machu PicchuT Travel
Staff: A Machu PicchuT Representative in Cusco and a professional bilingual Tour Guide at Machu Picchu.
Transportation: Van, train, bus.
Quick Itinerary: Machu Picchu Day Tour
- Pick up and transfer to the Ollantaytambo train station.
- Take the train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes.
- Meet our guide on the station.
- Quick briefing before visiting Machu Picchu.
- Shuttle bus up to Machu Picchu.
- Guided tour of Machu Picchu.
- Shuttle bus back down to Aguas Calientes.
- Tourist train return to to Ollantaytambo.
- Arrival and transfer to Cusco.
- Our driver will drop you off at your hotel or Airbnb.
Highlights of the Machu Picchu Day Trip
- Travel to Machu Picchu in a comfortable and quick way to get to Machu Picchu.
- Observe the sunrise of the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
- View the landscapes of the Sacred Valley during the trip.
- Discover the most beautiful scenery during the train trip.
- Observe the flow of the Vilcanota River.
- Guided tour of Machu Picchu.
- Explore Machu Picchu and visit this important site.
- Take the most beautiful and panoramic pictures of the citadel.
Itinerary Details
Machu Picchu Day Tour
In the morning, we pick you up from your hotel and transfer your to a railway station (either at Poroy, which is 30 minutes far away from Cusco or at Ollantaytambo which takes 1 hour and 40 minutes from Cusco). There you board a train and travel for about 1 hour 45 minutes experiencing spectacular changeable landscapes passing through lush fields and colourful villages placed on the foothill of the Andes. The highlight of the way are wonderful views of mountains and the marvellous Urubamba River that runs through the Sacred Valley of the Incas. In the end, you reach Aguas Calientes, a town just below Machu Picchu, where our Representative welcomes you at the railway station to accompany you to a bus stop. There you get on a shuttle bus taking you up to the archaeological complex of Machu Picchu following a zigzag path for about 25 minutes.
Once in Machu Picchu, your Tour Guide introduces you the most important attractions of this antique Incan site such as its main square, the Sun Temple, Intiwatana (Sun Clock), the Royal Rooms, the Temple of the Three Windows and the Royal Incas Cemetery. This guided tour takes about 2 and half an hour and then you are given time off to explore around the complex and to climb Huayna Picchu (or Machu Picchu Mountain) to take some amazing panoramic photos of Machu Picchu. So please do not forget your camera and enjoy the visit of the "One of the New 7 Wonders of the World" !!
When you have enjoy the site enough, you take a shuttle bus down to Aguas Calientes where you can have lunch (not included in the package) in one of many lovely restaurants offering traditional Andean as well as international cuisine. Afterwards, you can visit the thermal baths of Aguas Calientes or the Museum of the Site (neither entrance of these is included in the package).
In the afternoon, we take a train back to Ollantaytambo (alternatively to Poroy) where our driver expects us in front of the railway station to transfer us to Cusco.
Included
What is included in this tour?
- Pre-trek briefing (Our guide will visit your hotel a day before the trek for your briefing)
- Entrance fee to Machu Picchu;
- Professional English Tour Guide;
- A train round trip to Machu Picchu;
- Meals: 01 Snack (Organic cotton bag);
- A round-trip shuttle bus to Machu Picchu;
- Private van Cusco-Ollantaytambo-Cusco.
Not Included:
- Pre & post tour accommodation,
- Meals nor beverages (excepting refreshment offered on trains),
- Travel insurance,
- Tips and baggage portage (please note: it is a custom to give tips in Peru; however, it is not obligatory),
- Other extras not mentioned.
Meals budget: Please allow USD 20 - 30 for meals not included.
Local flights: No local flight is included in the cost of the tours.
Essential Information
Tour Guide & A Representative
The Machu PicchuT tour guide will be waiting at the train station with your name. Once you meet, he/she will take you to the bus station.
All Machu PicchuT traveller group tours are accompanied by a Machu PicchuT Tour Guide, a Representative or an expedition team. The aim of our Tour Guides is to take a hassle out of our customers’ trips and to help them to have the best trip possible. The Tour Guides provide information on places visited, offer suggestions of what to see and to do, recommend a good place to eat and introduce to his/her colleagues. The Guides have a broad general knowledge of each country visited during a tour, including historical, cultural, religious and social aspects. We also use local Tour Guides where we think that more specific knowledge could add more enjoyment to visited places.
Entry Machu Picchu Tickets
- During the validity of the health emergency, the daily schedule of tourist visits to Machu Picchu starts at 6:00 am and ends at 4:00 pm.
- There are 9 time ranges for visitors to enter the Machu Picchu citadel, the first time range is from 6:00 am to 7:00 am and the last from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm.
- Visitors must board a shuttle bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu, no later than 30 minutes before the time indicated on the relevant tickets.
Perurail and Inca Rail trains
The Machu Picchu day trip is included the train round trip to Machu Picchu. Machu PicchuT work with the two company Perurail and Inca Rail, These companies train offer the best service from Cusco to Machu Picchu and back.
You can get to Machu Picchu and back by train in a very comfortable and environmentally friendly way. You can. read here which trains run, how to book and what else you should consider.
From Cusco to Machu Picchu
Wake early and you will catch the train to Machu Picchu, you decided on a worthwhile journey. The leisurely train ride takes you through the Sacred Valley. Overwhelming mountains rise up to the left and right, while you pass small villages again and again. The destination station is called Aguas Calientes
PeruRail - Expedition Train
Ollantaytambo - Machu Picchu
| |
Departure |
Arrival to Machu Picchu |
| Expedition 71 |
05:05 |
06:35 |
| Expedition 81 |
06:10 |
07:40 |
Machu Picchu to Cusco
| |
Departure |
Arrival to Ollantaytambo |
Arrival to Cusco |
| Expedition 74 |
14:55 |
16:31 |
18:30 |
| Expedition 84 |
18:20 |
20:05 |
22:00 |
| Expedition 86 |
20:50 |
22:50 |
23:50 |
IncaRail - The Voyager Train
Ollantaytambo - Machu Picchu
| |
Departure |
Arrival to Machu Picchu |
| The Voyager |
06:40 |
08:10 |
Machu Picchu to Cusco
| |
Departure |
Arrival to Ollantaytambo |
Arrival to Cusco |
| The Voyager |
14:30 |
15:56 |
18:40 |
| The Voyager |
19:00 |
20:41 |
22:30 |
| The Voyager |
20:20 |
21:59 |
23:00 |
Peru Rail from Cusco to Machu Picchu
Peru Rail is the only one that runs the route Cusco (Poroy) - Ollantaytambo - Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu) and back. So book your trip to Machu Picchu as early as possible. It's best to do this as soon as you know when you want to go, because the train tickets are getting more and more expensive or towards the end only the expensive categories are available. There are 3 different booking classes, which differ in price and service:
- The Expedition Train
- The Vistadome Train
- Hiram Bingham - The luxury train to Machu Picchu
Inca Rail from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu
You could choose Inca Rail for the Machu Picchu Day Trip. Inca Rail only runs the route between Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, not to Cusco. You can booking also online here via our website. Inca Rail also offers several ticket categories:
- Voyager Machu Picchu Train with normal windows
- 360° Inca Rail train with panoramic windows
- Voyager Machu Picchu Premiun rain
If you want more information about the panoramic train, please click on Vistadome train or 360 train Machu Picchu
Suggest Items
A kind of luggage you need to take with depends on a kind of tour you plan to undertake, a part of the country you like to visit, a year season and a length of your trip. In general, you should pack as lightly as possible because you carry your own luggage during most of our tours (however, there are not long walking distances – up to 30 minutes). We recommend you to keep weight of your luggage under 7 kg (20 lb.).
Most of travelers use a suitcase. However, a big backpack would be more suitable. In any case, please do not forget a small rucksack that you will need for daily travels (to carry your bottled water, camera, snacks, etc.). It is better to avoid a wheeled luggage and use luggage with shoulder straps.
What Kind of Clothing to Pack to Machu Picchu
Clothing to take with you depends on a year season in Peru and a part of country you plan to visit.
If you plan to visit Cusco and Machu Picchu (Andean mountain range or Altiplano), then we recommend you to take some trousers suitable for hiking, shorts, T-shirts and trekking shoes for the days; and sweaters, fleeces, hats, scarves and warm jackets for the nights. You also should take a sun protection cream, sun glasses and in some cases, mosquito repellent (depending on a route chosen). It is very convenient to have a light rain-gear available in a daypack (e.g. a waterproof poncho or jacket and/or waterproof trousers) as weather changes quickly and rains can suddenly occur. For more details, please check the below link of “What to Bring on the Inca Trail Expedition Tour”.
What to take on the Machu Picchu Day Tour
- Passport Original and copies
- Travel insurance(+ copies for a case of lost),
- Cash in USD or credit cards,
- Day pack (to carry your personal items during daily travels),
- Rain gear (a rain-jacket and a waterproof trousers or a rain poncho - this can be purchased in Cusco),
- Resistible footwear, waterproof trekking shoes are recommended,
- Sandals (for a higher comfort while at a hotspring in Aguas Calientes),
- Hat or a cap (to protect you against the Sun, rain as well as cold),
- Sun cream or sun block,
- After-sun cream or hydrating cream for face and body,
- Insect repellent– recommended minimum is 20% DEET (please note that no malaria has been reported during this trip!),
- Camera and its charger/batteries (please note that batteries are consumed quickly under cold conditions),
- Small towel and toiletries,
- Sufficient reserve of underwear,
- Swimsuit (to visit the thermal baths of Aguas Calientes),
- Snacks (biscuits, energy bars, chocolate, raw fruits, muesli, etc.)
Please note: we do provide a daily morning snack and our meal service is very complete and well supplied. The recommendation of taken own snack applies only for customers who like a specific snack that might not be in our menu.
- Bottled water for the first morning and a water bottle.
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