Best Day Tour To Machu Picchu (From Cusco)
If you are searching for the best 1-day tour to Machu Picchu (from Cusco), you have come to the right place.
When travel blogs talk about the ‘Best’ Machu Picchu tour, they often provide a list of 5 or 6 different tour options, and you still won’t know which one to choose.
So we will do something different - instead of providing you with far too many options, we will tell you which is the best day tour to Machu Picchu.
We are going to describe the best day tour to take from Cusco to Machu Picchu and outline precisely what you get with the tour.
Best of all, it’s the exact tour we took when we visited Machu Picchu so that we can recommend the tour with 100% certainty!
So, let’s dive into the: Best Day Tour to Machu Picchu (From Cusco)
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Best Day Tour To Machu Picchu (From Cusco)
If you’re reading this article, it is very likely that you have already decided that visiting Machu Picchu in a day is the best option for you, and now you’re trying to decide which tour to take to Machu Picchu.
We would have loved to complete the famous Inca Trail trek to Machu Picchu, but unfortunately, it just didn’t fit into our time scale or budget.
The Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu takes between 3-4 days to complete and often costs in excess of £700 ($900) per person - not everybody has that amount of time or money to spare when visiting Peru.
So instead, we decided to opt for the day-trip option to Machu Picchu and to be honest, we were a little apprehensive.
We weren’t sure which tour to choose, which company to go with, or whether it would be worth the money. We spent hours trawling the internet, reading countless blog posts and reviews until we found a tour that offered exactly what we wanted.
Thankfully for you, we did the hard work and research and managed to find the perfect day-tour to Machu Picchu.
What the Day Tour to Machu Picchu Includes
We wanted to ensure we found a Machu Picchu Day Tour that included all transport to and from Cusco, a guided tour of the Machu Picchu site, and enough time to see and do everything.
Luckily, this tour included all of these things, which meant we had the best possible day in Machu Picchu.
What the Machu Picchu Day Tour includes:
Pick-up from our individual hostel in Cusco via private minibus
We stayed in the wonderful Selina Hostel in the centre of Cusco, and early in the morning, a private minibus came to collect us. The driver was on time and offered us water, snacks and a blanket as soon as we boarded the bus.
Peru Rail Train going through Aguas Calientes
Transport to the Ollantaytambo train station (just outside Cusco)
After picking us up from our accommodation, the minibus picked up a number of other passengers from hotels around the Cusco area before heading towards Ollantaytambo train station.
The drive from Cusco to Ollantaytambo takes around 1hr 30mins and is a good time to catch up on some sleep after an early start.
Round-trip train fare for Peru Rail (Expedition class) to Aguas Calientes
When you arrive at Ollantaytambo Train Station, your driver will provide you with an envelope with your return train tickets to Aguas Calientes (formerly ‘Machu Picchu Town’).
This was super handy as you could jump straight from the minibus onto the train without having to worry about which ticket to buy and which platform to go to.
The tickets also have seat numbers assigned to them, so there will be no worries about finding seats together.
Inside the Expedition Class Train from Ollantaytambo
Priority boarding and return bus fare from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu entrance
This was arguably the most convenient part of the entire tour! When you arrive at Aguas Calientes train station, a mass of people are trying to find buses up to the entrance of Machu Picchu.
Often the wait for the buses to the entrance can be well over an hour - but not on this tour! You will have been given your return bus tickets in the envelope you were provided earlier, so you can happily skip the line and jump straight on the bus!
Professional tour guide and entrance tickets to Machu Picchu
When you arrive at the entrance to Machu Picchu, you will notice that you already have your tickets, again provided to you earlier in the day.
In order to visit the ruins at Machu Picchu, you have to be on a guided tour. This is non-optional and is enforced in order to protect the ecosystem of Machu Picchu as much as possible.
You take your tickets to the entrance (they will have a specific time slot), and the staff at the entrance will introduce you to your Machu Picchu guide.
The main Machu Picchu Viewpoint - your guide will take you here at the beginning of your Day Tour to Machu Picchu
Free time to roam around the ruins after a 2.5hr guided tour
The guided tour section of Machu Picchu takes roughly 2.5 hours and is the perfect introduction to the famous ruins. Mercifully, the tour guide provided plenty of time to take photos while navigating you through the history and stories of the site.
After the tour has concluded, you will have plenty of time to explore and wander around the site independently. You can revisit all of the areas you saw on the tour or choose to explore newer areas that weren’t seen on the original guided tour.
Free time to explore the town of Aguas Calientes
Depending on how much time you will have spent wandering around the Machu Picchu site independently after your tour, you will still have time to see the town of Aguas Calientes. Your bus ticket from earlier on in the day will allow you to take the bus back down to Aguas Calientes from the entrance to Machu Picchu.
Aguas Calientes is a very touristy town (the prices often reflect this), but it is still full of charm and character. Wander around the markets or choose to sit in one of the many cafes/restaurants and relax after what will have been a very busy and tiring day.
Aguas Calientes - the last town before Machu Picchu
Transport from Ollantaytambo station to Cusco Accommodation
The final port of call for your day tour to Machu Picchu will be getting back to your accommodation - you will be able to get back on the train towards Ollantaytambo (using your ticket from earlier on in the day) - and then the private minibus will be waiting for you at the station.
The driver will either take you directly back to your accommodation, or there will be a universal drop-off point in the very centre of Cusco.
Cost of the day tour to Machu Picchu
While the cost of the day tour to Machu Picchu can vary slightly depending on the time of year and the availability, the prices tend to be fairly consistent.
The approximate cost of the day tour to Machu Picchu is £218/$296/€255 per person - which, given that all the transport is included, is very, very reasonable.
It is to be expected that a trip to Machu Picchu is going to be expensive. After all, it is one of the 7 wonders of the world and easily one of the best day trips from Cusco.
All things considered, we found the tour to be incredibly good value, and it was definitely a lot less stressful than trying to organise a trip to Machu Picchu by ourselves.
Llamas - the local residents at Machu Picchu
How to book the best day tour to Machu Picchu (From Cusco)
So, now that you’ve been convinced to take this tour, there is only one thing left to do - book it!
You can book your Machu Picchu Day Tour via GetYourGuide here.
We booked the day tour to Machu Picchu through GetYourGuide, which is our favourite way to find tours when we travel. They always provide us with the best experiences, and the knowledgeable local guides who work with GetYourGuide always have a passion for their job, which makes the experience all the more enjoyable.
There we have it, folks, a complete overview of the best day tour to Machu Picchu (from Cusco) - we had an incredible time in Machu Picchu, and to this day, it remains one of the best days we’ve ever had when travelling.
