Travel to Machu Picchu

Depending on when you arrive, the site may be quite crowded or nearly deserted. The busiest periods are in the dry season (June-August), with the slowest being in February, the height of the rainy season, when the Inca Trail is closed. Most visitors arrive on package tours and are in the park between 10am and 2pm.

To access the site (there is a checkpoint down at the bridge next to the campsite in Aguas Calientes), you must have a ticket for Machu Picchu - which are available on in advance from machupicchu.gob.pe or from various ticket offices described on that website. Machu Picchu tickets are NOT sold at the entrance gate and are limited to 2500 per day, with entrance to Huayna Picchu being further sub limited to 400.

Bus from Aguas Calientes

If arriving by train into Aguas Calientes, walk out of the station and keep going roughly straight through the warren of handicraft stalls and over a foot bridge to the bus departure area. Frequent buses leave to the ruins (US$9.50 each way for adult foreigners) starting at 5:30AM. There's often a queue, so if you're intent on being on the first bus up, you should arrive at least 90 minutes early. The journey takes around 1/2 hour to slowly wind around the switchbacks and up to the park. Buses depart when full, which typically means they run quite regularly. At popular times, there may be a lengthy queue for the buses, so plan the return trip accordingly in order not to miss train departures. Advance train bookings are recommended, as trains are often sold-out, particularly return trains.

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