Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Machu Picchu—how to buy tickets in person on the day, plus the best ways to reach this iconic site by motorcycle.
This Machu Picchu travel guide is based on our ride through Peru during our round the world trip. The guides on this website are constantly updated with info from contributors to keep them current, up-to-date and as helpful as possible for you.
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The Ultimate Machu Picchu Guide: How to Buy Your Tickets in Person and How to Get There
By Andy Davidson
Mad or Nomad: Round the World Motorcycle Traveller
How to visit Machu Picchu without buying your tickets online and in advance
A lot of people are under the impression that you need to buy your ticket to Machu Picchu online and way in advance. But when you go on the website, there aren’t any tickets available and they’ve sold out for months.
Buying so far in advance isn’t possible for motorcycle travellers and overlanders, so it’s often missed. But, here’s the good news – that’s not the case! You can go to Machu Picchu town (Aguas Calientes) and get a ticket valid for the next day.
This guide explains how to do that below, but please note, at the peak of high season (July, August, September) there may be less tickets available.
As well as how to buy your tickets in person, this guide explains the different options you have in how to get there.
How to Ride a Motorcycle to Machu Picchu
How to get to Machu Picchu from Santa Teresa
This is how you can ride to Machu Picchu. Getting to Santa Teresa is the closet you can get with your motorcycle. You can ride all the way to Santa Teresa from Ollantaytambo. It’s one way up and one way back. The only way to get there is to ride the blue pins on our map above. Note that in bad weather you can expect terrible conditions and landslides can be common on this route.
Once in Santa Teresa, stay in a hotel with motorcycle parking that will allow you to keep your bike there while you visit Machu Picchu. You’ll find these hotels on iOverlander.
From there, get a taxi to the Hidroelectrica train station (5 minutes) and either catch the train to Agua Calientes (Machu Picchu town) or walk there if you’re feeling adventurous. Expect the hike to take 2 hours each way.
Once you’re in Aguas Calientes you will need to purchase your tickets. We explain the procedure in detail in the section below.
How to get to Machu Picchu from Ollantaytambo
The easier option and our recommendation
At the time we planned on visiting Machu Picchu, our original plan was to do the above and ride to Santa Teresa, however the weather was changing (January), there was a lot of rain and a friend had recently got stuck up there waiting for a landslide to clear for four hours.
The hotel
We opted to head to Ollantaytambo instead. We stayed at this town in this hotel. They let us leave our motorcycles there, securely inside while we visited Machu Picchu. Here’s a selection of great hotels in Ollantaytambo on booking.com.
Catching the train
We walked down to the train station and booked a ticket to Machu Pichu town (Aguas Calientes) for early the next morning with Peru Rail. The train was about 70USD per person one way. It’s quite a nice train ride with some pretty views.
Please remember that you must take your passport with you to the train station and to Machu Picchu.
How to get to Machu Picchu from Cusco
The third option is to head straight to Cusco and get the train from there. It will go through Ollantaytambo and head to Aguas Calientes. So the entire process listed above is the exact same, you’ll just be on the train for longer (and it’s more expensive). This may be a better option for you dependent on your route through Peru.
Note that the train from Cusco doesn’t run all year round, but it does from Ollantaytambo. If the train from Cusco isn’t running, Peru Rail will offer a bus service to take you to Ollantaytambo where you will then be transferred onto the train.
We visited in January and the train from Cusco was not running as there’s a danger of landslides that month. Here’s a selection of hotels in Cusco.
How to Buy Machu Picchu Tickets on the Day
Pre-ticket
Whichever one of the above three options you use, you will still arrive at Aguas Calientes and need to buy your tickets. This section explains the process.
Once you arrive in Aguas Calientes (we arrived early around 9:30am) dart for the ticket office.
We arrived at the ticket office and got a “pre-ticket” (you need your passport). You’ll get a piece of paper with a number on it and will be told to come back at a specific time. We had to return the same day at 4pm. The idea is you come back later on in the day to buy your actual ticket, which will be for tomorrow.
Hotel in Aguas Calientes
Once you’ve got your pre-ticket, go to your hotel. We recommend this one, it’s very close to the ticket office and has friendly owners with a fantastic view. If it’s not available or you’d prefer somewhere else, have a look at this link for hotels in Machu Picchu town.
Back to the ticket office
Get back to the ticket office in good time. We had a return of 4pm and got there 10 minutes early. There’ll be a big crowd of people with their tickets. A staff member will come to the front door and shout out the numbers in order. You are then allowed to enter in order based on your number and will sit in a queue of seats.
You’ll move up one at a time until you eventually reach the ticket booth where you can buy your ticket for tomorrow. You can choose which circuit you would like to walk. We explain the circuits in more detail below.
Bus and train tickets
Once you’ve got your ticket for the next day, head straight to the bus office. You will need to purchase a round-trip ticket for your bus journey for tomorrow. You can walk if you prefer, but we definitely don’t recommend it. It’s a long way and all uphill (make sure to buy a ticket to MP and a return ticket).
Once you have your bus tickets, you can walk back to the train station and book your return ride back to Ollantaytambo.
Armed with your Machu Picchu ticket, bus tickets and train tickets, you can now finally go back to your hotel and rest.
If you stayed in Ollantaytambo, you can now WhatsApp the hotel where you left your motorcycle to let them know what night you are returning and need to reserve your room for. Same goes for Santa Teresa and Cusco.
Organised tours
Another option, if you want to take all the stress away, is to get yourself to Aguas Calientes and then join an organised tour. Or, you can take an organised all-inclusive tour from Cusco or Ollantaytambo.
We recommend using this link to viator.com for the best deals.
Which circuit to choose for Machu Picchu 2025
I highly recommend going for either circuit 2a or 2b. There’s a lot of confusion online about these two circuits.
Simply, circuit 1 and 3 do not take in the main site of Machu Picchu and the iconic view from the terraces. But 2a and 2b do, so they’re the ones you want.
What’s the difference between Machu Picchu circuit 2a and 2b?
The difference between A and B is the viewpoint platforms. circuit A offers a view from five terraces below the Guardian’s House, while circuit B is from a single terrace below the Guardian’s House.
However, once you enter Machu Picchu there’s only one ticket check right at the start and everyone with 1 and 3 on their tickets goes one way and everyone with 2a and 2b on their ticket goes the other. From there on, A and B follow the same path, so you can easily walk along either route.
What if you don’t get the ticket you want?
If you don’t get a 2 because they have all sold out, then you can just leave, get another pre-ticket the next day and try again – albeit earlier. You’ll be staying in the town anyway so you can get there for right when the ticket office opens to get the lowest number possible on your pre-ticket.
Another option is to get a guide and they will take you wherever you want anyway, but check first with them of course.
Timings
We recommend choosing an early entrance to Machu Picchu. That way, you can see MP in the morning and then catch a train in the afternoon and be back in Ollantaytambo for that night. The best options are to go before 11 or after 3. Between those times is when the tours arrive.
When to visit Machu Picchu
The best time to visit Machu Picchu is from mid-March to mid-June, and then again from October to January.
July, August and September are peak season months. It’s sunny and warm, but everything is a lot more expensive, the towns, trains and site itself is lot busier and you’ll find large crowds.
In February and March there are heavy rains and sometimes there are landslides, which can leave people stranded for hours on the train.
Professional guide
Machu Picchu is a big deal and a once in a lifetime experience. There’s a lot to take in and so much history. So we highly recommend going with a professional guide who can walk and talk you through the entire site.
If you’d like a private English speaking guide, we recommend Julio. He was brilliant, he met us at our hotel and walked us to the bus stop. He explained everything in detail on the trip, is very passionate about his work, very knowledgeable and answered all our questions. We wouldn’t have known what we were looking at or the significance of all the buildings without him.
You can get in touch with Julio on WhatsApp: +51 941 467 822
Top tips
Don’t forget, to enter Machu Picchu you will need your ticket and your passport. There’s absolutely no way you’re going to get in without both of them.
There’s a toilet right before you enter the gates into Machu Picchu, but there are no toilets inside the actual site, so don’t fill up on coffee and water before you enter or you’ll be holding that in for a good few hours!
Dependent on the time of year, you may need to pack a rain coat and warm clothes or sunglasses and sun cream. Wear comfortable footwear, take water and a good camera.
If you’ve arrived on a foggy and misty day, don’t panic, just wait. The clouds will hopefully clear.
If you’re fit, look into hiking Huayna Picchu and the Death Stairs for an amazing view of Machu Picchu.
Go now. The entire site is sinking and in a few years you won’t be allowed to actually walk through it anymore – you’ll only be able to view it from the terraces.
Read more on motorcycle travel in Peru
Thanks for checking out the Machu Picchu Travel Guide. We hope you enjoyed it! Here’s a few more articles on motorcycle travel in Peru and South America that we recommend you read next.
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