Machu Picchu Day Trip from Cusco: Full-Day Guided Tour

We had a wonderful experience with Happy Gringo Tours on our trip to Machu Picchu. Everything was well organized from the start. Our travel arrangements were confirmed, and all tickets were booked well before the tour date. The team communicated clearly in advance, providing a detailed itinerary, travel times, and transportation information, which made the entire process stress-free. We were fortunate to have an exclusive guide, Mr. Mauro, who was outstanding. He shared the history of Machu Picchu in an engaging and informative way, took great photos for us, and never rushed the tour. His knowledge, patience, and friendly attitude made our visit even more enjoyable. We highly recommend Happy Gringo Tours to anyone planning a trip to Machu Picchu. Their excellent organization, communication, and personalized service made for a memorable experience.

Machu Picchu brilliant, "tour" very poor. This trip started at 3am and finished 6pm. I had a guide for 1hr and a morning driver for 1.5hrs, and the rest of the time I was all on my own to figure out and kill time. Private driver brought me to train. From there I had to make my way to other end alone. Guide then no where to be found. Following texts we finally met. In a panic, because company put an earlier time on my ticket (their fault), hence we had to skip queues, ask for favours, pretend to be sick, and at first was told I had no entry, but then thankfully guide got me in after some conversations with ticket office. The stress. Shame that because my time was put down wrong, hence I then had to do tour alone. As a solo traveller I hoped to meet others. After a quick 1hour tour at MP, it was bye-bye and had to pass over 3hrs in the town alone. Such a waste of time. How Id have loved some time to walk MP site. It was all very rushed. I then had to figure out how to get the train back and catch a shared bus to Cusco alone and make my way back to hotel. Over the span of 15hrs I was mostly alone and not a group tour as I had hoped. I have travelled extensively and done day trips, so this was not how I expected it to be. For the massive money paid either the company or Viator are making alot of profit just for organising the tickets. My advice, just book each step yourself, because this isnt a group tour (in my experience).

With a couple snags along the way, it was still a wonderful experience. We were picked up from our hotel in Cusco at 4 am. The driver was actually 5 minutes early. The roads were bumpy so I was happy to have already recovered from altitude sickness the day before. After 2 hours we reached the train station in Ollantaytambo. The train schedules seem to be a bit flexible, but we eventually boarded and our car was not very full. This allowed us to change seats to face the direction of travel, at the attendant’s suggestion. After about 45 minutes the train came to a stop. The conductor said we had to wait for another train to pass. We waited a very long time until we found out the train ahead of us had broken down and was being repaired on the tracks, causing us to be very late for our arrival (2 hours). This affected our Machupicchu tour time and tour guide’s schedule. We kept in contact with him, the other person who was supposed to meet us at the train station in Aguas Calientes, and the tour company. The first two stayed in good contact with us and reassured us that this happens and they would handle the change in entry times for us. Mauro, our guide, was so kind and helpful. However, after waiting in the long line to enter Machupicchu, he was told our virtual tickets would not be accepted, only paper tickets. We had followed the directions the evening before and met with Frank at the orientation where instead of picking up tickets, he said he would send them virtually to my phone, which he did. I didn’t foresee this being a problem, but it was. Mauro, our persistent and kindhearted guide told us to wait right there at the entrance of Machupicchu for him to figure it out. After what seemed like 30-40 minutes, he came back with printed tickets! He had to pay someone with his own money to let him use her printer so we could enter. I will be forever grateful to him. Machupicchu is AMAZING and he was so informative and didn’t give up on us. He didn’t cut our tour short, either. But we had to hustle to get on a bus down, and Mauro convinced someone to let us go in front of everyone so we could make our train. I hope nobody else has to go through this, because for awhile I thought there’s no way we’re going to get in, which would have been devastating. Mauro even rode the bus back down to the train station, took us to a restaurant and instructed them to make something fast (we hadn’t eaten all day due to the circumstances which left no time), and made sure we were at the station in time for our regularly scheduled train. Mauro was our hero and a great companion, as he handled it all so well. Meanwhile, the tour company had gone silent from the time I told them there was a problem with the tickets. Luckily they have a very communicative team picking up the slack and handling it well. Mauro is the reason that this story has a happy ending. Thank you!!!

Excellent way to see Machu Picchu on a full day tour with train. I booked at short notice and found this tour arranged all transport for me round trip from my hotel in Cusco. It’s a long day but you get to see MP without having to stay in a town nearby or trek there. They arranged for a taxi to pick me up at 3:50am to go to the MP Inca rail shuttle bus place. Tea and coffee are there. Then just under 2hr drive to Ollantaytambo for the train. More tea, coffee, food options. The train is lovely. A cultural experience with the crew performing a traditional story. There F&B also available to order. Reached Aguas caliente in under 2hrs. Then my tour guide Ruben met me at the station and escorted me to the coach bus to MP. Ruben was nice and knowledgeable with many facts about MP. I had circuit 3 which I’d read was the lesser version. Couldn’t be more wrong. I saw everything I wanted to see. I got my postcard shot. Don’t believe the hype about the different circuits. Came back to my hotel the same way with taxi to the door. All aspects were covered. I recommend this if you don’t want to work out the logistics of seeing MP from Cusco.

The communication wasn’t the best but the guide and various drivers were incredible. They made sure to be seen and followed up a ton the day of the trip. The views and history were phenomenal

Mauro was an excellent guide. Many thanks to him for all the support and historical explanations of one of the wonders of the modern world.

One in a lifetime experience. If you like traveling, Mach Pichu is a must because of its breathtaking views. Our tour guide Mauro is very knowledgeable and made this experience very unforgettable. He even went the extra mile taking good pictures and he was very friendly and patient.

We spent more than 2 hours at the entrance of Machu Pichu because the tourist agency did not send tickets with expired schedules. The local guide that solved the problem. We sent messages to the operator, but it took her hours to respond. Of all the tours and tours we did (and were many), this service was the worst, and could be classified as absurd and offensive to the consumer.

Mauro was an amazing guide for Machu Picchu with detailed explanation of the history. He also took the best photos at the ideal look outs. The entire experience from airport pick up to the end. Frank was in contact at different check points.

Mauro was an amazing guide! He was super knowledgeable and also doubled as a videographer. I would highly recommend this tour and if you can request Mauro definitely do!