Machu Picchu Full-Day Tour from Cusco with Panoramic Train

It was a long journey but worth every minute. We had a guide just for my family. Vilma was fantastic answering our questions and giving us so much information to the history of the place.

We book the months ago. We noticed that they put us in the wrong circuit which was more difficult. We have some elderly family coming so we needed the easiest circuit. It was difficult getting a hold of willka travel to have them correct the error. We eventually go TripAdvisor to help with that. Later we needed to add another family member to the trip. Willka travel wouldn’t answer the phone or respond to messages. When they did they said they would call us back and they never did. Finally it came to the day before the tour. They were finally responding to messages but it was like pulling teeth to get information from them. They allowed us to add the additional family member but they wanted to charge us almost $500 usd for him plus an additional slightly over $800 usd for the other ten of us for “upgrading”us to circuit 3 which was the easiest route even though we originally requested circuit 3 and paid. The day of the tour they picked us up from the hotel in a large van slightly late. They were driving so fast and recklessly to try to make up the time that several people in our party became car sick. We made it to the train with minutes to spare with no real explanation on where to go or what to do. We noticed that the tickets to get into Machu Picchu had a 6am entry for circuit 3 but we were just getting to the train around that time which would be impossible for us to get to Machu Picchu in time since the train ride was an hour and a half. I message them and they sent me new tickets which I didn’t receive until we arrived due to the poor reception. When we arrived we saw a person with a sign that had our name on it. She was the most helpful of all the people. Her name was Katy and she did her best to accommodate us. She found us bus tickets that were never sent to us and help figure out the entry time issue. She found someone that said we would have to print out the tickets and told us to go to a location that refused to and referred us to an Internet cafe. The Internet cafe was closed so Katy went to a nearby hotel to print them out. She told us to present both the 6am tickets and 10am tickets along with our train pass so that Machu Picchu would allow us to enter. Once we arrived they didn’t allow us to enter because the circuit 3 6am tickets were expired but we could go to circuit 2 10am but we would have to leave one of our party behind. It took around 45 mins of me explaining and speaking to 4 different people until they allowed all of our family to enter but we had to buy another ticket for around 46 usd. The actual tour was beautiful and very informative. Our tour guide was great. Our only problems were poor execution of the travel and the additional cost for a circuit that we had already requested from the beginning. We definitely would not recommend travel with willka. They made things more stressful and expensive. I noticed other travel agencies at our hotel that had a person there telling them step by step what would happen and what to do. We trusted the high rating.

The tour company was very detailed in disclosing the full day itinerary. My driver was timely to pick me up in the morning, the train ride you’re kinda by yourself but that’s fine, and a person was there to meet us once we got off the train to walk us to the bus stop. He told us our guide name and then the guide met us at the entrance. My guide was great, super informative, great at taking photos, very engaging. I got C3 tickets because I booked so late, he was very good at making it a great route. I disn’t realize we couldn’t linger inside so I boarded the bus back to Aguas Calientes immediately after and went to get lunch even though it was like 10:45AM. I messaged the WhatsApp number to see if I could change my train time and they never responded. So I just had to kill time till 2:50PM. Make sure if you don’t want to spend a full day in Aguas Calientes, to ask if you can be on an earlier train back. I felt this was a waste. I didn’t need 4 hours here. The train also dropped us off at a different location than where the station was. When I asked the question on WhatsApp, they said it was the same spot. I felt like that was wrong - thankfully I asked a police officer who pointed me to the right area or I would’ve missed the train. The driver meeting us was late and when I messaged them again, I got not response. Thankfully, I saw the driver wall by with a sign with my name on it with a big group. I think pre-trip and getting to Machu Picchu, the communication and plan are all great, but after, they kinda disappear. They should also give an option to be on an earlier train. Not sure I’d book with them again, but the day was okay and I managed to figure out all the hiccups by myself.

I would not recommend Willka Travel for the Machu Picchu Full-Day Tour from Cusco with Panoramic Train / MP Group Tour with Circuit 2. The biggest issue was the lack of communication and organization before the tour. For a full-day Machu Picchu trip, travelers need clear and timely details about pickup time, meeting location, train schedule, tickets, entrance circuit, guide information, and what to expect throughout the day. Unfortunately, Willka Travel did not provide the level of communication or support that should come with a tour like this. We tried reaching the company multiple times before our scheduled tour because we needed confirmation and details, but we could not get a reliable response. This caused unnecessary stress and uncertainty, especially since we were traveling as a family and had already booked and paid for an important, time-sensitive excursion. Machu Picchu is not the kind of tour where people can simply “figure it out” last minute. There are trains, entrance times, bus logistics, guides, and strict ticket rules involved. Instead of feeling excited and prepared, we felt anxious and unsure about whether everything was actually arranged. A professional tour company should be easy to contact, especially the day before a major excursion, and should make customers feel confident that the trip is organized. That was not our experience. Machu Picchu itself is incredible and the guide was wonderful. The pick up from the hotel and back to the hotel were great. Machu Picchu absolutely worth visiting, but the poor communication from Willka Travel made the experience much more stressful than it needed to be. I would strongly recommend booking with a different agency that provides clear instructions, timely responses, and better customer support

Joel Guzman was our guide for the Machu Pichu Circut 2. He explained history, took good photos, and kept us entertained the entire excursion. 10/10 would recommend Joel to any group wanting to know the ins and outs of the Hidden City.

Lizandro was an exceptional guide. His knowledge and ability to communicate in English was very helpful. We definitely enjoyed our visit to Machu Pichu and would recommend it to family and friends.

The tour was amazing. This has been on my bucket list for years and it definitely exceeded my expectations. The views were breath taking! Our guide also help in making it such a memorable experience. Joel Guzman was able to answer all our questions and made sure we all had the best experience. He also takes the best pictures :)

I would have given five stars if the communication had been clear before the tour. Having chosen to do it on a Monday, we received the information for the tour on Saturday evening, and on Sunday we had almost no way to contact them and ask for clarifications (day off) except after reaching out through all possible channels. At the tour pick-up, we were able to clarify the various misunderstandings (tickets issued did not match the reservation made - but everything was resolved later) but with many difficulties. In general, they handle everything themselves, and it is quite convenient, but they could have managed things better. For the train schedules, we were not even asked what return time we would prefer, and we were forced to wait in Agua Caliente for almost 5 hours for the train since the change could have been made 24 hours earlier, and we could only clarify everything on the day of the tour.

We were very well served, the punctual transfers in comfortable vehicles, attentive guide. I highly recommend.

Definitely worth it if you want to see the Machu Picchu. Thank you Anthony for the informative tour and interesting facts about the Incas.