Machu Picchu

We did Machu Picchu in 2019 as well as Cuzco and the Sacred Valley. It was on a tour with PeruAgency.com
The tour was four days and excellent our guide/drivers had university educations and very knowledgeable. The price was great.

Prior to that we did some days in Lima and took some tours of the city.

My Son and some of his friends did Peru on a Gate 1 Travel tour that included Lima, what we did on the Cuzco/MP tour, also a visit to the Amazon river basin and more in the south of the country as well. They liked their tour.

We used Peru Summit Adventures to visit Machu Picchu last year and had a really great experience. We travelled independently around Peru for a week (Lima, Ollantaytambo, Machu Picchu, and Cuzco) and used Peru Summit Adventures just for the guide around the site itself. If you are feeling up for it, definitely look into climbing Wayna Picchu as well for amazing views of Machu Picchu (it's the big mountain behind the site that you see in photographs). You have to buy a separate entrance ticket for that one and they sell out even faster than the tickets for the main site.

I got lazy when planning our Peru trip and we went with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT). We had a great time and will probably use OAT again for less accessible places as we get older.

We did MP through Mountain Lodges of Peru. We did just the hiking tour with them and the rest of Peru on our own. But they also offer other travel planning services. A great way to experience MP, great guides, great stays and great food. We recommended to other friends for a few years later and they also had a wonderful experience.

I just went to Machu Picchu today for the first time! Luckily, we were one day after the terrible train accident.

I personally think Peru is quite easy to do on your own, and then you can hire a guide for Machu Picchu.

Luckily, we were one day after the terrible train accident.

Luckily is right. Wow!

I also visited Machu Picchu (spring 2025) as part of an OAT tour. I enjoyed the additional stops and the river rafting through the Urubamba Valley. The tour did a great job helping us to acclimate to the altitude.

I was extremely happy with a local family company, headquartered in Cusco: Inkayni Peru Tours. In December 2025 I enjoyed their 5-day Luxury Trip from Cusco to Machu Picchu itinerary. My review is on TripAdvisor if you would like more information. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

We used Lima Tours many years ago. They set up all transportation and tours. We had a great time.
I haven’t heard about the train accident. We had no issues going to MP by train, but on our return, the train stopped frequently to pour water on the brakes. This was back in the mid 90s. Hopefully brake issues or the route has improved?

When we visited there years ago we took a National Geographic tour.

While I’m sure we could have planned it on our own, because of the number of transportation changes and hotels involved, it was easier to let somebody else deal with it. Then, when something doesn’t go according to plan, it’s the tour company that has to deal with it.

My son and his wife hiked the Inca Trail 2 years ago with Alpaca Expeditions and highly recommend them. I am going to Machu Picchu in May but I don't plan on hiking the Inca Trail. We are going to book with Caravan Tours for their Peru tour with Machu Picchu included. Both of the flights from Lima to Cuzco and back are included in the tour price which seems incredibly reasonable. We used this company last year for a trip to Panama and had a great experience. I saw another poster on this site recommended Gate 1 which I would not recommend. I booked a trip with them to Costa Rica for Feb. 2026 . As it turned out, one of the hotels that they use was not available for one of the days and they would not switch hotels since they had other clients already booked there. Initially , they did not want to refund my deposit but they eventually did.