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Part of my 10 Days in Peru with Kids series. Catch up on Las Qolqas & the Sacred Valley first.

Every Machu Picchu post tells you the same thing: book early, wear layers, bring your passport. All true. What nobody tells you is what happens when a wildfire shuts down the train tracks on the exact day you’re supposed to be there. That’s the day we had, so here’s the honest version.

The Pre-Dawn Start

Machu Picchu with kids means an early morning, no way around it. We were up at 3:45 AM, with transport from Las Qolqas to the Ollantaytambo train station at 4:45 AM, arranged for us so we didn’t have to think about it. Our luggage stayed behind at the lodge for the day since we were heading straight to Cusco that evening.

Our outbound train, PeruRail’s Expedition, left Ollantaytambo at 5:05 AM and got us into Aguas Calientes by 6:37 AM. From there it’s a bus up to the site itself, and we made sure to bring passports for all six of us along with our printed tickets, since both get checked at entry.

The Circuit We Booked

We booked Circuit 1, Route 1-C, the panoramic route that takes you up through the agricultural terraces to the Sun Gate, Intipunku. It’s usually described as the longer, more scenic option compared to some of the shorter circuits. On a normal day, that’s true.

Then the Wildfires Hit

Wildfires had blocked the PeruRail tracks, which threw the entire day’s train schedule off. Instead of a straightforward afternoon in Aguas Calientes followed by our scheduled train back, we ended up waiting 4.5 hours before our return train even departed, and then another 2 hours once we were actually on it, because the whole schedule downstream had backed up.

Here’s the part that surprised me: because we knew time was tight and the day was already unpredictable, the “shorter” feel of Circuit 1 actually worked in our favor. We weren’t trying to cram in one of the longer circuits while also managing train delays, tired kids, and a rapidly shifting schedule. If your day gets disrupted the way ours did, having booked the more moderate route means you’re not also fighting the clock on the trail itself.

The Logistics Nobody Fully Explains

A few things I wish had been spelled out clearly before we went:

Your entry time is a check-in time, not a suggestion. We booked Circuit 1, Route 1-C with an 8:00 AM check-in for all six tickets, and that time is tied to your specific entry slot. Show up late and you risk losing your spot in that circuit entirely, so build your morning around hitting it, not around what feels comfortable.

One more thing to plan for: you’ll need soles in cash for the bathrooms at both the Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu train stations, since most charge a small fee and don’t take cards. Keep a few soles in coins on hand so you’re not caught off guard.

You need passports and printed tickets, both, for every single person. Not photos on your phone. Not digital copies. We carried all six passports plus printed tickets through the gate, and both got checked. If someone in your group is a minor traveling on a parent’s passport situation, sort that out before travel day, not at the gate.

The bus up is its own line, its own cost, and its own queue strategy. The Consettur bus from Aguas Calientes up to the site ran us $188 total for six people, and it is worth queuing early. The buses run constantly, but so does everyone else’s Machu Picchu day, and the line builds fast once multiple trains have arrived in town.

Aguas Calientes is a full logistics stop, not just a train station. Plan on roughly five hours of free time there depending on your train schedule. That’s enough time to head back down from the site, grab lunch, and wander the town, but only if your bus timing down the mountain is flexible. Ours was, and that flexibility is what saved us once the day started running late.

The return train schedule is not guaranteed, even without a wildfire. PeruRail runs a tight schedule all day, one delay early in the day can cascade into every departure after it. If your itinerary has you connecting straight to another hotel or activity the same evening, build in slack, or at least mentally prepare your kids for the possibility of a long wait.

Altitude affects Machu Picchu less than Cusco, but pace yourselves anyway. The site itself sits lower than Cusco, but you’re still coming off travel and an early wake-up, and there’s a lot of uneven stone stairway regardless of which circuit you book. Water and snacks in your daypack matter more than people expect.

What I’d Tell You

If you’re booking Machu Picchu with kids, build in slack anywhere you can. We had a flexible window for the bus back down to Aguas Calientes, which meant we weren’t locked into a tight afternoon schedule when things started running late. That flexibility is what kept the day from feeling like a disaster instead of just a very long one.

And check conditions before you go. Wildfires, especially in the dry season, can affect the rail line with very little warning. It’s worth a quick search the morning of, just so you’re not blindsided the way we were.

It’s worth knowing there are several tiers of train service between Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu, and the price difference is enormous. We rode PeruRail’s Expedition service, which was clean, comfortable, and completely fine for six of us, adults and kids alike, at $75.05 per adult ticket each way.

On the other end of the spectrum is the Hiram Bingham, PeruRail’s luxury option with gourmet dining and live entertainment built into the ride. When I priced it out, a single round trip came back at over $7,000. It always makes me laugh a little when I see accounts posting about budget travel to Machu Picchu, then showing off Hiram Bingham tickets paid for in cash. That’s not a budget trip, that’s a luxury trip, and there’s nothing wrong with that if it’s what you want, but let’s call it what it is.

If you’re trying to actually stretch your travel dollars in Peru, Expedition or even the mid-tier Vistadome will get you there for a fraction of the cost, and the views out the window are the same.

One more thing worth flagging here: this was also the day my daughter came home covered in midge bites. More on that, and what actually calmed it down, in the next post.

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Next in this series: What I’d Pack Differently: Bug Bites, Altitude, and Sacred Valley Prep