Bus to Machu Picchu: Fares, Route and the Consettur Tariff

Aguas Calientes, officially Machupicchu Pueblo, has no road connection to the outside world. You arrive by train or on foot. From the town itself, the only way to get a vehicle up to the Machu Picchu gate is the shuttle bus that climbs the Hiram Bingham road, a switchback dirt and gravel road. The town sits at about 2,040 m. The gate sits at 2,430 m. That is a climb of about 390 m in a few kilometres of hairpins.

The ride itself takes roughly 25 minutes. Buses drop you at the entrance control point, with drop-offs along one side of the road at the top. The road is narrow and the buses pass each other at marked points, so sit on the left going up if you want the valley view and on the right coming down.

Who runs it? Consettur Machupicchu S.A.C. has held the bus concession since 1995, according to multiple travel-industry sources. It is the operator everyone books with, and for most of the last three decades it was effectively the only one. That may be changing. At least one 2026 source describes a second operator, San Antonio de Torontoy, running the same route in parallel since February 2026 amid a reported concession-renewal process. That report has not been corroborated on any official source, so treat it as reported rather than confirmed. What is safe to say is that Consettur has been the long-standing concessionaire and that the operating situation is under review.

One honest gap: the operator does not publish a first or last departure time. Many third-party sites quote specific times. Those figures did not come from the operator itself, so we will not repeat them. What is published is the ticket-office sales window in Aguas Calientes, daily 05:00 to 21:45, from the operator's own 2024-archived information. In practice buses run through the day alongside the entry slots sold for the site. For how entry slots work, see Machu Picchu tickets.

The bus is a transfer, not a tour. No guide speaks on board and no stop is made along the way. It exists to solve one problem: lifting visitors the 390 m from the river to the gate without a 90-minute stair climb. If your entrance slot is early, the bus lets you sleep later in town. If rain is falling, it keeps you dry for the climb. The walk remains the budget alternative and a fine one in dry weather, covered in full on our walk from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu page.

Remember that the bus ticket and the entrance ticket are two separate purchases. The bus drops you at the gate. The gate opens only with a valid entrance ticket for that day's circuit and time slot, plus your passport or other official ID. Our card for the entrance itself is MachuPicchu.Center's entrance ticket at US$43.00. The full circuit and price breakdown lives on our Machu Picchu tickets page.

You have two routes to a seat: buy on the day at the booth in Aguas Calientes, or book ahead and skip the queue. The booth line in town can be long in the early morning, when everyone with a 06:00 or 07:00 entrance slot wants the same buses. Booking ahead moves that wait online.

Our four ticket cards all cover the same road and the same drop-off point. They differ on price, flexibility and delivery.

Peru & U's bus transfer costs US$19.00 for one-way or round-trip. A local partner reserves the ticket and emails it to you, which skips the ticket-booth line in town. It is non-refundable once booked, so fix your date before paying.

Peru Trekkers' official round-trip bus also costs US$19.00. Buses run all day and you board flexibly rather than at a fixed time. Full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours before the start. This is the flexible pick if your train time might still move.

Peru Private Tours' up-and-down bus costs US$49.00. The ticket is sent by WhatsApp or phone a day before travel, no printing needed. The vehicle is air-conditioned and the fare already includes all fees and taxes. Full refund up to 24 hours ahead.

Mapi Travel Agency's round-trip bus costs US$38.00. The vehicle is air-conditioned and all sales are final, so confirm your travel date first.

Whichever card you pick, check the cancellation terms against your train booking. Trains to town can be rebooked by the operator, and a non-refundable bus ticket locked to the wrong day is money lost. For the rest of your day budget in town, see Aguas Calientes costs.

A note on what you can carry up. The site's conduct rules ban bags larger than 40x35x20 cm inside the Llaqta, along with food, tripods, selfie sticks, walking sticks, hard-soled shoes and strollers. Buses do not check bags for you or store luggage, so sort your pack before you board.

The full list of prohibited items is on our Machu Picchu rules page.

It helps to know how the concessionaire itself has priced the route, even if you buy through a booking card. Consettur's last openly published price sheet is its 2022 tariff. The operator's website currently blocks outside access, so a live figure could not be confirmed directly.

Treat the table below as the operator's own most recent published tariff, the 2022 sheet, not a current buying recommendation.

The pattern in that sheet is worth noting. Discounts went to Peruvian nationals, students, children and local residents, with the deepest local fares for people living in Cusco and in Machupicchu Pueblo itself. Bring the ID that matches your category if you plan to buy in person and claim a reduced fare.

The operator's published office hours are also useful. Its Aguas Calientes ticket office, archived from the operator's own site in 2024, is open daily 05:00 to 21:45. Its Cusco office at Av. Infancia 433 in Wanchaq keeps shorter hours, Monday to Saturday 08:00 to 13:00 and 14:30 to 17:00, and Sundays and holidays 08:00 to 12:45.

The bus has one rival on foot. A signed walking path leaves town and climbs to the same gate, taking about 90 minutes per Wikipedia. It follows the river first, then switchbacks up through cloud forest to rejoin the road below the entrance. The full route, turn by turn, is covered on our walk from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu page.

The tradeoffs are simple. The walk costs nothing and saves you the queue entirely, but it costs about an hour each way and a serious sweat on the stairs. At 2,040 m rising to 2,430 m, the altitude is real, and the stones are slippery after rain. The rainy season runs November to March in this valley. If you walk up for an early slot, bring a headlamp for the river section and time yourself against your entry window, because tolerance after your slot is only 30 minutes in regular months and 45 in high-demand months.

Many visitors split the difference: bus up in the dark, walk down after the visit, when the stairs are quieter and the heat is gone. That works with any round-trip booking or with a one-way ticket. Our pick if you want the simplest morning is Peru Trekkers' official round-trip bus, since flexible boarding and a 24-hour refund window fit around train delays. If your plan is fixed and you just want the booth line gone, Peru & U's bus transfer does that at the same US$19.00. For the rest of the town while you plan your climb, see things to do in Aguas Calientes.