Ninety seconds on Machu Picchu
Pick Circuit 2 at Machu Picchu before you pick a date: it covers most of the ruins and still passes the classic view over them.
Thirty minutes' grace is all the gate allows after the hour printed on your ticket. Bring the passport the ticket was booked on, because staff check one against the other. Past the turnstile the route runs one way, and guards turn back anyone walking against it. The first circuit keeps to the upper terraces and has the best sunrise views. The third covers ground the second mostly shares as well, and is the one the Huayna Picchu climb is sold with. Early in the day llamas graze the terraces by the Guardian House, which the first circuit and the lower-terrace route of the second reach. Cloud can bury the ruins and clear half an hour later, so a mid-morning slot loses little. There are no toilets and no food past the gate: use the facilities at the entrance first.
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