Train
 Cusco
has two train stations, one near the end of Avenida Sol serving
Puno and Arequipa and another next to the main city market serving
Machu Picchu and Quillabamba. The train for Puno leaves at 8 am
daily, except Sunday, and takes about 10hours. It passes through
Juliaca at about 5 pm, allowing you to connect with the nightly
train from Juliaca to Arequipa which leaves at about 8.45 pm.
The Machu Picchu train departs several times a day and is the
most frequently used train in Peru.
There is a bewildering variety
of trains. Some go only as far as Machu Picchu while others continue
to Quillabamba at the end of the line. Some are express and others
are local, stopping everywhere. The electric autovagon is generally
smaller, faster and more expensive than other trains. Often an
extra train runs during the height of the tourist season. There
is no other way to get to Machu Picchu by public transport. There
are no roads and the helicopter services of the 1970s was stopped
because the vibration of the choppers was damaging the ruins.
Even if you choose to walk in along the Inca Trail, you must take
a train to Kn88, the starting point of the trek. Everyone traveling
to and from Machu Picchu uses the train (except hikers coming
in from Mollepata or Chilca).
Ollantaytambo station can be
reached by road. This enables travelers to visit the Sacred Valley
ruins by bus and then continue from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu
without returning to Cusco. All trains stop here. The tourist
train's schedule to and from Machu Picchu requires passengers
to travel between Cusco and Ollantaytambo by railway company bus.
The halt at Km88 is where hikers leave the train to being the
Inca Trail. Only the local train stops here.
The Cusco train station has
two entrances with separate ticket windows. The right hand entrance
serves the tourist trains; the left hand entrance is for the local
train and the Quillabamba autovagon. The ticket offices are usually
open from about 6 am but close for 1 or 2 hours several times
during the day. The station entrance for the Quillabamba autovagon
is to the side of the building.
Bus
Cusco has no central bus terminal.
For buses to Pisac, go to Avenida Tacna, about 1 1/2 km east of
the town center, where a line of minibuses waits to leave at frequent
intervals throughout the day. Buses to Urubamba leave from the
Ormeño office on Avenida Huascar, about 1 km east of the
centre. Tourist buses leave at 2 pm daily from the Plaza de Armas,
at the corner by the tourist office, and go to Sacsayhuaman, Qenko
and Tambo Machay. The round trip takes about 4 hours and costs
$2, including a Spanish speaking guide. Tourist buses to Pisac
and Ollantaytambo leave at 8 am and cost about $5, also with a
local guide.
For Chinchero, there is a service
from Avenida Arcopata. Frequent trucks and minibuses leave on
Sunday morning for the market. On other days of the week, go as
early as possible and be prepared to wait; services are infrequent
and erratic. The fare is about 30c. Trucks for Limatambo, Mollepata
and on to Abancay and other destinations leave from here most
morning but, as is usual with truck services, there is no set
time.
Air
Cusco's airport is an International
airport with twice-weekly flights to La Paz, Bolivia. All departures
and arrivals are in the morning because winds often make landing
and takeoff difficult in the afternoon. There are two or three
direct flights a day t Lima and at least one a day to Arequipa
and Puerto Maldonado with Faucett and AeroPeru airlines. There
are usual daily flights to Ayacucho and several a week to Juliaca.
Same-day connections to Tacna via Arequipaand to most northern
cities via Lima can be organized, but allow several hours connecting
time as flights from Cusco are frequently very late.
When flying from Cusco to Lima,
check in as early as possible to get a seat on the right-hand
side of the plane for the best views of Salcantay's 627-metre
peak. Some pilots like to fly quite close to the mountain and
the views are stupendous. Occasionally a different route is taken
over Machu Picchu, but not often.
A taxi from the airport to
the centre of Cusco costs a little over $1; the local bus costs
a few cents.
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