PE07 8566 Perurail, Aquas Calientes
photo by Benjamin

General

You can take the train from Cuzco and Ollantaytambo. The Inca architecture site is situated 2,350 meters above sea level, and 112 km from the city of Cuzco, so it will take you a good two-three hour ride to get there. You can't expect less when at the other side of your trip a lost city from 1460 AD awaits for your rediscovery.

Machu Picchu was declared one of the new Seven Wonders of the World in 2007, and is part of the UNESCO world heritage site, so tourist have been flooding the site in past years. It is said that more people visit this sacred citadel in one week than have lived there in the 15th century, so preserving this miracle is becoming more and more of an issue. The site was discovered and made public in 1911 by the American explorer Hiram Bingham. Actually, the most luxurious train that will get you up there proudly wears his name. The Bingham is a ride for the rich, but Perurail offers train tickets for all budgets: the Vista dome train with panoramic windows, the Andean Explored styled on the Pullman trains of the '20 or the Backpacker ride: the economical train that will simply get you there!

The train departs from Puno to Cuzco, through Ollantaytambo and finally to the Machu Picchu. Time breaks somewhere between the past and the present, between here and there, as the train keeps stopping and as the abundant luxurious vegetation crawls on top of the untouched cliffs.

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The photos displayed on this page are the property of one of the following authors:

Benjamin, Brendio, Scott Hadfield

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This travel guide also includes text from Wikitravel articles, all available at WikitravelView full credits

This travel guide also includes text from Wikipedia articles, all available at WikipediaView full credits

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