Gypsy8

We will be flying into Lima and then planning to go on a tour to Machu Picchu. Which would you all suggest as the best option -
A) fly to Cusco and then take the long bus ride tour
B) fly and bus to Aguas Calientes, stay there and pick up the tour
C) fly to Cusco and train to Aguas Calientes, again stay there and pick up a tour

I have not found a tour option that takes the train from Cusco to AC and then the bus to MP….is there one out there?
Unfortunately we only have 3 nights to spend between departure and return to Lima. I realize this will make a few of you gasp, but that is the way it is.
Again we rely on the great input of this forum. Thanks

tom_mn

It’s complicated but most of your options listed are not viable.

There must be a train segment. All the trains serve Ollantaytambo>>Aguas Calientes (now called Machu Picchu town). So there is no bus only option. There are few trains that go from outside Cusco (45 minutes) to Machu Picchu town but it can be done.

A typical day trip from Cusco is 3 am departure via shuttle to Ollantaytambo and early morning return, 1 am, about 22 hours if done in one day.

Play with possibilities on incarail.com and perurail.com. You can book the bus/rail or look into taxi/rail options to MP town and buy it yourself, then book the shuttle up the mountain separately.

Note that there is no internal signage at MP to give any background information or identification of site elements.

It would take a lot of confidence to make this substitution, but a day trip to Pisac, a similar ruin with better weather and far less crowding, is easily done from Cusco, be sure to do the one way hike down (but due to tunnel midway not possible if a big person).

Gypsy8

Tom_mn. Thank you…this is all so confusing with the different names, Please tell me if I have this correct…and logical, now. So, we fly from Lima to Cusco. Spend the night. Take train to MP town (formerly Aguas Calientas) spend the night there to catch early bus to the Citadel gates, where we would meet our previously booked tour guide. Then after the tour…do this all in reverse? I suppose we could leave for Cusco after our early morning tour, and pass spending that night in MP town, couldn’t we? Ultimately, what I am attempting to avoid, is that long day of shuttle/tour/shuttle between Cusco and the Citadel. What do you think of this new plan?

kja

Have you planned for adjusting to altitude? It can be quite disruptive.

tom_mn

There’s no obviously great option to visit MP, all approaches have various drawbacks. All are expensive in their own way.

We stayed in Ollantaytambo and day tripped from there. This avoids spending an early trip night at high altitude (Cusco). Ollantaytambo is also interesting with its own pair of nice ruins and a spectacular setting. Rooms on the ground floor in the old town can have a sewage smell and are a 30 minute walk to and from the train, so maybe stay near the train station? Not essential, but read the reviews if staying in the old town.

I think if you have just a short 3 night stay I’d skip Cusco city, spend the 3 nights In Ollantaytambo, 1 day day trip to MP and the other day explore the ruins either side of town and the old Inca village still being used.

See Taxidatum.com for transport to and from Cusco airport, extremely reliable and pay (cash) only after completion, can include tourist stops along the way for additional funds.

Adding links:

Straight airport to destination fares https://taxidatum.com/taxi-fares-lim...cusco-airport/ expand display to 50

Taxi ride with stops https://taxidatum.com/chincheros-maras-moray-taxi-tour/

tom_mn

LATAM: This is a great airline with a lot of flights, suggest you just pay for the premium class or full economy and get refundability and a free checked bag. LIm>> Cuz should be less than $100 each way for the highest class ticket. Check in LIM airport is a zoo, be sure to have your PNR 6 character reservation number and use the LATAM kiosk for printing luggage tags, will save you 45 minutes in line. You get pretty good SkyMiles (Delta) from LATAM for the premium economy fare.

One more thing: bring plenty of cash to Ollantaytambo, the only ATM charges $10. Note that everywhere I checked the Banco de la Nacion MultiRed ATMs were always free but limited to about $105 withdrawals per day. There's a MultiRed ATM in Machu Picchu town, though.

mjs

What time would you fly into Cusco?
You can take a direct train from Cusco to Aquas Caliente. The first part to Oly is not especially scenic but the part to AC is. 30 minute bus ride from AC to MP and you need to time your tickets to MP with the bus. Several different tours of MP to choose from.

tom_mn

This is a little misleading, there are no trains from Cusco proper to the Sacred Valley and MP. You would have to take a bus or something over the mountain from Cusco to the train on the other side, either a shuttle bought with the rail ticket or a taxi independently. There is no one mode of transport from Cusco to MP, you must go by road somehow from Cusco to Poroy, or Urabamba, or Ollantaytambo (towns from where the train operates), and then by train from one of those stations to MP.

mlgb

I concur with the folks who recommend going straight to Ollantaytambo for your first night. You can use taxidatum.com for a transfer, by booking online then there will be someone to meet and greet and carry your bags while your heart races as you step off the plane in Cusco. I personally would not do anything on arrival day, check in, rest for a few hours, see if you have a headache, have very light lunch (no heavy meals in the evening) perhaps take a mototaxi up to the old town and walk around a bit.

I would book two nights in Ollantaytambo, second day leave early train for a day trip to Machu Picchu. The hotel at the train station El Albergue is fine and convenient, or there are a few others along the road to the train such as Pakaritampu. Then spend the last night in Cusco. It is easy to just get a taxi going back to Cusco or you could book a multi-stop transfer (eg Moray Circles, Salineras, Chinchero) on the way to Cusco. The airport in Cusco is no more than 15 minutes from central hotels, a regular taxi called by hotel should be okay, apparently there is also Uber or again you could use taxidatum.

You do not need a "tour" exactly if adept at booking online the train, and the MP tickets (Circuit 2 is the one that I think you want). tom_mn will have more details as he was recently there after much research. Hotels are easy as are transfers.

Gypsy8

We have, thank you ☺️…we live high in the mountains of Canada

tom_mn

It’s comparatively not very high, although it gives you a head start over lowlanders. Cusco is over 3400 m, the highest place on your journey. Some Peruvian highways reach close to 5000 m!

There is Uber in Cusco and Lima (and Arequipa). Used it in all 3.

mjs

We took a train from San Pedro station Cusco to Aquas Caliente via Oly in September. Return to Oly next day and Taxidatum back to Cusco.

crellston

"Unfortunately we only have 3 nights to spend between departure and return to Lima. I realize this will make a few of you gasp, ."

With just three nights to play with I strongly suggest you visit MP from Ollantaytambo. Ollant is a great little village with its own set of ruins second only to MP itself IMO. It is also at a lower altitude (2800m) than CUsco (3400m) so less chance of altitude acclimatisation issues.
the Timings involved would be something like this:
Day 1
Early flight Lima to Cusco -2 hours
Taxi Cusco airport to Ollantaytambo- 2 hours overnight Ollantaytambo, explore village and ruins in the afternoon

Day 2 - early train to Aguas Calientes (2hrs) , bus to MP (30mins) , 3 hours at citadel - return to Ollantaytambo for overnight ( same timings)

Day 3 - taxi tour back to Cusco stopping off at Moray, Maras and Chinchero (6 hours) , lightning fast visit of main Cusco sights, overnight Cusco and fly Lima next morning

the first two post in our blog @ https://accidentalnomads.com/category/peru/ cover Ollantaytambo and teh tour of the SV.

I suppose you could try and make it all teh way to Aguas Calientes but it would be an exceptionally long day and frankly Ollantaytambo is a far superior place to stay a few nights than AC which essentially exists only as a dormitory town to serve visitor to MP and is no great shakes!

tom_mn

I see that in peak season there are 2 Peru Rail trains that leave directly from Cusco, didn't know that.

OP should check on baggage restrictions on these trains. Those doing an overnight must store bags somewhere. There is a vendor at Ollantaytambo that will store bags.

Gypsy8

Crellston - Wow!!! I love your blog..the pictures are wonderful, as are the stories. We changed our flights so as to have 2 full days in Ollantaytambo because of your blog! And we have followed your above suggested itinerary, which is perfect for us. We will do that ‘taxi tour’ back to Cusco with the stops along the way. How does that work with taxi’s? Does your driver just wait for you to browse around or do you get a different one each time you leave a sight? What taxi service do you use? What should we expect to pay? Tip? We also allowed for a full day and half in Cusco.
Wondering if you can suggest a mid range hotel near both Cusco and Lima airport. Looking on Booking.com there is a HUGE price difference between US hotel chains (+$200) to local hotel of less than $100. The ‘less than $100” scares me as to the quality. We would much rather not stay in the US chain, but are these Peru ones nice? Looking at 4* and 5*
We do very much appreciate your time and assistance.☺️

Gypsy8

tom_mn. Thank you for the heads-up on the smells of ground floor accommodations. Do you have a favourite? And we will book with taxiddatum for the stop tours….(crellston….this answered my questions about how taxi’s respond to stops)

mjs

You book Taxidatum via the internet and they are very responsive. We moved from Yucay to Cusco as part of our trip and we were with the same taxi and driver the whole time. He just waited for us as we visited our stops. Taxis are generally small, like a Corolla. Taxis are inexpensive and obviously dependent on what you want to do. Downtown Cusco is quite close to the airport so there is no reason to stay at the airport in Cusco.
We stayed at 4* US hotels so no recommendations although I should note that we did stay at the Wyndham Lima airport as we arrived at about 2030 and we we leaving in the morning and the Wyndham is a short walk across from the Lima terminals. Its about $200 a night and clean but really a 3* more then a 4*.

Gypsy8

Mjs…thank you. I also am hoping we are able to have the same driver…when contacting taxidatum I listed all of the times/destinations we would need transport, so hopefully.
I did look at the Wyndham. Where did you stay in Cusco?

mjs

We stayed at the Sonesta. Decent hotel a little outside of the centre of the city. Do not get a standard room. The executive rooms are rather nice but the standard rooms are of 3 star variety. If ever we return we would probably stay at the JW Marriott.

crellston

Glad you enjoyed our blog Gypsy8 .

Others have answered your questions re hotels , I would only add that I would advise staying in hotels near the airports in either city. Just stay in town and get a cab ( taxidatum are also very good for prebooked airport transfers. Perhaps take a look at the Inkaterra or Casa Andina Peruvian chains. When in Lima and not renting an apartment, we stay at 3B Barranco recommended to me years ago by mlgb above.
PS We have literally stayed for months in both Cusco and Lima in dozens of different hotels over the years and can’t say I have ever noticed sewage smells in ground floor rooms.