Hotels in Peru
Three kinds of train run between Cuzco, the Inca capital, and Machu Picchu, the 'Lost City' hidden in the high peaks of the Andes. The 'Backpacker' is the most economical, and usually more crowded. The 'Vistadome' offers the premium service of greater comfort, free onboard refreshments, and mostly-glass observation carriages. Both servIces leave Cuzco at 6 am for the roughly 4 hour, 112 km (70 mi) long journey, but spend the first half hour climbing steeply up a series of switchbacks called the Zigzag to Poroy, the first stop. The third kind of train starts its journey from Poroy: saving half an hour is the kind of luxury it represents. So is starting at 9 am - so that by the time its passengers arrive at the most glorious Inca ruins in the world, the other visitors will already be leaving. The luxury train is called the Hiram Bingham, and behaves like a 1920s Pullman service, including cocktails and lunch.
The railway runs through typical Andean valley farms, via the Pomatales River Gorge to Ollantaytambo, at the start of the sacred valley of the Urubamba. It passes whole hillsides of broken terracing, dotted with ruined Inca forts, and then follows the river into the Urubamba gorge. It climbs past the ruins of Qente into a valley where the microclimate is fed by a waterfall, and giant hummingbirds are common among the bright flowers of the morning.
At Chachabamba, rocky outcrops are overhung with bromeliads and orchids, and tall ceibos crowd the train. Then the view opens as it pulls up at Machu Picchu Town, 2 km (1.25 mi) below the Citadel, and the place where passengers catch the 20-minute bus ride to the top. Anticipation alone makes this a great railway journey.
HOW
By train
WHEN TO GO
Year-round. All three services are more expensive between June and August, the dry season.
TIME IT TAKES
Four hours (San Pedro Station, Cuzco to Machu Picchu); 3 hours 30 minutes (Poroy to Machu Picchu).
HIGHLIGHTS
The comfort, even on the Backpacker, and especially if you've been hiking or trekking.
The Qente waterfall, and the pristine subtropical flora around it.
The view up the Urubamba Valley on the return journey.
YOU SHOULD KNOW
Though much improved, the train from cuzco to Machu Picchu is notorious for opportunistic thieving.
The views and the occasion are so exciting that it's easy to take your eye off the ball.
