1

We arrived in Cusco and purchased our MP and HP tix at the Department of Tourism less than a week before leaving. We bought the train tix on the Plaza de Armas about a week ahead too. We were there last May. We took the train from Ollantaitambo to AC and return from AC to Poroy where we bargained with a taxi driver for a ride into Cusco around 9 PM.

Regards,
Bob

2

I just did MP in late December. I was able to book train tickets from Ollantaytambo to MP on the day, but not all train services had tickets left (there was only one timeslot available for the return trip), so I recommend booking a few days in advance at least to be sure.

I got a mini-van shuttle service from Cusco to Ollantaytambo for 15 Soles (around $6USD), which took 90 minutes. From Ollantaytambo, there are trains every hour to MP. I got the mini-van from the corner of Pavitos and Av Grau Cuychipuncho. It's walking distance from a lot of the hostels or a few soles in a taxi from Plaza de Armas. I got mine early in the morning, around 6am, meaning I could spend the day exploring Aguas Calientes. I think a lot of other shuttles run from Plaza San Francisco.

Check this website for ticket availability: http://www.machupicchu.gob.pe/

3

You can easily book the train in advance online, absolutely no need to involve a travel agency and the earlier you do it the cheaper it might be as the cheapest train sell out first.
The are much more tourists in Cusco and of course Machu Picchu in July & August than in May which is still quiet but anyway I'd recommend you to book the Huayna Picchu climb two weeks in advance. Ask the hotel you'll stay at in Cusco to book this for you, should be free of cost or at least it's free of cost where I always stay in Cusco.

4

Thanks for the great info. Is it possible to do the 07:00 Huaynu Pichu trek and Machu Picchu all in the same day?

5

If you know what you're going to do and it's fairly firm, I would just go ahead and book everything now. It's not like the prices are going to go down. I used my local hotel to book MP/HP tickets for me (they charged a ~$15USD surcharge for their trouble which I was fine with). The train tickets do get scooped up so while you can probably get away with a train ticket last minute, you may not have your choice of departure times/train classes. The website to purchase train tickets is really easy to use.

I did HP and MP the same day (stayed in AC the night before). Our day started at 5AM and we were done around 3PM and we really took our time to explore all over. Good luck!