| ema_l03:51 UTC07 Jun 2007 | My fiance and I are really late making our plans for our summer trip. We'd like to see Machu Picchu between July 12 and 18. Can anyone recommend the best way to get there/make reservations at this late date? We're up for the 2 day hike but would settle for the train if that's our only option.
Thanks!
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| kod142805:24 UTC07 Jun 2007 | it's too late to do the classic inca trail. and all the classic and alternate treks are generally 4 days/3 nights anyhow. i haven't heard of a two day hike. i think you are regulated to taking the train.
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| shannonbdavis21:36 UTC07 Jun 2007 | The two day hike is a shorter version of the 4 day classic and it counts under the same quota, so it is likely "all booked up" in other words.
You can probably still get a train ticket. You can make a reservation online with perurail.com and then you pay for it when you arrive in Cusco.
I think you should go for it - even seeing Machu Picchu for only a day, it was one of the most amazing and beautifully breathtaking locations for a ruin that I've ever seen, and it's so remote and far from any existing town, which also makes it special.
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| ck51422:54 UTC07 Jun 2007 | Taking the train is not that bad. There are some decent hikes you can take once you get to Machu Picchu town. We did a day hike which proved quite tricky to a mountaintop which gave us a great view of machu picchu. Still it doesn't approach the full on 1 week hike I'm sure.
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| yaguri01:10 UTC08 Jun 2007 | There are also some great hikes in/around the Sacred Valley (Urubamba, Ollantaytambo, etc), which you'll have to pass through on your way to/from Machu Picchu regardless.
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| gier22:52 UTC12 Jun 2007 | Spend 2 days/1night in Aquas Calientes.
Take the train from cusco in the morning. Settle in to your hotel, go to the ticket office in the plaza to get your entrance tickets for MP, go to the ticket office at the bus stop and get your tickets for the bus (or plan to hike up to MP early in the morning). Maybe go to the hot springs (they get pretty grungy later in the afternoon), check out the market if you like, and then grab a bite to eat. Go to bed early.
Get up early the next morning and hike or take the bus to MP. Enjoy your day at Machu Picchu, then head back to AC and catch the afternoon train to sacred valley or cusco.
Make the train reservations online in advance and then pick the tickets up a couple of days before your travel date. You pick them up at the Wachaq station (main station) not the San Pedro Sattion (where the train departs for Aquas Calientes). When you pick the tickets up, make sure to tell the guy at the door that you have reservations and you won't have to wait in the big line. A nice way to spend a morning in Cusco is to pick up your tickets and then go to the artisan market which is right by the train station, followed by lunch. If you walk past the train station and take a right at the first corner, there are a couple of pretty good cevicherias along that street.
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| bazl18:08 UTC13 Jun 2007 | OP ...listen to #5 ... best way to go...but the switchbacks on the rail line are a once only and you can get off at Poroy when returning to Cusco and save a heap of time and be dropped at your hostal for S5 per person ...highly recommend Poray, Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Saqsaywaman too
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