Getting to Cusco

Transportation

By Ricardo Segreda

For convenience sake, most people get to Cusco via airplane; a bus from Lima can cost $35 but 26 hours. You can break up the trip by stopping over in Nazca, but you would still have to leave at night when you resumed your trip. By contrast, a plane trip costs $70 but only takes one hour. However, except for chartered planes, there are no international flights to Aeropuerto Internacional Velasco Astete in Cusco. Its train stations, Estación de Huanchaq and Estación de San Pedro, connect to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu), Arequipa, Puno, and the Oriente (the Amazon jungle). There is also bus service between Cusco and these same regions.