Cusco is where every Machu Picchu trip starts. The former Inca capital at 3,400 metres gives you a two-night acclimatisation stop, the main domestic airport, and a city that is a destination in its own right — Qorikancha, Sacsayhuamán, San Pedro market, Plaza de Armas.
Peruways runs the Cusco side as a bundled package: city tour with licensed Peruvian guides, Sacred Valley day with Pisac, Moray and Maras, and the train and bus down to Machu Picchu. The archaeological sites around Cusco — Sacsayhuamán, Qenko, Puca Pucara, Tambomachay — are usually combined into a half-day city-perimeter tour.
From Cusco the train leaves from Poroy (dry season) or Wanchaq. Most travellers transfer to Ollantaytambo and board there to skip the slow switchback descent. The Inca Trail is the four-day walking alternative — permits capped at 500 a day, book six months ahead.
Plan the full Cusco-to-Machu-Picchu trip at Peruways.
