The last leg to Machu Picchu is the Consettur shuttle from Aguas Calientes up the switchbacks of the Hiram Bingham Highway. It climbs 400 metres in 25 minutes from 2,040 metres at the station to the citadel gate at 2,430. Buses leave every few minutes from 5:30am.
Peruways books the Consettur ticket alongside the train from Ollantaytambo and the entrance window, so you walk past the queue at the bus station rather than through it — the queue can run thirty minutes long by 6am in high season.
The ride itself is a sequence of hairpins up the gorge wall, with the Urubamba running below and the cliff rising on the other side. On the first shuttle of the day you often arrive before the ridge clears of mist.
Reserve bus, train and entrance together at Peruways.
