Is there a train that runs from Lima to Cusco, or is a bus the only way to get there by land?
I would like to know if there is a train that goes to Cusco from Lima. Or does anyone know a good way to get to Cusco. Any good bus companies, how long oes it take by bus ! I read somewhere that it takes 30 hours? Or could you stopoff anywhere on the way to Cusco, like Ayacucho..
Reply to this Cruz del Sur is about the most reputable company is Peru. I *think* most people going straight from Lima to Cusco fly there. We bussed to Nazca to see the Nazca lines, then to Arequipa (gorgeous town, our blog from there went missing though) and then flew from Arequipa for about 50 pound or so.
Reply to this Cruz del Sur is known as the safest line and they offer different price levels depending on the level of comfort you are looking for. The trip from Lima to Cuzco supposedly takes around 24 hours, but, like almost everything in Peru, it is an estimate and can take much longer. After weighing the options, I decided to fly (less than an hour); it was worth the extra US$40. Aerocondor offers reasonable prices (around US$120) and good service/comfort.
Reply to this Dear tarainperu,
Did you book your flight through Aerocondor while in Peru, or bill prior?
Regards, Beanhead
Reply to this You miss seeing some incredible country by flying.Also if the same amount of people drove their own cars as there are seats on the plane the pollution would be a lot less.5 years ago the skyline from Cusco to Puno was white.This glacier supplies all the water for the Amazon River system and now there is only 1 tiny mountain top that is white.Please think about this before making your decisions
Reply to this We got the bus and what could have been an 18 hour trip became a 30 hour trip! First there was a mudslide which delayed us by 3 hours in stifling heat (the A/C was not working, nor was the TV, no JCVD!). Eventually we made it through this and when I awoke, we were again stopped, this time at the top of the mountains due to morning ice on the road! 5+ hours of random people trying to clear ice and snow from in front of the hundreds of trucks and buses and it was freezing cold.
But in hindsight, I still wouldn't have traded for a flight, it's all part of the fun. Plus we'd allowed two days to acclimatise, why not do it while on the bus!
Take the bus, it's part of the adventure, you see the country side from bottom to top with all the amazing ridges and ravines in between!
Reply to this ElAustraliano, I'm also for protecting the environment but please get your facts straight before you ask people not to fly. The Embraer 190 I fly burns 746 gal/hour of jet fuel to move 100 people 538 miles. If those 100 people drove 100 cars, assuming a 30 mpg average each car would burn 17.93 gallons. Multiple that by 100 cars and they would be burning 1793 gallons--more then DOUBLE what a plane would burn. Commercial aviation is by far the most economical and environmentally friendly way to travel. Please don't use false data to criticize my industry's impact on the environment.
Reply to this I stand corrected.
I did read this in a greenpeace pamphlet though.I am now trying to find comparisons on "Unleaded v Avgas" emissions
Reply to this Is there a website for the bus companies? My partner and i will be flying into Lima, but we want to do the inca trail and nasca lines and want to find the cheapest and safest way of getting to nasca and cusco form lima 😊
Reply to this Plenty of bus companies and you get what you pay for. The expensive ones are usually better. But it still varies largely within the company. SOme buses can suck(air con broken, break downs etc) while others are great (brand new in full working order). Whatever you do, take plenty of food and drink, hot and cold clothes.
In one trip, I was stuck in a tropical land slide in the sweltering heat for 4 hours, only to be woken about 6 hours later stuck in the freezing ice for 6 hours. All in a nice enough bus, but had broken air conditioning. They had to turn off the bus to save petrol anyway, so wouldn't have worked regardless. Thank god for I-Pods and books on that 28 hour bus ride!
Reply to this ElAustraliano,
"A gallon of gasoline is assumed to produce 8.8 kilograms (or 19.4 pounds) of CO2."
- Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.epa.gov/OMS/climate/420f05004.htm#step1)
"Avgas has an emission coefficient (or factor) of 18.355 pounds CO2 per US gallon"
- Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avgas#cite_note-US_DOE_EIA_2007-1)
Plus, we don't burn Avgas. Cessna and similar piston airplanes do. Commercial aviation uses JetA which is refined to a higher degree than either auto gas or AvGas (closer in chemical composition to kerosene than gasoline) and produces even less emissions than both. So if you want to talk about actual CO2 emissions' impact instead of gallons burned, then your suggestion to drive instead of fly causes closer to THREE times more pollution than flying because you not only encouraged people to consume an extra 1047 gallons of fuel, you suggested they consume lower quality auto fuel with higher CO2 emissions.
I'm not trying to be mean but, as a commercial pilot, I feel obligated to speak up when someone makes false negative statements about the industry I live and breathe.
There are numerous Carbon Offset companies that plant trees and other such things to offset aviation's environmental impact. They have calculators on their websites where you input the length of the flight and it tells you how much the credit would cost to create a net zero carbon footprint for your travel. Instead of encouraging people not to fly, perhaps you could research some of these Carbon Offset companies and encourage people to buy credits to offset their flights.
At least please don't try to save the environment by encouraging people to burn more gas!
redshoes,
www.cruzdelsur.com.pe and
www.moviltours.com.pe are what you're looking for.
The later is only in Spanish.
Reply to this I dont know what buses cost to travel from Lima to Cuzco but I am flying on Taca Air in Aug of this year and a one way flight is $84us.
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