How to get the Hiram Bingham Experience for Half the Price

Ruth MacRae • January 29, 2019

You're designing a fantastic itinerary. But then it gets to Machu Picchu. If you are not into hiking and the Hiram Bingham is beyond the budget how do you make your journey to Machu Picchu special? Answer: You take the PeruRail Sacred Valley Train.

How does the Sacred Valley Train compare to the Hiram Bingham train?

carriages are very similar. The Hiram Bingham is plusher, but both are very nice. Both have a dining car, bar/lounge car and observation car.
The Sacred Valley Train gives you three courses, a glass of wine and water with your meal. Hiram Bingham offers four courses and an unlimited bar. The food is good and beautifully presented but not memorable. The Sacred Valley Train service is excellent but Hiram Bingham is a notch above.
With the Sacred Valley Train you disembark at Machu Picchu at 13:30 and enter the ruins at about 14:20. This allows time to tour Machu Picchu at its quietest time, and then take the last bus down to the train station at 17:30 in time for the return journey at 19:30.
The biggest advantage of the Hiram Bingham is that it has its own private bus. To some, this alone is worth it as they don’t have to line up to take the bus to the ruins. But the Sacred Valley Train´s timings mean the bus queues are not nearly as bad as they are most of the day.
The Hiram Bingham runs closer to Cusco. The train starts at Poroy, 40 minutes outside of Cusco, compared to the Sacred Valley Train which begins at Urubamba in the Sacred Valley. It also gets you to Cusco earlier, about 22:00. With the Sacred Valley Train you arrive at your Cusco hotel about midnight. The Hiram Bingham departs Machu Picchu at 17:30 while The Sacred Valley Train departs at 19:30.
When you want the best: The Hiram Bingham is still the most luxurious way to get to Machu Picchu.
The Sacred Valley Train is an up-grade over the Vistadome. It is about $100USD each way and includes lunch and dinner.
If you are staying in one of the Sacred Valley hotels, you can board the Sacred Valley Train at Tambo del Inka, Rio Sagrado and Ollantaytambo. The Hiram Bingham takes a different route and the only stations are Poroy and Ollantaytambo.
If you stay in the valley, use the Sacred Valley Train for a day trip rather than spending a night in Machu Picchu. If you put this at the end of your time in the valley, you can have a lazy morning next day, then transfer to Cusco and your new hotel, perhaps stopping at Sacsayhuaman on the way.
·With Hiram Bingham you get a Machu Picchu entrance ticket, a bus ticket (on their private bus), afternoon tea at Sanctuary Lodge, transfers to/from Cusco and a guided group tour of Machu Picchu (about 1 guide per 14 participants). With the Sacred Valley Train, we book the Machu Picchu entrance ticket, the public bus ticket, transfers to/from Sacred Valley/Cusco and a private guided tour. Hiram Bingham is about $500USD per person for a roundtrip, roughly twice as much as the Sacred Valley Train.

Can you take one train out and the other back on the same day?

Taking the Sacred Valley Train to Machu Picchu and the Hiram Bingham back doesn’t work as there isn’t enough time for your Machu Picchu tour.
Taking the Hiram Bingham to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley Train back works if you are staying in Cusco the night before and moving to a Sacred Valley hotel the night you return. However, most prefer to stay in the Sacred Valley before their visit to Machu Picchu and visit Cusco at the end of their Machu Picchu visit.

Why am I suggesting day trips, rather than overnight trips to Machu Picchu?

Visiting Machu Picchu gets harder each year. It can be quite stressful. Space in the good hotels gets more difficult to find, the queues get longer and the restrictions get tighter. When you stay overnight in Machu Picchu we recommend a second visit to Machu Picchu but this is less appealing than it once was. Better to really enjoy it once, by taking a nice train there and back the same day, and then spend the rest of your time experiencing the rest of Peru.

Overall

The Sacred Valley Train is not the Hiram Bingham, but it is a good alternative. For most people that will be a real value.

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How to get the Hiram Bingham Experience for Half the Price