Best way to travel to Machu Picchu from Chile?

Question

My family is planning a trip to Chile in March of '08. We will spend the majority of our time in Santiago, but we want to travel into Peru to see Machu Picchu. I've tried to do some searches online for information about a train from Chile to Cusco, Peru, but I cannot find anything except tour guide sites. Can anyone recommend the best way to reach Machu Picchu from Chile via train?

Answer 1

My -ex is from Lima, Peru so I know how hard it is to get to Cusco from Lima (takes a few days driving)...since you will be on vacation and time is important this is your only option...you need to take a plane into Peru (not sure from Santiago if it goes to Cusco directly or not) if not you can take it to another city in Peru and then take another plane to Cusco...now this is the most important part...YOU MUST ALREADY HAVE PURCHASED YOUR TRAIN TICKET FROM CUSCO TO MACCHU PICCHU...my -ex was just in Peru when his sister got married...she wanted to go to Macchu Picchu...she thought she could save money and by the ticket in Cusco...she flew from Lima to Cusco and all the tickets were sold out, she never made it to Macchu Picchu...her sister-in-law did the smart thing about bought the package (plane ticket / train ticket together) and of course got to go...

Answer 2

Via train will be very difficult to go all the way from Chile. Lan airlines fly to Lima and then straight to Cuzco and you can find a good deal Santiago-Lima-Cuzco as it's the same airline (Lan Chile/ Lan Peru)