The PeruRail Titicaca Train from Cusco to Puno

The PeruRail Titicaca train runs from Cusco to Puno on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, leaving Cusco’s Wanchaq station at 07:50 and reaching Puno at 18:20, and back from Puno on Monday, Thursday and Saturday at the same times. That is PeruRail’s May to December 2026 timetable, confirmed when it resumed regular service on 25 August 2026 after landslides on the line. The journey takes about ten and a half hours across the altiplano, with lunch on board and one stop, at the La Raya pass at 4,335 m.

Timetable (May to December 2026)

From PeruRail’s May to December 2026 timetable and its notice of 24 August 2026 (perurail.com), read 27 October 2026. PeruRail says its exact station and time are confirmed when you book; check the 2027 timetable for later dates.

In Cusco the train boards at Wanchaq station on Avenida Pachacuteq; in Puno, PeruRail gives the boarding point as Avenida La Torre 224. The line covers about 386 km of track, measured along the railway, over the high plain through Juliaca to the lake.

What the fare includes

PeruRail lists, for the Titicaca service:

• a three-course lunch in the restaurant car and afternoon tea;
• live music and traditional dance, a welcome show and a pisco sour demonstration;
• access to the observation car and the bar car;
• a stop at La Raya, 4,335 m, the highest point of the line.

Luggage is one backpack of up to 8 kg plus one checked bag of up to 23 kg. The train does not go to Machu Picchu: that is a different line from Cusco and Ollantaytambo.

Train or bus?

Take the train if the journey itself is the treat: it is the comfortable, unhurried way across the altiplano, with a meal and music, and nothing to organise. It runs only three days a week each way and costs many times the bus; check the fare on PeruRail’s own site for your date.

Take the Route of the Sun sightseeing bus if you want to see the sights along the way. It stops at the painted church of Andahuaylillas, the Inca temple at Raqchi, lunch, La Raya and the Pucara museum, for a fraction of the train fare. The tour below is the one we would book, from $46 in current promotion (usually $50), rated 4.7 from 677 reviews (checked October 2026); the site fees, S/53 in all, are paid on the day.

The Cusco to Puno page compares all three ways, the night coach included.

Tips for the train

• Bring a warm layer: La Raya is cold and windy, and the open observation car is too.
• Plan your arrival in Puno: you arrive at 18:20, after dark for much of the year, so book your hotel close to the station or arrange a transfer, and do the islands the next day.
• Altitude: the line climbs to 4,335 m; a few days in Cusco first help. See the Puno altitude guide.

How these facts were checked

Days, times, stations, the La Raya stop, the on-board services and the luggage allowance are from PeruRail’s timetable, Titicaca service and travel-plan pages and its notices of 8 and 24 August 2026 (perurail.com), read 27 October 2026. The track length was measured along the railway for the map. The bus details are from the GetYourGuide listing, checked October 2026.