What It's Like to Take a Luxury Train to Machu Picchu: Photo Essay

Sit and enjoy the mountain view in a building with a cozy cabin feel, complete with free books and refreshments.

Low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines is the most likely to bump passengers, far surpassing other major airlines in the United States. 

Dallas-Fort Worth travelers who want to take high tea overlooking Victoria Harbour at the Peninsula Hong Kong or chow down on dim sum have a new way to get to the bustling Asian metropolis next spring.

There are two types of train trip: The long, slow, and often luxurious train journey that takes you through beautiful scenery that you book specifically to spend time on the rails; and the speedy, no-nonsense, cheap train ride you take to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. In the first category, you’ll find grand trips like Australia’s The Ghan, South Africa’s Blue Train, and Britain’s Caledonian Sleeper. In the second, there are trips from London to Brussels in just two hours, from Rome to Venice in four hours, and from Miami to Orlando in three hours. And if you’re a train traveler who belongs to the second category and likes getting places fast without flying, there are plenty of trains in this world that do just that at speeds previously unimaginable on land, including the fastest train in the world and its closest competitors.

There are multiple hiking trails that lead to the ancient city of Machu Picchu: the Ancascocha Trail, the Salkantay Trail, the Lares Trek, etc. But the most popular of them all is the Inca Trail, and to hike it, you need a permit.

When most Americans think of cruises, they probably think of island-hopping in the Caribbean or cruising by glaciers in Alaska from afar. That may be appealing for some people, but for others, the idea of being lazy on a ship of thousands of people for a week doesn’t sound like much of a vacation.

Hiking Machu Picchu. Summiting Rainbow Mountain. Sandboarding dunes in the Ica Desert, paragliding over the Costa Verde. Peru is unmatched for its variety of experiences and there’s no more luxurious place to start (or conclude) the odyssey than The Westin Lima, with rooms starting at $275 per night.

River cruises are soaring in popularity. They are becoming a new luxury tipple for those looking for a more intimate cruising experience on a smaller vessel. UNIWORLD is one of the leading boutique river cruise companies specializing in all-inclusive vacations. From classic routes such as The Danube and The Rhine to jungle adventures on the Peruvian Amazon, the cruise line offers exciting itineraries across the globe, with new offerings added throughout the year. One of their most extravagant trips is the Death on the Nile (without the murder) Splendors of Egypt and the Nile Cruise.

Florida has declared a state of emergency for 41 of the state's 67 counties ahead of Hurricane Helene potentially making landfall as it heads west through the Caribbean.

Daniel Humm reminds me of my Swiss grandmother.

In this episode of the Skift India Travel Podcast, Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia and India Reporter Bulbul Dhawan dive into the top travel stories from India this month. They explore Leela Hotels’ move toward an IPO, South Africa’s new visa reforms, and Oyo’s acquisition of Motel 6. The discussion also covers key trends in Indian aviation and how Indian millennials are driving a surge in travel spending.  

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Eliot Davenport, a 32-year-old SEO manager and business owner from Melbourne, Australia. It's been edited for length and clarity.