Classic Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu – 4 Days
4 days / 3 nights
We collect you from your Cusco hotel very early and drive roughly two hours to Km 82, the official starting point of the Inca Trail. After a permit and passport check at the control post, we cross the Urubamba River and begin walking along a gentler stretch of trail, passing the archaeological sites of Llactapata and Patallacta before reaching our first campsite near Wayllabamba. Our cook and porter team sets up camp and prepares dinner while you settle in and rest ahead of the trail's more demanding second day.
This is the most physically demanding day of the trek. We climb steadily through changing vegetation zones from Wayllabamba to Dead Woman's Pass at 4,215 m, the highest point of the classic route. The ascent is slow and sustained, and we set the pace to the group so everyone arrives well. From the pass, we descend to our second campsite at Pacaymayo, where a warm meal and an early night help you recover for what follows.
Often our favorite day on the trail, day three crosses two more passes at a gentler grade while passing four remarkable Inca sites: the round structure at Runkurakay, the cliffside terraces of Sayacmarca, the agricultural and ceremonial complex at Phuyupatamarca, and finally Wiñay Wayna, one of the best-preserved sites on the entire route. We camp nearby, close enough to reach the Sun Gate before sunrise the next morning.
We wake before dawn and hike the final stretch to Inti Punku, the Sun Gate, for your first view of Machu Picchu opening below as the morning light reaches the citadel. We descend into the sanctuary and continue with a guided tour of the main sectors before you have time to explore independently. In the afternoon we take the train from Aguas Calientes back to Ollantaytambo, where our transport returns you to Cusco. We return you directly to your hotel in Cusco (or the Sacred Valley, if that is where you are staying) — hotel drop-off is included with our operator's service.
Maximum 15 passengers per booking.
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Groups of max 12 You get a guide, not a crowd.
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