INCA TRAIL 4 DAYS / 3 NIGHTS

Today you will begin the hike of a lifetime, and you will need to wake up early so your guide and driver can pick you up from your accommodation in Cusco between 4 and 4:30 a.m. If you are staying in Urubamba, you will be picked up between 5:30 and 6 a.m., and if you are in Ollantaytambo, it will be between 6:30 and 7 a.m.

From Cusco, you will travel by bus for an hour and a half to Ollantaytambo to enjoy a delicious breakfast prepared by our talented chef and meet the entire trekking team, made up of cooks and porters. They will accompany you throughout this exciting adventure, together with your guide, to ensure you have an unforgettable experience and take home incredible memories of the sacred mountains.

Next, you will board our private transport to take you to the first checkpoint of the trail at Piscacucho, km 82. You will need your original passport to enter the trail, so don’t forget it! The first two hours of hiking are relatively easy, which will help you prepare for the more challenging sections. We will make a stop in front of a small Inca site called Canabamba.

Here you will learn all about the water channels and enjoy a spectacular view of the La Verónica glacier. Then we will head to Wilkarakay and visit the magical archaeological site of Llactapata, whose stone walls stand out among the lush vegetation on the other side of the Urubamba River.

We will continue walking for another 20 minutes to reach our lunch spot in Tarayoc. You will be amazed by the delicious food we have prepared for you in the middle of the mountains! This afternoon, you will continue hiking for another 3 and a half hours until you reach our first campsite in WAYLLABAMBA (3300 m / 10,827 fasl).

Don’t worry if you forgot your camera batteries or didn’t buy something to snack on; in this last section we will pass through two small communities where you can buy whatever you need. We will arrive at our campsite around 5:00 p.m., where you can rest your tired legs. It will be time to relax, enjoy a hot drink, and have a snack while reflecting on your first day of hiking and waiting for dinner.

You will eat around 7:30 p.m., and then go to bed to get a good night’s rest before starting the hike again tomorrow.

Another early morning awaits when we wake you up in your tents with a cup of hot coca tea. Coca has been consumed since the time of the Incas and is an excellent way to start the day, as it gives you energy and helps combat the fatigue of the altitude.

A challenging day awaits, the most exhausting of the route. Be sure to enjoy everything breakfast has to offer to recharge your energy.

We will begin the day with a 4-hour hike to the highest point of the trek, Dead Woman’s Pass (4215 m / 13,829 fasl). From here, you will enjoy the most impressive views of the immense mountains, so open all your senses and let yourself be carried away. You will feel the spirit of the ancient Incas who walked these paths hundreds of years ago and who lived in harmony with nature.

Then we will descend for an hour and a half to the other side of the valley, where we will find our lunch spot. Remember that at each meal you will be able to refill your water bottles. After a delicious lunch, we will ascend for about 45 minutes to the Inca site of Runkurakay. We will take our time to explore this small complex where you will be able to observe two impressive waterfalls on the mountain slopes.

Then we will continue ascending for another 45 minutes to the top of Runkurakay Pass. You will have the opportunity to rest here and enjoy the final and beautiful views of the Andean section of the trek. This is an excellent place to perform a small ceremony to Mother Earth and the mountains by leaving an offering. When we resume the hike, we will descend for approximately one hour until we reach the next archaeological site of Sayamarca. It is almost inaccessible, but it is worth visiting.

You will learn all the secrets of the site with your expert guide while the sun sets and illuminates the Vilcabamba mountain range with a reddish tone. From there, you only have 25 minutes of hiking left until you reach our campsite to spend the night in PACAYMAYO (3600 m / 11,811 fasl).

After another fantastic meal, take the opportunity to observe the clear sky and the Andean stars and learn about the Inca constellations. The night sky in the mountains is a truly amazing spectacle.

The most challenging day has ended, and today a beautiful reward awaits you! After a good night’s rest, you will wake up at 6:30 a.m. to relax a little. You will have a hearty breakfast and then hike for an hour and a half. Enjoy the vegetation and the fantastic scenery as the jungle becomes denser. You will witness an impressive juxtaposition of the Salkantay glacier (the second most important in Cusco) on one side and the jungle on the other. Be amazed by the panoramic view of the Vilcabamba mountain range.

Then, you will begin ascending toward the final summit of the route at Phuyupatamarca (3650 m / 11,975 fasl), a mystical place above the clouds. After that, you will descend again for two and a half hours until you reach Intipata. This important agricultural site offers impressive panoramic scenery and allows you to admire the Sacred Valley of the Incas, with the sacred Urubamba River flowing through its center like a snake. Only 30 minutes of hiking remain until you reach our campsite for the night, near the archaeological site of Wiñay Wayna.

You are now very close to the city of the Incas! You will arrive around 1 p.m. to enjoy a well-deserved lunch before heading to the archaeological site around 4 p.m. The name of the complex, Wiñay Wayna, means forever young and is considered one of the most impressive stops along the entire route. You will explore the site for about an hour while your guide evokes images that will bring it back to life. This will allow you to imagine what life was like hundreds of years ago and how the site would have looked full of life. Back at the campsite, you will enjoy a small celebration together with your entire trekking team: guides, porters, and cooks.

Take some time to think about everything they have done for you during the journey. These guys work extremely hard to make sure you feel comfortable and relaxed each day. Take this opportunity to thank them for all their work. It is also the perfect moment to give them a tip as a sign of your appreciation. Here you will also say goodbye to your porters.

After the celebration, it is time to go to bed early to rest well, since you will wake up at dawn the next day. Relax and reflect on all the incredible effort you have made so far. Tomorrow you will visit one of the Seven New Wonders of the World. We always like to arrive as early as possible so you can see the sunrise, a magical spectacle that will surely captivate you.

All your effort from the past few days will be rewarded with the most incredible prize today. You will need to wake up very early today, at 3:30 a.m., to make sure you arrive early at the Sun Gate and see the sunrise. At 4 a.m., we will give you water and a breakfast box so you can continue on your way.

We will be one of the first groups to enter the checkpoint and walk for approximately one hour to the Sun Gate. Get ready, because once there, you will have your first views of the incredible wonder of Inca architecture and engineering. Congratulations! You made it! You are finally inside Machu Picchu. You will revere the sacred place that has patiently waited for you, and it will change something deep within you.

We only have one more hour of walking to enter Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas. We will arrive at the last checkpoint around 8:00 a.m. to begin our 2-hour guided tour. As you walk through this fascinating creation, you will feel the intimate connection between humans and nature. You will see immense stones that connect harmoniously to form temples, alleys, houses, and aqueducts that are still functioning more than 5 centuries later. Machu Picchu was built in an inaccessible place to resist any attack.

After the tour, you will have a few more hours to explore on your own. Alternatively, you can hike Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain if you have reserved your tickets in advance. Then you will take the bus back to Aguas Calientes to have lunch at a restaurant of your choice and later board the train to Ollantaytambo or Poroy. Tickets are usually booked for 3:20 p.m. or 4:20 p.m., depending on availability, and you must be at the station at least 30 minutes before departure.

Once you arrive at your final train stop, one of our representatives will be waiting for you with private transport to take you back to your accommodation in Cusco.