Premium Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu

Included in the Price

The listing includes the Inca Trail entrance fees, so the permit is covered once your date is confirmed. The Machu Picchu citadel entrance is included but only applicable for circuit 1B, and a guided tour of the citadel is part of the package. Transport from Cusco to the trailhead, a professional English-speaking guide, and bus tickets from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes are in.

On the camp side you get camping equipment, a four-person tent for every 2 hikers, camping and inflatable mattresses, sleeping bags, walking sticks, a dining tent with table and stools and implements, a kitchen tent, a chef and an assistant chef, porters to carry all heavy gear, and an eco-friendly portable toilet with a toilet tent for groups over 4 people. Meals, snacks and water are included, with vegetarian options on request, plus a first-aid kit, emergency oxygen tank, 24-hour support, a pre-trek briefing and hotel pickup.

Not Included

The train ticket is listed as an exclusion. You buy your own Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo train, then a representative takes you back to Cusco. Personal travel insurance and tips for guides and porters are also excluded.

Other drinks beyond water are not stated. Because the citadel ticket only covers circuit 1B, anyone wanting Huayna Picchu or the Machu Picchu mountain would need a different ticket, and the listing does not offer one.

What You May Pay on the Day

Budget separately for the train, for your own travel insurance, and for tips for the guide and porter team, none of which are priced in the listing. No mandatory extras are stated, so the from-price is otherwise complete for what it does include. Note that the permit is tied to your passport: share passport details immediately after booking, because permits are non-transferable between people.

Day 1, Cusco to Wayllabamba

An early hotel pickup starts the day, with the exact time shown when you check availability. The drive to Ollantaytambo is stated as 2 hours, then the team continues to Piscacucho (Km 82). At the control point you show your Inca Trail permit and passport, cross the Piscacucho Bridge over the Urubamba River and start on flat terrain along the river shore to the community of Miskay.

A view of the Inca site of Llactapata rewards the effort before a steeper path climbs to a high plateau. After lunch the listing allows another 2.5 hours or so to the first campsite at Wayllabamba.

Day 2, Over Dead Woman's Pass

This is the hardest day at the highest altitude. The trail zigzags up from the cloud forest into cold high plains and reaches Dead Woman's Pass, which the listing gives as 13,831 feet (4,215 m) and some sources put at 4,200 m. The listing tells you to go at your own pace.

From the pass, a winding path of steps descends steeply across a valley to the camp at Pacaymayo Bajo.

Day 3, Passes and Ruins to Wiñay Wayna

Breakfast first, then the archaeologically rich stretch. You climb past Runcurakay, a tambo or lodge, to the second pass with views of the mountain ranges, then on to the lakes of Comercocha and the cliff-set structures of Sayacmarqa. The route passes the small complex of Conchamarka, a 65-foot (20-meter) tunnel with steps carved from rock, and reaches the third and final pass at Phuyupatamarka, the Town over the Clouds.

The day ends at the ruins of Wiñay Wayna, or Forever Young, for the final night of camping.

Day 4, the Sun Gate and Machu Picchu

A very early start with breakfast leads to Inti Punku, the Sun Gate entrance to the citadel, for sunrise. You descend from the gate to the citadel for the guided walking tour. At the end you board the shuttle bus down to Aguas Calientes train station.

The train leg to Ollantaytambo is at your own arrangement, and a representative then takes you back to Cusco.

Hard Exclusions and Fitness

The listing says the trek is not suitable for pregnant women, people with back or heart problems, wheelchair users, or anyone over 280 lbs (127 kg). Physical fitness is required and altitude sickness pills are recommended, because day 2 climbs to Dead Woman's Pass at about 4,200 m. There is no minimum age stated.

If the full four-day commitment is the problem rather than fitness, the Short Inca Trail with 4-Star Hotel covers the trail in 2 days with a hotel bed instead of a tent, and the Private One-Day Inca Trail does it in a single 14-hour day.

Booking Friction and the Permit Trap

This is a shared group of up to 8, not private service. Travellers who want a guide to themselves should look at the Private 4-Day Inca Trail instead. The permit is tied to your passport and cannot move to another person, and you must share passport details immediately after booking.

The operator asks you to contact them on WhatsApp before booking to confirm availability. Free cancellation runs to 24 hours before departure. The trail also closes every February for maintenance, so dates in that month do not exist.

Solo travellers should note no single supplement is stated, because tents are shared two per four-person tent.

Acclimatise in Cusco First

Cusco sits at about 3,400 metres and Dead Woman's Pass at about 4,200 m, so arriving the day before the trek is a common way to struggle. Give yourself two or three nights in the city to acclimatise before the pickup. Altitude sickness can appear from about 2,500 metres, and the listing itself recommends altitude sickness pills.

Permits and Passport Timing

Inca Trail permits are capped at 500 people per day, including about 200 trekkers with the rest going to guides and porters. They are issued to one person on one passport and are non-transferable. This listing includes the permit, but the operator asks you to contact them before booking because availability changes every minute.

Read the guide to Inca Trail permits for how the release calendar works, and the best time to hike the Inca Trail for season trade-offs.

Circuit 1B, and What It Shows

Your included citadel ticket covers circuit 1B only. The listing does not say what circuit 1B covers, and Huayna Picchu and the Machu Picchu mountain climbs are not mentioned in the inclusions, so they would be separate tickets. If a peak climb matters to you, confirm with the operator what is possible before you book, because the listing offers no upgrade.

The Train Back and Your Luggage

After the visit you take the included bus down to Aguas Calientes, which takes about 25 to 30 minutes. The train to Ollantaytambo is yours to buy, and PeruRail allows one backpack up to 8 kg or one carry-on up to 12 kg on Machu Picchu routes. The trains take about 1 hour 30 minutes from Ollantaytambo.

Some travellers add a night in Aguas Calientes after the trek to rest before the train, which the listing does not include.