5-day Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu
The 5 day Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu
Hike the 5 Day Inca Trail in 2022.
Is the Inca Trail too busy? Not if you choose our 5 Day Inca Trail trek. It is the best way to hike to Machu Picchu.
You will avoid the crowds by keeping half a day ahead and behind everyone else. Find out What is the difference between the 5 day Inca Trail and the 4 Day here.
Numbers on the Inca Trail are restricted. There are only 500 Inca Trail permits available per day. But this includes porters and staff. Meaning about 200 permits for tourists. The permits usually sell out 6 months in advance. So book early.
Contact us to book our Inca Trail group tours, each Tuesday. Or choose a private service any day you wish.
Click here for 5 tips on how to get the best Inca Trail trek experience
Enjoy some of the most varied and beautiful terrains of any trek in the world. Hike from bustling villages to lonely ruins, from windswept mountain passes to lush tropical jungle.
Highlights
- Follow in the footsteps of the Inca royals
- Acclimatise better by hiking the Inca Trail in 5 days instead of 4
- Visit Machu Picchu twice and spend more time at each Inca site
- If you are short on time, you could choose the One Day Inca Trail Hike instead
This morning you visit the old Inca town of Ollantaytambo. After a look around and some lunch, you have a short drive to the trailhead at Piscacucho (km 82). Here you meet the porters and cooks that will support you on the Five day Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu.
With the crowds now long gone, you hike an undulating trail above the Urubamba River to camp beside the spectacular ruins of Llactapata (2,788m/9,146ft). Throughout your 5 Day Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu, your luggage is carried by the porters, your tents are put up for you and your food is prepared for you. All you have to do is shoulder your daypack and enjoy the walking.
Included: lunch, dinner, camping equipment (except sleeping bag)
After a hearty breakfast, you climb gently up the Cusichaca valley to the small hamlet of Huayllabamba. This is the last inhabited place on the Inca Trail.
A little steeper now, you head up the beautiful Inca path, past hummingbirds and stunted cloud forest to your camp at Llulluchapampa (3,680m/12,073ft). This beautiful grassy area has outstanding views and you may even see the Andean deer that come to feed here.
Included: breakfast, lunch, dinner, camping equipment (except sleeping bag)
Today is the most challenging day of your 5 day Inca Trail Trek, but also the most exhilarating.
You climb to Dead Woman’s Pass (4,212m/13,819ft) the high point of the Inca Trail before dropping into the Pacasmayo valley. Climbing once more you pass the Inca control post of Runkuracay to the second pass of the day (3,998m/13,117ft). On a clear day there are spectacular views towards Pumahuanca Mountain in the Vilcabamba range.
You continue on well preserved Inca trail to Sayacmarca. Located at the junction of two old Inca roads, historians still argue over its exact purpose. A few more gentle ups and downs and you arrive to your stunning campsite for the night, Phuyupatamarca, or ‘the place above the clouds’ (3,650m/11,975ft).
Included: breakfast, lunch, dinner, camping equipment (except sleeping bag)
This is the day you finally reach Machu Picchu.
As you step out of your tent the views are stunning. Perhaps you will see the sun rising over the snow-capped mountains of Salkantay (6,200m/20,341ft) and Veronica (5,800m/19,029ft). Or perhaps you will have an inversion, with clouds filling the valleys beneath you.
After saying a fond farewell to your porters it is time to put on your boots and head to Machu Picchu.
You descend beautiful Inca stairway through the cloud forest to Wiñay Wayna, a vast set of Inca terraces full of swallows and orchids. A final contouring walk and you arrive at Inti Punku, the gateway of the Sun. As you step through the old stone gate-way, Machu Picchu appears, laid out before your eyes.
Stop here and enjoy the view before heading to take the twenty-minute bus ride to Machu Picchu Pueblo and a well-deserved hotel and shower.
Included: breakfast, lunch, bus ticket, hotel
Today you explore the pinnacle of Inca engineering – Machu Picchu.
For years it was lost to the jungle. Rediscovered in 1911 by the Yale professor Hiram Bingham, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007, Machu Picchu exceeds all expectations.
This astounding site lies in an even more astonishing location. Perched high on an inaccessible hilltop it is protected by huge cliffs and the raging Urubamba river. Things are slightly easier now than in the time of the Incas and so you start your day with a twenty minute bus ride up to the site.
You will arrive early, allowing you to explore the ruins in the company of your guide, before they get too busy. The guided tour takes around two hours leaving you a few hours free to wander amongst the old Inca walls and just sit and take in the scale of the place on your own. For those who want to walk a bit more, you could take the hour long trail up to the Sun Gate, or a shorter trail to visit the Inca Bridge which once spanned a sheer cliff face.
Eventually the time comes to catch the bus down to Machu Picchu Pueblo and board your train back along the Urubamba River. The scenery is beautiful and the train jolts softly along, allowing you to sit, stare out the window and reflect on all you have seen.
Included: breakfast, bus ticket, Machu Picchu entrance, train ticket, transfer
In order to fully enjoy your trip, it is very important that you choose the right trip for you and fully understand what it involves.
There are risks inherent in travelling in Peru, as indeed there are in most of the activities that we provide. Many of the activities we offer also involve a significant level of effort on your part. After all, it is called Adventure Travel for a reason.
It is really important that you read both the trip notes above and the Risk and Safety Section on our website, to enable you to choose the best trip for you. Once you have read them both, please make sure you ask if there is anything you do not understand. We classify the 5 Day Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu as:
- Trek ‘Advanced’… This 5 Day Inca Trail Trek is mostly aimed at experienced trekkers – But if you are ‘fit’ (What does that mean? In this case – that you do regular exercise – walk/cycle/jog/squash/ etc) and have an ‘adventurous’ disposition, then you might consider this too! As an experienced trekker, you will know that this type of trip will involve some sweating and breathing hard! It will involve steep up and down. There may be sections of rough trail that falling off is not an option! The days are likely to be long, remote and even arduous at times. Make sure you are comfortable with this description (and the remainder of the trip notes), if at all unsure, then drop us an email asking for more clarification. We want you to book the perfect trip for you!
