9-Day Ultimate Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
Our Ultimate Inca Trail is the complete Inca Trail package
You will probably only trek to Machu Picchu once. So why not do it properly? Our nine day Ultimate Inca Trail package helps you acclimatise properly and make the most of your time on the trail.
First you slowly acclimatise with some great one day hikes, which show you the best of Cusco and the Sacred Valley. Then you take our superior five day Inca Trail trek. By taking it a bit slower than the crowds who rush through in four days, you can really enjoy every moment and make the most of this once in a lifetime experience.
Highlights
- Acclimatise fully with hikes in Cusco and the Sacred Valley
- Escape the crowds of the 4 day Inca Trail
- Visit Machu Picchu twice
On arrival at the airport, you will be met and escorted to your hotel. After some time to check in we introduce you to our city. A short walking tour is a great way to get your bearings and also helps you get used to the altitude. The beautiful historic centre was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983 with Inca and colonial architecture evident all around.
This evening your guide will give you a full briefing for the adventure ahead.
Included: transfer & orientation, hotel
Today you stretch your legs with a delightful hike in the hills above Cusco. First stop is the impressive site of Sacsayhuaman. Huge stone ramparts surround a beautiful grass amphitheatre. Once the scene of fierce battles it now hosts the recreation of traditional Inca ceremonies such as Inti Raymi and Warachikuy.
Next is the Inca water temple of Tambo Machay lying at 3700m (12,000 feet) followed by a special picnic lunch. From here it is all downhill to Cusco, stopping at the Temple of the Moon and other historical sites along the way.
Included: breakfast, lunch, snacks, water, entrance fees, hotel
Leaving Cusco behind you start your journey to Machu Picchu. The hike starts at the fascinating circular ruins of Moray. While some think it was a landing pad for alien spaceships, more likely is that the Incas built this as an experimental agricultural centre. Concentric circular terraces allowed them to simulate different facing slopes and different growing temperatures to see what crops would grow where.
With another homemade picnic along the way you hike on down, past the spectacular salt pans of Maras to end in the Sacred Valley for the night.
Included: breakfast, lunch, snacks, water, entrance fees, hotel
Your five day Inca Trail is carefully tailored to avoid the crowds. By leaving later than everyone else, and allowing an extra day, you spend the whole trail out of sync with other tourists. Thus you will literally have the trail to yourselves.
This morning you visit the old Inca town of Ollantaytambo. After a look around and some lunch you drive twenty minutes to the trailhead at Piscacucho (km 82). Here you meet the porters and cooks that will support your journey 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). 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: breakfast, lunch, dinner, camping equipment (except sleeping bag), Inca trail permit
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 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 but also the most exhilarating. You climb to Dead Woman’s Pass (4,212m/13,819ft) the high point of the 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 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
Relaxed after a comfortable night, you head back up to Machu Picchu for your full guided tour before the crowds arrive. There is time afterwards to hike to the Inca Bridge, Watchman’s hut or else just wander through the ruins soaking up the atmosphere.
In the afternoon you descend to the waiting train to enjoy one of the great train journeys of the world back towards Cusco
Included: breakfast, bus ticket, Machu Picchu entrance, train ticket, transfer, hotel
Back once more in the old Inca capital you have time to enjoy all that this city has to offer. Museums, chocolate making classes, souvenir hunting or even just sitting in one of the many cafes and watching the world go by. The new late flights out of Cusco allow you to really maximise your time and get the most out of this holiday of a lifetime.
For those with more time we can offer you extensions to the Amazon rainforest, Lake Titicaca, Colca Canyon and Arequipa or even to the little visited northern Peru.
Included: breakfast, 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 this trip as:
- Trek ‘Advanced’… This 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!
