The Inca Trail - An Overview
On this page I’ll be giving an overview of the Classic 4-day (3 night) Inca Trail. However, the specific routes/campsites across the four days vary for the groups/tour operators. There are several campsites and you won’t stop at all of them. Therefore, I won’t give a day-by-day description, but a more generalised one.
The four-day trip starts early in the morning, with a drive to Ollytaytambo, a village in the Sacred Valley featuring another set of Inca ruins. Here, you may have breakfast before a final drive to the start of the Inca Trail at “Km 82”. At Km82, you will meet your “porters”, locals who hike the trail “alongside” (ahead of!) you but carrying everything your group needs – tents, cooking equipment, food, and around 7 kg of your personal stuff! (Note that this limit varies depending on your tour operator but expect around 6-7 kg. This however includes your sleeping bag, so account for about 3-4 kg of your clothes/supplies. Of course, you will be wearing your own backpack so it is up to you how much you want to carry in that!). The porters are specific for each group, so you will come to recognise them by their colourful/branded backpack covers as they overtake you enroute! There will be a variety of groups hiking the trail throughout the 4 days. The porters not only carry everything but also ensure they are always ahead of you on the trail, to set up and prepare lunch/dinner/tents ahead of your arrival at camp. They work incredibly hard and it is because of them that the Inca Trail is as accessible as it is – you do not need to carry much at all, making it a lot easier! After weighing and packing of the porters’ bags (they are huge and around 20-25 kg each!), you’ll make your way to the entry checkpoint for the trail. Here you will need your passport so be sure to bring it. Also make sure that you have it in a safe and waterproof place throughout the trek. From here you’ll enter a small museum to explain about the various terrain and flora/fauna to be experienced throughout the trail, before being released onto the trail to begin the adventure.
Generally, you will be stopping fairly frequently on the first day, for lunch, or to point out Inca ruins as you pass them (Machu Picchu is far from the only ones you’ll see!). To begin, you follow the Urubamba river, through dry scrubby vegetation (cacti, avocado trees, shrubs). This part of the route is fairly well trafficked by villagers that live along this section, so you may see horses or even motorbikes. It is quite flat and easy-going at first, before some steeper sections. However, you’ll be rewarded with amazing views into the valley you’ve come from. There are also some breathtaking ruins (Patallacta) at the meeting point of two valleys. After lunch and further exploration of some ruins, you’ll find the scenery around you changing and becoming more jungle-y as you climb out of the valley into the mountains. Note that depending where you camp, you may not finish up fully in the jungle. However, when you do arrive in camp, your tents will be waiting for you. You’ll have time to relax before meeting the group for a briefing on the next day, snacks, and dinner.
Day 2 is famed as being the hardest day. You’ll start off in the jungle, quite steeply climbing through the beautiful vegetation, featuring waterfalls and hummingbirds. Expect to be hiking by 6 am – the groups like to ensure you get to camp before nightfall if possible! After 1-2 hours climb, there’s a stopping point out of the jungle with more beautiful views, toilets, and even sometimes local people selling random items (food, drinks, beer?!). From here begins the uphill route to Dead Woman’s Pass, the highest point of the Inca Trail at 4,200 m. The best idea is to go at your own pace and be mindful of altitude and the sun as the trees make way for scrubby bushes and grassland. However, it is not too difficult if you are of reasonable fitness and you can reach the top in 1-2 hours. Bear in mind that as it is a mountain pass, it can be windy and cold, so be sure to bring warm clothing for when you’re waiting at the top. After enjoying the view, maybe snacking on something sugary, and taking a well deserved rest, it is time to go back down again the other side! Honestly, the descent felt almost longer than the ascent to me! Eventually you’ll find yourself back in the cloud forest of the lower altitudes, where you may either camp for the night or stop for lunch (as my group did).
From here, you start climbing again for the second mountain pass (lower than the first, don’t worry). This is a nice stretch of the route, passing some great ruins and mountain lakes (swamps?) with amazing views. Descending back down into jungle, there’s yet another ruin called Sayacmarca (possibly my favourite) with beautiful views over the forests. Finally, there’s a fairly flat path through the jungle and bamboo towards the campsite Chaquicocha. This was the location of the second night for me, but its possible it could be a lunch spot for day 3. This campsite has the best views in my opinion – over the forests, with the mountain peaks and glaciers in the distance. At night if you’re lucky you can see the Milky Way.
The “hard part” is over now. From this campsite there is a steady uphill through more cloud forest, accompanied by the many calls of elusive small frogs. There’s a another cool Inca ruin nearby to a campsite on the top, and as you descend through misty jungle on the other side there’s a couple of rock tunnels to pass through. You may be able to spot the small town of Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu where day tourists often stay prior to a visit. Just before you make it to every group’s final campsite, there’s (you guessed it) another Incan ruin with huge terraces to relax and enjoy the views into the valley. From here it’s a short trek to Winaywayna campsite, where you can relax for the afternoon/evening. It is so called because next door to the campsite is the last amazing Inca ruin you’ll see before Machu Picchu itself – Winay Wayna. Named as a mini Machu Picchu, it really is an incredible site, very well preserved, with beautiful views and lots to explore. It’s nice to relax and look around on your final night and appreciate how far you’ve come.
The final morning you’ll be up very early (think 3 am). It’s a little bit tactical with the other groups there, as everyone wants to be first enroute to Machu Picchu. Once you’re up, the tents will be packed and the porters leave, taking your stuff to Aguas Calientes (so don’t pack anything you need for the day in there!). Then there is a 5 minute (literally) trek down to the check point into Machu Picchu. However, this doesn’t open until 05:30, so be prepared to wait 2+ hours on benches in the dark (if you’re lucky – if your group is late then space on the benches may have run out). When it opens, your guides will complete necessary paperwork and everyone is ferried through onto a jungle path. At this point, it is pre-dawn and therefore dark, so be sure to bring a headtorch. It’s a slightly rising path initially, terminating in the “gringo killer” steep stone steps and a final uphill stretch to the Sun Gate (Intipunku), approximately an hour from the checkpoint gate. If you’re lucky, you’ll get amazing views of Machu Picchu from here. However, being so early in the morning, it is often cloudy, so it really depends. After relaxing for a while at the Sun Gate, you begin your descent to Machu Picchu, which takes 30-45 minutes, passing more and more ruins on the outskirts. You enter Machu Picchu from the top, almost immediately arriving at the spot where all the famous photos of Machu Picchu are taken. Next, you’ll technically leave Machu Picchu and re-enter (requiring your passport). Note that the toilets at the entrance are your first “normal” clean toilets you’ll have experienced in a while! From here your guides will give you a tour of Machu Picchu. There are many circuits you can take, and I’m not sure if all groups do the same circuit or it varies but you will get a feel for the scale of the place and see many classic sights over the few hours you’re looking round.
Huayna Picchu
The mountain seen in the background of all the famous Machu Picchu photos is actually Huayna Picchu, a different mountain. This mountain is available to hike, which you can add onto the end of your Inca Trail experience if you can’t get enough hiking, or book separately when you visit Machu Picchu for the day. There are limited numbers of permits for this hike (200/day), so be sure to book as early as possible. In April 2023, it cost $75/person to do it.
The hike is a steep and zigzagging path through cloud forest, taking about 45 minutes to an hour. Near the top, the steps consist of those from the ruins built on top of the mountain, which can be fairly narrow and steep. However, it is not exposed (as I had read online prior to going). The ruins at the top give you some incredible views down over the valleys and Machu Picchu itself. I really enjoyed this hike and would definitely recommend it as an extra. You have to take the route down quite slowly as it can be slippery in places – the guy in front of us fell three separate times. However it is great to mark the end of your trip with a bonus mountain and great views, in case you didn’t feel accomplished enough.
Note you can also climb Machu Picchu mountain (although I believe this requires spending the night in Aguas Calientes first), or the smaller “Huchuy Picchu”, only 50 m higher than the Machu Picchu site.
After you complete this additional hike (if you’d like) you’ll rejoin your group and head down to Aguas Calientes for lunch. This is by bus – at Machu Picchu entrance there is a constant stream of buses heading between the site and the town; the journey takes approximately 45 minutes. Make sure to pick up your stuff, which the porters will have delivered here before taking the train back home.
After lunch, you’ll embark upon the Machu Picchu train which runs from Aguas Calientes to Ollytaytambo (the first town where you had breakfast that first day). This is how day-trippers to Machu Picchu arrive at the site. The train takes about 1.5 hours, but is quite luxurious (especially after the last few days!) and provides you with a snack and some… interesting… entertainment! From Ollytaytambo you’ll catch the colectivo bus back to Cusco/your hotels, and your adventure is complete! Enjoy your first shower in 4 days, and possibly sleeping in to later than 5 am!