Inca Trail to Machu Picchu: Premium 5-Day Trek
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TripsPeruCusco

Inca Trail to Machu Picchu: Premium 5-Day Trek

Cusco
4 Nights·5 Days
CuscoHiking & TrekkingCamping & Wild Camping

Overview

The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu trek offers an immersive journey covering roughly 44 km of ancient paving. Hikers travel through high-altitude landscapes, crossing Dead Woman’s Pass at 4,228 meters before descending into lush, misty cloud forests. Along the route, archaeological ruins such as Llaqtapata, Sayacmarca, and Wiñay Wayna reveal the rich historical legacy of Peru. The trekking portion culminates at Inti Punku (the Sun Gate), providing an unforgettable arrival above the ancient citadel.

By pacing the classic route over five days, this itinerary provides a far more authentic and serene experience. Rather than staying in heavily crowded public campsites, travelers overnight at quiet, lesser-frequented locations like Chamana, Llulluchapampa, and Phuyupatamarca.

After taking in panoramic mountain views from Phuyupatamarca, hikers descend into Machu Picchu Village for a comfortable hotel stay. The following morning begins early with a 3-hour guided tour of the citadel. The journey smoothly finishes with a scenic train ride through the Sacred Valley back to Cusco.

  • Full itinerary: Km 88 river crossing; Inca sites of Wayna Q’ente and Llaqtapata; Cusichaca Valley; Dead Woman’s Pass; Runkuraqay, Sayacmarca, Phuyupatamarca, and Wiñay Wayna ruins; Sun Gate; a guided tour of Machu Picchu.
  • Cross Warmiwañusca, known as Dead Woman’s Pass, at 4,228 m (13,871 ft), almost 1,800 m above Machu Picchu itself.
  • Reach the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu on foot, then return the next morning for a 3-hour guided tour of the citadel.
  • Premium take on camping: three nights in quiet campsites, including a private one at Chamana with a hot shower, the team’s own eco-toilets, and one hotel night in Machu Picchu Village.
  • Activities guided by a professional bilingual local guide who knows the Inca paths in depth.
  • All-inclusive experience: transport from Cusco, the Inca Trail permit, 3 camp nights and 1 hotel night, meals on the trek, porters, a cook, the Machu Picchu bus and guided tour, and the train back.

  • Please note: The trail reaches 4,228 m, and this trip has no acclimatization days of its own. Arrive in Cusco at least two days before Day 1 to adjust to the altitude. Hiking times are approximate; your guide may adjust the pace and the order of visits for weather, trail conditions, and the rules of the Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary.

Itinerary

Day 1

Cusco / Ollantaytambo / Km 88 River Crossing / Chamana Camp

  • TransferCusco → Ollantaytambo → Piscacucho (Km 82) · 87.6 km · 2–3h
  • HikePiscacucho → Qoriwayrachina (Km 88) → Chamana · 9.2 km · 4h30
  • Optional visitWayna Q’ente and Llaqtapata archaeological sites · Late afternoon
  • OvernightChamana camp · 2,590 m

The day starts at sunrise with the drive from Cusco, or from your hotel in the Sacred Valley, to the trailhead at Km 82. Your Inca Trail trek does not take the usual bridge here. Instead, it follows the Urubamba River downstream and crosses at Km 88, a section few groups walk.

Lunch is served at the private campsite in Chamana, a small village of the Llaqtapata community. In the late afternoon, you can visit Wayna Q’ente and Llaqtapata, two Inca sites with stone walls and stairways. Back at camp, there is teatime, a hot shower, and dinner.

Meals included: Lunch / Dinner

Stepped Inca stone terraces rise up a steep hillside on the inca trail to machu picchu, with ruined stone structures at the top and rocky Andean peaks behind
A blue Peru Rail train curves through a steep Andean valley on the inca trail to machu picchu route, while a group of trekkers with backpacks explores ancient stone terraces and carved rock above the tracks.
Rows of roofless Inca stone storehouses built into a steep green hillside along the inca trail to machu picchu, with forested Andean slopes rising in the background
A cluster of illuminated tents pitched on a grassy flat during an Inca Trail to Machu Picchu trek, with dark mountain silhouettes and a star-filled sky overhead

Day 2

Cusichaca Valley / Huayllabamba / Climb to Llulluchapampa

  • HikeChamana → Huayllabamba → Llulluchapampa · 11.7 km · 7–8h
  • Native forestQueñua (Polylepis) trees above Huayllabamba
  • OvernightLlulluchapampa camp · 3,760 m

The trail climbs the narrow Cusichaca Valley past the houses of farmers and herders to the Andean community of Huayllabamba, at 2,940 m. From there, the cobbled path rises steeply through old native forest full of birdsong.

It levels out at the Llulluchapampa campsite, just below the first pass, with views of Mount Huayanay. This is also where you first see queñua trees—called “paper trees” because their reddish bark peels in thin sheets. Today’s Inca Trail elevation gain is the largest of the trek: camp sits about 1,170 m above Chamana.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

A solo hiker with trekking poles and a wide-brim hat pauses on a rocky clifftop trail along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, looking down at a broad sweep of ancient Inca agricultural terraces set in a deep Andean valley flanked by steep green mountains
Three hikers with backpacks and trekking poles climbing an ancient cobbled Inca trail to Machu Picchu through a sunlit native forest with gnarled pale-barked trees
Three illuminated tents glowing in blue and gold at a high-altitude campsite on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, with misty Andean mountain peaks and a dramatic cloudy night sky above
Two trekkers stand outside a glowing yellow tent on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, with fog rolling over dark mountain peaks at dusk

Day 3

Dead Woman’s Pass / Runkuraqay / Sayacmarca / Phuyupatamarca

  • Dead Woman’s Pass(Warmiwañusca) · 4,228 m (13,871 ft) · Highest point of the trek
  • Second passabove the Runkuraqay ruins · 3,968 m (13,018 ft)
  • HikeLlulluchapampa → Pacaymayo → Phuyupatamarca · 12 km · 8h
  • OvernightPhuyupatamarca camp · 3,660 m

A steady climb brings you to Dead Woman’s Pass, named for a crest that looks like a woman lying down. From the top, the view runs back over everything you have walked. The trail then drops to the Pacaymayo River, where lunch is served.

In the afternoon, climb again to the Runkuraqay ruins and the second pass, then descend on original Inca paving to the site of Sayacmarca. A dry lake marks the start of the cloud forest, home to hummingbirds, butterflies, and orchids.

The last stretch follows a ridge above the Aobamba Valley, with snow-capped Mount Salkantay to the west and Mount Pumasillo to the north. Camp is at Phuyupatamarca, the “village at the edge of the clouds” in Quechua.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Stone terraces and walls of an Inca ruin perched on a forested Andean ridge, seen through out-of-focus cloud forest foliage on the inca trail to machu picchu
Aerial view looking down at a rocky rest stop on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, with a group of trekkers pausing on stone-edged paths cut into a steep, grass-covered Andean hillside
A deep U-shaped Andean valley on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, with a thin stream running along its grassy floor, jagged rocky peaks rising on the left, and distant snow-capped mountains visible through low cloud in the background.
Aerial view of multi-tiered Inca stone terraces and roofless ceremonial structures rising from dense cloud forest on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, with a lone hiker in red visible on a stone walkway between levels

Day 4

Sunrise at Phuyupatamarca / Wiñay Wayna / Sun Gate / Machu Picchu

  • Sunrise viewpointA short walk above camp · Tea served by the porters
  • HikePhuyupatamarca → Intipata → Wiñay Wayna → Inti Punku → Machu Picchu · 10.9 km · 7h30
  • BusMachu Picchu → Machu Picchu Village · 6.2 km · 30 min
  • OvernightEl Mapi hotel, Machu Picchu Village · 2,040 m

Wake early to watch the sunrise from a viewpoint just above camp. After breakfast, the trail passes the Phuyupatamarca ruins, whose irrigation channels were built over five centuries ago and still carry water.

The paved path then drops sharply into the cloud forest to Wiñay Wayna. Two more hours through misty forest lead to Inti Punku, the Sun Gate, and your first view of the citadel below. This is how the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu was meant to end: on foot.

After time at the viewpoint, a bus takes you down to Machu Picchu Village for a night at El Mapi hotel, in a Superior room. Dinner is on your own this evening.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch

A snow-capped Andean peak rises above a band of low cloud on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, its glaciated summit bright against a deep blue sky at dawn
A hiker with trekking poles and a red backpack emerges through a narrow passage between two massive rock walls onto stone steps along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, with green forest visible ahead
Aerial view of densely packed Inca stone buildings with pointed gabled walls and terraced green lawns at the Wiñay Wayna ruins along the inca trail to machu picchu
A cluster of dome tents pitched on a rocky ridge along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, surrounded by mountain scrub and a thick sea of clouds filling the valleys below, with distant peaks emerging above the cloud layer

Day 5

Guided Tour of Machu Picchu / Train and Transfer to Cusco

  • BusMachu Picchu Village ⇌ Machu Picchu · 12.4 km round trip · 1h
  • Guided tourof the Machu Picchu citadel · 3h
  • TrainMachu Picchu Village → Cusco (via Poroy or Ollantaytambo, by season) + transfer to your hotel · about 4h

A half-hour bus ride returns you to the gates of Machu Picchu for a 3-hour guided tour of the citadel, along the route set by your entrance ticket.

Lunch is in Machu Picchu Village. In the afternoon, you head back to Cusco by train. Depending on the season, it runs to Poroy station, just outside the city, or to Ollantaytambo, with the last stretch by road. The journey takes about 4 hours, and a transfer drops you at your hotel in Cusco in the evening. Tonight’s hotel and dinner are not included.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch

Panoramic aerial view of Machu Picchu citadel on the inca trail to machu picchu, with Huayna Picchu peak rising behind the stone ruins, green agricultural terraces in the foreground, and the Urubamba River winding far below through the Andean mountains
A brown llama stands in the foreground on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, with the ancient stone terraces and citadel spreading below and Huayna Picchu mountain disappearing into low cloud
Wide view of the Inca trail to Machu Picchu agricultural terraces, a lone tree rising from the stone steps, thatched-roof structures below, and cloud-filtered light rays breaking through an overcast sky above the surrounding green mountains.

What is Included

  • Round-trip transport (Cusco ⇌ Inca Trail and Machu Picchu): the Day 1 transfer to the trailhead, the bus between Machu Picchu Village and the citadel, and the train back with a transfer to your hotel in Cusco
  • 3 nights in double-occupancy tents with Therm-a-Rest sleeping pads and 1 night at El Mapi hotel in Machu Picchu Village (Superior room)
  • Meals on the trek (Day 1 lunch to Day 5 lunch, except dinner on Day 4) and non-alcoholic drinks
  • Inca Trail permit
  • Machu Picchu entrance ticket and guided tour (Day 5)
  • Porters, a cook, and field staff
  • A duffel bag for your personal gear, carried by the porters (up to 8 kg / 17.6 lb)
  • Kitchen and dining tents, solar lamps, and the team’s own eco toilets
  • First-aid kit and oxygen tank
  • Carbon offset of the trip
  • Guided tours (Km 88 river crossing, Wayna Q’ente and Llaqtapata, Dead Woman’s Pass, Runkuraqay, Sayacmarca, Phuyupatamarca, Wiñay Wayna, the Sun Gate, and Machu Picchu)
  • Professional bilingual guide for the whole itinerary

Not included

  • Flight tickets
  • Hotel nights in Cusco before and after the trek
  • Dinner in Machu Picchu Village on Day 4, and dinner on Day 5
  • Personal travel insurance
  • Sleeping bag (rental available)
  • Personal gear
  • Alcoholic drinks
  • Laundry service
  • Tips
  • Additional services and extras

FAQ

Reviews

“We did the 5 day classic Inca trail. The whole experience was fantastic. The weather and terrain were challenging at times but we always felt we were in good hands. The scenery was amazing of course. The food exceeded all our expectations especially given the time available and mobile facilities. However it was the staff who really made it. The porters were so hard working and friendly and we couldn’t have asked from a better guide than Miguel who was knowledgeable, informative, encouraging at the right times and fun to be with. 5 star”

— Michael Davison

“Our Inca Trail trek was an amazing experience, in every respect. We can’t thank them enough - and would hugely recommend to anyone wanting to get the most of the once in a lifetime opportunity. Maria Paula was always so quick and comprehensive in responding to any of our queries in advance of travelling, and the trek itself was expertly led by our wonderful guide, Nep. He made our small group feel like a close family, with his warmth and great sense of humour, and his enthusiasm and extensive knowledge shone throughout - providing us with so much insight and interesting facts all the way along the trail, and at Machu Picchu itself - as well as expertly leading the whole team of chefs and porters. The food was outstanding - including fresh baked bread at 4,000m! - and the choice of campsites / timing meant we had the trail pretty much to ourselves all the way to the Sungate. Outstanding!!! Neil and Amanda (July’26)”

— Amanda Adcock

“We went on the 4-night Inca Trail tour and cannot say enough good things about our experience. Our tour guide, Harry, was fantastic - a wealth of knowledge, safety-conscious, plus fun to be around! Most other tours do 3 nights, but the 4 night tour (which includes one night in Aguas Calientes) allows for much more manageable pacing. It also gave us time to rest in a hotel before our next day’s tour of Machu Picchu and train ride back, allowing us to really enjoy the experience. It also balanced out the more difficult days compared to what we saw of other tours. They are exceptional.”

— Grace Bridges

“The arrangements for the Inca Trail (a private guided trip for five days for seven of us) were perfect. Our questions were answered completely and Maria was flexible and accommodating. We were then able to arrange trips from Cusco and around Arequipa and the Colca Canyon. The Inca trail guide Wilfredo was highly capable and knowledgable. The porters and chefs were excellent. The food and facilities were amazing. A hugely enjoyable experience. We were recommended great hotels and activities for different locations before and after the trail. The Casitas hotel in the Colca Canyon was perfect. The guide in that part of the trip was knowledgeable although less compelling and seemed to want to talk nonstop, but that wasn’t a real concern. Hotel and airport transfers were reliable.”

— Christopher Young

“Amazing The inca trail hike was more than I imagined Neptali and the porters and cooks made our journey better than I could of dreamed The food was 5 stars out of 5 The porters made the journey possible Neptali guided and explained the entire journey Highly recommend”

— Charli Goldmann

“Neptune and his team was so amazing. We couldn’t do the Inca trail without the porters or himself. His knowledge on Inca civilisation was also another bonus as we encountered archaeological ruins the whole trip and he clearly explained what those ruins were used for and the history of Inca religions and beliefs. Thank you and see you next time. Jack”

— Jack Goldmann

“Nep was the best guide you can imagine on a sacred pilgrimage like this. The food. The porters. The care during the trip. Everything from A to B was amazing!”

— Kim Driessen

“The agency is the "OG" of Inca Trail hike outfitters, and our experience with them was wonderful. We did the 5-day program; this itinerary avoids all the other hikers on the Trail. We felt like we had the Andes Mountains to ourselves! Our guide German knew every rock, story, and secret on the Trail-- so much fun. The food was excellent, every transfer was smooth, and the overall experience was superb. Yes, I believe we paid more vs. other outfitters, but it was WAY worth it.”

— Ross Meisner

“The agency was recommended as "hands down, the best outfitter" for our hike on the Inka Trail. I was expecting the best and I wasn't disappointed. We had full concierge service from pick up at the airport at the beginning of our trip all the way through delivering us back to the airport at the end and everything in between. At pick up, we were given bottles of water to stay hydrated, tips on adjusting to altitude and even restaurants to try. We were given packing lists and instructions on what to expect on the trail before we even left home. And then again, a few days before our trip, we had a meeting to make sure we were well equiped and all of our questions were answered. The hike itself was spectacular! 5 days and 4 nights with excellent support and comfortable tents with sleeping bags and air mattresses. There were 2 chefs for our group of 10 and the food was amazingly good! Our 2 guides were very knowledgeable and supportive; they kept us safe and hydrated and lead us at a good pace. The whole trip was thoroughly enjoyable and memorable. Visiting Machu Picchu was truly the trip of a lifetime!”

— Karin Eisen

“We have had many wonderful guides during our travels around the world, and Germán Cruz is clearly one of our best guides ever! Among his many terrific qualities are: clear communication; excellent organizational skills; punctuality; passion for Inca history and culture; good sense of humor; warmth and compassion in relating to our group of trekkers; strong leadership and guidance of support staff (cooks/waiter/porters); attention to detail; excellent sense of pacing during the trek; and an amazing capacity to inspire joy throughout the journey. A agência’ camp sites were stunning and our whole team of porters, cooks, and other support staff attended to our every need. An unexpected benefit of the 5-day itinerary was that we had the trail to ourselves for most of the trek. The beauty of the surroundings was our only constant company. Bravo!”

— TomSD858

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