The Best Trek to Machu Picchu
No doubt the Inca Trail is the BEST trekking trail to reach Machu Picchu and we have many reasons to rate this trail as the winner.
A world-famous hiking destination, the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is a stunning route to indulge your senses amongst some of the most astonishing landscapes on earth.
From the most famous Unesco World Heritage trail to the best and Iconic World Heritage Site–Machu Picchu. It’s the one and only trail in Peru that allows you to experience 2 Unesco sites on a trip, which makes this trail unbeatable by other trails.
– A jaw-dropping corner of cloud forest and highland wilderness covering 37,302 square hectares (92,175 square acres), a protected area by the Peruvian Government with a denomination of Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu.
– Tucked into the northwest of Cusco – Inca Trail along with the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu is, without a doubt, one of the most enticing places on earth that deserves to visit once in a lifetime.
– This is the only trail in Peru that covers 2 Unesco sites: the Inca Trail itself and Machu Picchu. The network of Inca Trail that covers over 30’000 km was declared a World Heritage Site on June 21st, 2014, and Machu Picchu (with the denomination of Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu) was declared as Unesco’s site on December 9th, 1983. Recognized for astonishing cultural and natural values, the mixed World Heritage property covers 37,302 square hectares of mountain slopes, peaks, archaeological sites, and valleys surrounding its heart, the spectacular archaeological monument of “La Llaqta” (the Citadel) — Machu Picchu at more than 2,400 meters/ 8,000 ft above sea level.
– Unlike other trails to Machu Picchu, with a limited number of hikers a day, the Inca Trail avoids the mess and chaos along the trail and at the campsites.
– Unlike other trails to Machu Picchu, Inca Trail offer several Inca archaeological sites along the trail and some of the stunning ones are Patallacta, Sayacmarka, Phuyupatamarca, Intipata, and Wiñaywayna. All of them very well preserved.
– Since the Historic Sanctuary is protected and so do the Inca Trail, the conservation of the trail and the environment is in optimal conditions. Unlike other hiking trails, the treatment of solid and liquid waste in the Inca Trail hike is very strict in order to keep preserving the environment. It’s sad to see the rubbish problem on the other trails like Salkantay or Lares where the independent hikers or local lodges have ruined the environment by building constructions that are not according to the area, garbage along the trail, and the trail becomes kind of messy in the high tourist season.
– Just hiking on the ancient footsteps of the Incas makes this trail unique, and the arrival way to Machu Picchu via the gate of the sun makes it even unbeatable in comparison to other alternative trails. There are no other trails that arrive directly in Machu Picchu (except for the Short Inca Trail), this makes the Inca Trail such a special way to arrive at the famed city of the Incas. While other alternative trails arrive at Machu Picchu via Aguas Calientes town where it is necessary to have overnight.
– The Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu is one of the most biodiverse areas in Peru, it is home to 24 Andean and Amazonian ecosystems, from the humid montane forests at 1900 m/ 6,200 ft to the peaks of more than 6,000 m/ 19’650 ft. This very rugged geography is a perfect home and ideal habitat for wildlife and flora, including 75 species of mammals, 444 birds, 14 amphibians, 24 reptiles, and 377 butterflies; in addition to 423 species of orchids and 332 trees, among q´euña, intimpa, cedar, alder, pisonay, unka, and tara tree. On this Inca Trail hike, you will experience some of the listed species along the trail, just keep up your eyes on around.
– It is very simple to secure your spot for this lifetime adventure to Machu Picchu; by booking your spot through a licensed Tour Operator (with responsible guidelines) 6 months or more in advance.
The trekking season in Inca Trail runs from March until the end of January, although yearly climate fluctuations mean the tail-ends of the season are always unpredictable. If you’re a bit wary of extreme rainfall, your best bet is to visit from May through August – months that are within the dry season and that have traditionally offered the best chances of good hiking conditions.
In Inca Trail, this means clear blue skies, starry nights, great daytime temps, and bearable night-time temps most of the time. This is the height of the southern Winter (dry season) although, at this kind of latitude, you should expect the unexpected, at any time.
The rainy season runs from November to the end of April, in these months there may be fewer hikers but with extreme rain conditions, you can still hike this trail with appropriate gear.
This trail stops its operation in February as this month is the strongest rainy month and the trail is under maintenance the whole month for the next season.
A right preparation for this hike will ensure your adventure an enjoyable and memorable hike. When it comes to redefining trekking semantics, Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is unsurpassed: ‘flat’ trails here are never really flat (the Andes is never flat), a ‘gorgeous dry season day’ may not be what you envisage, and ‘easy hiking trail’ becomes infinitely subjective.
Everything about trekking on Inca Trail is relative — this is, after all, a land of harsh trails; breathtakingly gorgeous one minute and brutally inhospitable the next. It’s this very unpredictability and roughness that keeps the wilderness so stark and that makes every single hike a thrilling journey that’s never forgotten.
Every hiker must have experience in trekking in the rough wilderness, if you aren’t very active at home, it’ll pay off to undertake some form of exercise and take short hiking excursions for a few months before taking this trail. Trekking here is tough due to the conditions (trail, altitude, weather, etc), so you need to be prepared.
Book your tickets 6 months in advance at least to not deal with the unavailability of permits around your trekking date. Tickets are limited to 500 per day, this includes the porters, cooks, and guides, and for the hikers, there will be about 200 available tickets.
No matter how sunny it looks as you set off, the weather in the Peruvian highlands is unpredictable.
Aside from your main trekking date, consider having 2 alternative trekking dates at least since the tickets sell out within an hour for high tourist season (April, May, June, July). And do not book your flights and hotels yet until we will confirm your ticket with the official trekking date.
Inca Trail might be the best place to trek in the world but it’s not the best place to test yourself. Enjoy, soak up, admire the wonders, and come have the adventure of your life but keep your trekking limits in mind when planning your itinerary, it is always recommendable to acclimate in Cusco at least 2 days before the trek begins.
While it is true that you can still enter Inca Trail with a passport that is about to expire only if you have sent the information of this passport at the moment of booking and then you have updated to a new one. If so, bring both passports (old and new ones). Modifying the personal information once the tickets are booked may be very difficult.
Inca Trail is a stunner, every moment of every hiking day and you’ll end the adventure at the wonder of the world–Machu Picchu. You’ll not want to miss out on recording those amazing views on your trekking album. Pack plenty of spare batteries and camera cards.
Packing the right gear and the items you’ll really need is very important, pack animals are not allowed on this trail, all gear including the gear and supplies provided by your tour operator is carried by porters, and overloading them would be super bad. Porters can carry up to 40 pounds/ 20 kg, each hiker has an opportunity to be helped with up to 7 kg/ 14 pounds of their personal belongings (this includes sleeping bags and air mattresses) if a hiker exceeds this weight, this hiker must take her/his own extra personal items.
Unfortunately, there still exists a big breach in fair wages, treatment of staff, and the bureaucracy that never ends coming from tour operators and the governmental institutions that manage this trail and the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu.
All tour operators say to be ethical companies but just quite a few of them actually practice these guidelines, the majority of the tour operators have super bad treatment of their porters, overloading them with over 70 pounds of weight when the normal is about 42 pounds. This is one of the most awful things on the Inca Trail, and it is very difficult to realize which company to take because all of them shout from the rooftops like ethical operators, you can realize if going with a good company or not by paying a reasonable trek cost because this means when paying a reasonable cost you are using more staff and less struggle from them.
As mentioned lines above the best trek to Machu Picchu is as follows:
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Activity Type: Physical Rating:Service Level: In the unlucky event, you are unable to find a spot for this trail and don’t have other time to move your trekking date, other alternative trail options would be the way to go, see the listing on the following lines.
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Activity Type: Physical Rating:Service Level: Contact us for a free quote today, for any custom private tour we have in Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu, Cusco, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Lima, Nazca Lines, Arequipa, Lake Titicaca, Rainbow Mountain, and much more. All tours are personally designed for you by one of our local experts. We’ll ensure your trip is best suited to your personal travel style. Here at Peru Summit Adventures, we will help you to create the trip of your dreams, not ours.
Peru Summit Adventures Main Office Cusco – Peru Customer Service: Any time Available +51 984 464 391 Emergency Number: + 51 984 464 391 (from within country). WhatsApp: +51 984 464 391 [email protected], [email protected] perusummit.com
