Classic Inca Trail to Machu picchu 4 days

Essentially the Inca Trail is a mountainous jungle hike leading to the sacred Inca city of Machu Picchu. The 45km trek is usually covered in 4 days, arriving at Machu Picchu at daybreak on the final day before returning to Cusco by train in the afternoon. The Inca Trail is Peru's best known hike, combining a stunning mix of Inca ruins, mountain scenery, lush cloud-forest and rich subtropical jungle. Over 250 species of orchid have been counted in the Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary.

Day 01: Cusco, Km 82 to Wayllabamba.
Travelers are collected early from their hotels. We will pick you up from your hotel in Cusco between 6:00 to 6:20am. We leave from Cusco about 6:30am to go to Ollantaytambo and from there to Km 82. where we will meet the Quechua porters and have breakfast, you can buy things that you may have forgotten such as walking cane, water and rainponchos as well as use the last real washroom for a while. We start walking from Km. 82 to Wayllabamba; a quite flat and beautiful walk along the Urubamba River with a view of Mt. Veronica’s snowcapped peak in 5750 masl. Here we pass a few local villages, where people still build their houses with the traditional ichugrassroofs. Here we can see the famous tuna-cactus, some with the cuchinilla louse, famous for its amazingly powerful clothes-dye. We spend a little while resting at the hill with a view over Llactapata – an important agricultural place for the Incas. After Llactapata, we turn away from the river going up the valley along the Kusichaca River. Here we have a good chance to see hummingbirds around in the flowerbushes. We arrive to the village of Wayllabamba in the afternoon. Camping Here. (L+D).

Day 02: Wayllabamba to Pacaymayo
We climb the steep-sided Llullucha valley past a rushing stream and through enchanted native polylepis woodland. Crossing the rim of a small plateau, we abruptly find ourselves in the puna, the treeless grasslands of the high Andes. The trail traverses an open slope opposite mighty mountain crags as we ascend to the first and highest pass, Warmiwañusca (4,200m/13,776ft). Here we encounter spectacular views of the trail ahead to the second pass, and look back to the sweeping snowpeaks and valleys of the Huayanay massif. The trail to the floor of the forested Pacaymayo valley, where we make camp. (B+L+D).

Day 03: Pacaymayo – Wiñay Wayna
We pick up an Inca stairway and ascend again past the small Inca site of Runkuracay. As we reach the second pass, the landscape opens onto spectacular new views to the snowpeaks of the Pumasillo range. We descend to the ruins of Sayacmarca (Inaccessible Town), an intricate labyrinth of houses, plazas and water channels, perched precariously on a rocky spur overlooking the Aobamba valley. The Inca trail, now a massive buttressed structure of granite paving stones, continues along the steep upper fringes of the cloud forest through a colorful riot of orchids, bromeliads, mosses and ferns. At the third pass pinnacles topped with Inca viewing platforms overlook the archaeological complex of Phuyupatamarca (Cloud-level Town). Pausing to explore the wondrous maze of Inca stone towers, fountains and stairways that spillins down the mountainside here, we begin a long descent through ever-changing layers of cloud forest. An Inca stairway partly cut from living granite leads us finally to our camp by the ruins of Wiñay Wayna (Forever Young), the largest and most exquisite of the Inca Trail sites. (B+L+D).

Day 04: Wiñaywayna to Machupicchu.
Very early we leave camp to reach Inti Punku in time for sunrise. From here we get the first glance of Machu Picchu between the mountains on its saddle high over the Urubamba River. We all meet at Machu Picchu at a decided hour to make the tour of Machu Picchu. We will learn about the importance – religiously and historically – of the place, and we will be able to appreciate the fine architecture of the Incas. After the guided tour you can go to the top of Wayna Picchu, from where one has a good overview of the whole area and the full site of Machu Picchu. Another possibility is to visit the beautiful temple of the moon. In the afternoon we meet in Aguas Calientes to take the train back to Cusco. (B).

B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner