The Inca Trail, the way it was meant to be hiked.

Four days on a royal journey through the Andes. A night’s rest at Inkaterra. Then Machu Picchu, unhurried.

More than 1,000 travelers with Destination Peru

Inca Trek by Destination Peru

Most companies wake you at 3:30 on the last morning, walk you to a crowded Sun Gate, tour Machu Picchu at noon and put you on a train to Cusco by dark. We think the world’s greatest hike deserves a better ending.

42 km

26 miles of original Inca road, stone steps and two hand-cut tunnels

4,215 m

Dead Woman’s Pass, the high point. You’ll feel every metre of it

1 night

at Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo before you walk into the citadel rested

Our way

Private. Unhurried. Hiked with people who call these mountains home.

Unhurried, by design

Time at every ruin. Time to breathe at the passes. No 3:30 alarm on the last morning. You reach the Sun Gate in the afternoon light, when the crowds have gone.

Our own team, from Lares

Guides and porters from the Lares valley who have hiked with us for years, carrying the best gear we can buy them, cooking food you’ll talk about at home.

A trail we help keep

We join the SERNANP trail cleanup every year and run our own. We invest in maintaining the path. And we carry no single-use plastic on it. None.

Your group. Your guide.

Never mixed with strangers. Licensed by Peru to operate the trail ourselves, run by a Peruvian and American family, with a U.S. phone number that a person answers.

Our itinerary · 5 days

Three nights under the stars. One night in a proper bed.

The classic 4-day trail, with the last day split in two. That one change turns a race for the train into the best morning of the trip.

Day one

KM 82 to Wayllabamba

An easy walk up the Cusichaca valley past the terraces of Llactapata. 12 km. Your team is already ahead, setting up camp.

Day two

Dead Woman's Pass

The hard one. A long climb to 4,215 m, then stone steps down to Pacaymayo. Cold night, clear sky, the Milky Way overhead.

Day three

Ruins in the clouds

Runkurakay, Sayacmarca, a tunnel cut by Inca hands, and camp at Phuyupatamarca, the town above the clouds, with sunrise over Salkantay.

Day four

The Sun Gate, then Inkaterra

Down through Wiñay Wayna to Inti Punku and your first sight of Machu Picchu. Then a hot shower, a dinner to celebrate, and a real bed.

Day five

Machu Picchu, rested

Back up the mountain with your guide for an unhurried morning in the citadel. Train and private transfer home to Cusco.

Night four

Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo

Your last night is at one of South America’s most awarded hotels: 80 whitewashed adobe casitas set in 12 acres of cloud forest at the foot of the mountain, with the world’s largest native orchid collection on the grounds and 317 bird species overhead. A hot shower, a long dinner, and a bed with the river running past. Then Machu Picchu in the morning.

372

native orchid species on the grounds

12 acres

of protected cloud forest

2,020 m

above sea level, at the foot of Machu Picchu

From Jared Snow, founder

We came to Peru for our first anniversary. I never really came home.

Paola and I came to Peru for our first wedding anniversary. It was the first big trip of my life, and I fell for the country inside a week. My wife is Peruvian, our family is Peruvian, and after fifteen years running trips through this country it is still my favorite place on earth.

Of everything here, the Inca Trail is what I love most. It’s an ancient royal road, lined with ruins most visitors never see, climbing through the Andes to the greatest wonder of the world. You don’t arrive at Machu Picchu. You earn it.

I’ve hiked it many times, and I learned that the guide, the pace, the camps and the safety standards make or break it. So we spent years earning our own license from the Peruvian government to run the trail ourselves, the way it should be run. Sharing it is my favorite thing in the world. Our whole team feels the same.

— Jared

The trail

You can't love a place and leave it worse.

We maintain the pathWe put money and hands into keeping the Inca road in good repair, not just walking on it.
Every cleanup, every yearWe join the SERNANP sanctuary cleanup annually and run our own private cleanups between seasons.
No single-use plastic on the trailRefillable bottles, real plates, cloth over cling film. What we carry in, we carry out.

Read this first

This is a hard hike. That's the point.

The Inca Trail is not a walk with nice views. It’s four days at altitude on uneven stone, with one brutal climb and a lot of steep descent. It’s for fit people who want to earn Machu Picchu and have a good time doing it. We’ll help you prepare, and we’ll never leave you behind. But we won’t tell you it’s easy.

6–8 h

of hiking on day two, with 1,100 m of climbing to the pass

3,000+

stone steps down on day three. Poles help, and we have them to rent

2–3 days

in Cusco or the Sacred Valley first, so the altitude has time to become normal

2 to 8

hikers per private group. Bigger parties and solo travelers, ask us

Guests

In their own words.

Posted on Google by people who hiked with us.

★★★★★

Going on big trips is scary. It is hard to find a company that you can trust and that cares about you and your experience. I’ll never use anyone else.

Mark WintertonGoogle review

★★★★★

You develop an amazing connection with nature, Peruvian culture and yourself. The food was delicious and full of local ingredients, and the guide was always on point, with fascinating stories about the Inca Empire.

Junior Alfonso Lopez TorresGoogle review

★★★★★

Inca Trek took care of all the logistics and went over the top to make sure we were comfortable in every aspect of the trek. Fantastic hospitality.

John RasmussenGoogle review

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