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Two walkers descending a stone section of the Inca Trail into a deep Andean valley

Sample journey · 11–13 days

To Machu Picchu on foot: the Inca Trail or Salkantay

Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley, four days on the Inca Trail or five over the Salkantay pass, and Machu Picchu

Photo: Juan Carlos / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

You can reach Machu Picchu by train in a few hours. On foot it takes several days, and it is a different arrival altogether. The old Inca road climbs over passes, past stone waystations and terraces no road will take you to, until on the last morning the city appears deep in the valley below the Sun Gate. The Salkantay route takes another line — higher, beneath a wall of glacier, then down into warm cloud forest — but it ends in the same place.

This journey is for active travellers for whom the walk is not an add-on but the point. The first days in Cusco and the Sacred Valley are deliberately quiet: the body needs time to adjust to the altitude, and the legs to stone steps. It suits couples, friends or a small group; which route to choose comes down to permits, season and how much you want solitude or history.

The route

The journey

  1. Lima
  2. Cusco
  3. Sacred Valley
  4. Inca Trail or Salkantay
  5. Machu Picchu
  6. Cusco
  7. Lima
  1. A narrow stepped lane between yellow houses in Cusco, with the city's rooftops and hills beyond

    01Days 1–4 · Lima & Cusco

    Slowly up to 3,400 metres

    After the long flight, a night in Lima by the ocean, then a short morning flight to Cusco at around 3,400 m. The first day here is almost entirely for rest: coca tea, a short stroll to the Plaza de Armas and an early night. Then the lanes and stairways of San Blas, the San Pedro market, Qorikancha and the walls of Sacsayhuamán above the city. If you're feeling well, a longer walk above the town on the third day is the best preparation for the trail.

  2. Curving Inca terraces at Pisac, with the stone buildings of the citadel on the ridge above

    02Days 5–6 · Sacred Valley

    Terraces, the river and final preparations

    Down the road into the Urubamba Valley, a few hundred metres lower than Cusco, where sleep comes more easily. At Pisac it's worth climbing to the Inca citadel above the town and walking back down through the terraces: the first real test for the legs. The second day is for Ollantaytambo, its stone water channels and fortress, then an evening briefing with the guide, a kit check and an early night. From here, the trailhead is only about half an hour away.

  3. A mossy stone wall of an Inca waystation above a misty mountain valley on the Inca Trail

    03Days 7–9 · The Inca Trail

    Along the old road, over passes and through cloud

    The walk begins at 'Kilometre 82' beside the Urubamba, and the first day is still gentle. The second is the hardest: a long climb to Dead Woman's Pass at around 4,200 m, then a steep descent down stone steps. The third is the most beautiful: the ruins of Runkurakay, Sayacmarca and Phuyupatamarca, a path cut into the cliff, and cloud forest where orchids grow straight from the rock. A team of porters carries and pitches the camp, leaving you with a daypack. In the evening, the terraces of Wiñay Wayna above the river.

  4. An aerial view at the Salkantay pass: a turquoise lake, rocky peaks and cloud below

    04Days 7–10 (alternative) · Or: Salkantay

    Beneath the glacier, down into cloud forest

    If Inca Trail permits have gone, or you'd like fewer people and more mountain, the Salkantay route takes five days. Along the way: the turquoise Humantay Lake, a pass at around 4,600 m beneath a peak of over 6,000 m, and a long descent past coffee and avocado farms into a warm valley. Nights are in tents or simple mountain lodges. This trail ends in Aguas Calientes, with Machu Picchu the following morning, so the journey grows by a day.

  5. The terraces of Machu Picchu and the peak of Huayna Picchu, seen from afar from the Sun Gate steps

    05Days 10–13 · Machu Picchu & Cusco

    Through the Sun Gate

    On the last day of the Inca Trail you rise in the dark, and after an hour or so of walking Machu Picchu appears below you from Intipunku, the Sun Gate. Later comes a guided visit of the site, a night in Aguas Calientes and, if you'd like, a second visit the next morning on rested legs. Then the train back to the valley and Cusco, a day for rest or the market, and a flight to Lima for a final dinner before heading home.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    Dead Woman's Pass

    The high point of the Inca Trail: the hardest day, after which the rest of the walk feels lighter.

  2. 02

    Ruins no road can reach

    Sayacmarca, Phuyupatamarca and Wiñay Wayna: Inca sites seen only by those who arrive on foot.

  3. 03

    The Sun Gate at first light

    A first view of Machu Picchu from above, the way Inca travellers once saw it.

  4. 04

    The glaciers of Salkantay

    A higher, quieter way, from a turquoise lake down to coffee farms in the cloud forest.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • A shorter walk

    The one-day Short Inca Trail from 'Kilometre 104' via Wiñay Wayna to the Sun Gate: the same arrival, without the nights under canvas.

  • More time to adjust

    Spend the first nights lower down in the Sacred Valley and see Cusco on the way back, or add an extra day before the trail.

  • Longer and wilder

    For experienced trekkers, the Ausangate area or the longer Choquequirao route instead of Salkantay.

  • Extensions

    After the trek, a few days in the Amazon near Puerto Maldonado, or Lake Titicaca on the way home.

Practical considerations

  • Classic Inca Trail permits are limited, sold only through licensed operators and in the dry season often gone months ahead. The trail usually closes in February for maintenance.
  • Machu Picchu is visited on timed tickets tied to set circuits, and the rules have changed several times in recent years, so we check them before planning each day.
  • Altitude affects everyone differently, and good fitness is no guarantee. It's worth speaking to your own doctor or a travel clinic before you travel; for our part, the route leaves time to adjust.
  • This is a physically demanding journey: several days of six to eight hours' walking, many stone steps and cold nights high in the mountains. The dry season usually runs from about May to September, though mountain weather changes quickly.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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