Incan Trail to Machu Picchu (Hiking Guide)

Hiking the Incan Trail to Machu Picchu (Guide & Journal)

This is a guide for hiking the Incan Trail to Machu Picchu including where to stay in Cusco and how many days the trek takes. It also includes how to get there, when to visit, where to stay, and how to get around. At the end, it includes my daily journal I kept with me during my trip.

I went to Cusco and Machu Picchu in 2015 on a study abroad with Virginia Tech. This was my first trip to South America and I was so excited to explore the Andes mountains, the Peruvian culture, and hike the Incan Trail to visit one of the seven wonders of the world, Machu Picchu!

This place is hidden far up in the Andes Mountains away from civilization. It is hidden so well, in fact, that it was not discovered until many years after it was created. Machu Picchu is a historical site formed by the Incas, and today, people travel from all over the world to see this beautiful creation. Read below to see details about what to plan before you go and my tips for your trip.

Overview

How to Get There:

To start your trip to hike the Incan Trail to Machu Picchu, you’ll want to fly into Cusco, Peru – the land of Incas surrounded by the Andes Mountains. Depending on your flight, you may have a layover in Lima, Peru.

Note: The South American west coast aligns closely to the North American east coast. Peru doesn’t do daylight savings time so Peru’s timezone shifts between the US’s Central Timezone and Eastern Time Zone.

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When to Visit:

When planning your trip, it’s important to know that Peru has 2 seasons: a wet season and a dry season. The wet season is from November to March. The dry season is from April to October. Depending on which season you go in, you can get a very different experience. I hiked Machu Picchu in early January during the wet season. Bringing a raincoat was essential. However, I loved seeing the luscious jungle and Andes with so many beautiful mystical clouds rolling through. During the dry season, it is much easier to plan for the weather, with clear and sunny skies being much more common.

Where to Stay:

Before hiking the Incan Trail to Machu Picchu, it is important to get acclimated to the higher elevation so you don’t experience altitude sickness. I recommend staying in the city of Cusco, Peru (which was once the capital of the Inca Empire) for 2 days before heading off to do your trek. Cusco sits at an elevation of 11,152 ft (3,400 meters). I recommend staying at the beautiful, cozy hotel, Inkarri. InKarri is located within walking distance of the city center, making it a perfect location for exploring while you’re there. It’s very affordable at around $60/night and has won awards for being one of the best hotels in Cusco. Click here to learn more about Inkarri.

After staying in Cusco, you’ll head out to start your trek to Machu Picchu on the Incan Trail! If you are looking to hike the trek with guides to help carry your packs, set up camp, and prepare amazing meals for you, I HIGHLY recommend Apus Peru. They are a women-owned, sustainable travel company and they are some of the nicest, loving, and funny humans I’ve met. You can also check out their Instagram here.

Regardless of if you choose to hike with or without guides, you’ll spend your time on the 23-mile trail across 3-5 days (typically) sleeping in a tent. If you are bringing your own tent, I highly recommend bringing a light (2-4lb) backpacking tent along with any other essential gear.

How to Get Around:

I don’t recommend a car while in Cusco. Instead, I recommend staying at a convenient hotel (such as Inkarri) and booking a tour or 2 of the Incan ruins in the city. I also recommend booking transportation to and from the trek. You’ll start the trek by traveling 1.5 hours from Cusco to Ollantaytambo, You’ll finish the hike in Aguas Calientes. I recommend booking a trekking service that will cover transportation logistics. If you do it on your own, I recommend booking train tickets to/from the Incan Trail. These are the 3 you can choose from Inca Rail, Peru Rail, and the Belmond Hiram Bingham train. You can also get there by scheduling a minivan if taking the train is not an option.

Note: I don’t recommend driving to/from the trek. Part of the drive to Ollantaytambo is on a VERY narrow 2-way road. The bus I was on had to pull over whenever oncoming traffic was coming and there was a cliff on the other side of the guard rail.

Things to do in Cusco:

When you arrive in Cusco, I recommend taking it easy for the first day to give yourself time to get used to the high elevation. I recommend drinking lots of water, getting some good food, resting, and asking your hotel for cocoa leave tea. This helps a lot with altitude sickness and you will see that a lot throughout your trip, especially on the hike!
Coricancha Temple, also known as Temple of the Sun, is known as one of the most important and most sacred temples of the Inca empire
Sacsayhuaman which was the most important military base of the Inca Empire and is in the highest part of Cusco, giving a great view of the city
Cusco’s Historical Center is a mix of Spanish and Andean buildings. The main square is known as Plaza de Armas. It has plenty of restaurants and iconic buildings, including the Cusco Cathedral. I highly recommend walking around the city center
Visit a Chocolate Museum or even do a tour where they teach you about the cocoa and how chocolate is made
Tambomachay is another historical Inca Empire site
Drink a pisco sour! (or two) which is a delicious Peruvian cocktail

Main Square in the historical center of Cusco

Coricancha Temple

More Tips:

Rest up when you land in Cusco to get acclimated. I recommend spending 48 hours in Cusco before you hike the Incan Trail to Machu Picchu
Drink the coca leave tea to help with altitude sickness
Make sure you break in your hiking shoes before you go
If you aren’t sure if your hiking shoes are ready to go, bring moleskin with you to help prevent blisters (this is a game-changer!)
Bring a journal and a camera so you can capture the great moments from your trip
Double-check your passport isn’t expiring within 6 months of your return date (this is the US requirement)

Keep scrolling if you’d like to read my daily journal (with pictures) of hiking the Incan Trail to Machu Picchu!

my Machu Picchu Experience

We woke up for an early breakfast and met to start our journey at 6:30 am. We bused out of Cusco to Ollantaytambo, which was a 2-hour ride. Along the way, there were gorgeous views of the Andes and even allowed us to see snow-topped mountains. Ollantaytambo was a remote town that had the same culture as Cusco, just more agriculturally involved. We walked into a tiny convenience store, where I bought a poncho and some cocoa leaf cookies. As I explored the store, I was excited to see Nutella, which is one of my favorite snacks at home. Next, our bus ride continued mostly on a gravel road along the river with poorer-looking homes. A few times, we would approach oncoming traffic; however, due to the one-lane road, this was a challenge. Other vehicles reversed to a wider area where we could pass. After arriving at the start of the trail, I noticed how many porters were coming along with us. I began to feel bad since they would be carrying almost all of our stuff plus our sleeping and eating equipment. I was very thankful for their help though because I don’t think I could have done it all on my own. As we went through the checkpoint, I was very excited when my passport got a Machu Picchu stamp.

We began the trail and I shockingly noticed some porters were wearing sandals. How were they able to do that? Not to mention with all that extra weight on their back. As we hiked I was continuously saying “wow” from all the gorgeous mountains and plants. We even learned how the Incas used to use parasite blood as face paint. This was interesting to me and I was a little nervous when Herbert, our guide, came around to put it all on our faces. As we were walking, every now and then locals would pass us on motorcycles and horses. I didn’t expect to see any oncoming traffic while hiking. This made me realize this trail was home to many people and the land was where their crops grow. I am envious of their “natural” lifestyle; however, growing up with many privileges that were not known to them, I am not sure if I could switch to that lifestyle at my current age. Having our first meal shocked me. The porters brought us what looked like a gourmet meal. Lunch and dinner were both beyond expectations and very delicious with tea and soup at both meals.

Alongside the hike today, we were able to see a few Inca ruins including Patallacta from above. I was interested to learn more when one of our guides, Urbano, told us that remains of the Incas were found just 10-12 years ago in the mountains above the ruins. He told me that only about 3 remains were discovered, but this mountain was used as the Incan graveyard and that many other mountainsides were used for the same. When the group arrived at Hayllabamba for the night, the porters were so kind to have the entire campsite set up. This is truly 5-star camping.

With the call of a rooster and a knock on the tent door by a porter asking us for some hot tea, I began my second-day journey to Machu Picchu with the group. It was foggy out as I packed my stuff up and scurried to a breakfast full of porridge with fruit, omelets, and bread with the amazing strawberry jam. After a guide warned us about the physically challenging incline for day 2, I was unsure if I was prepared for the day. We started uphill, steeply, as predicted. I made sure to pace myself as much as possible. The incline seemed never-ending. I had some great motivation and strategy hit me when a ended up behind a porter. He was zigzagging the incline. Genius. I decided to zigzag the trail as well making the incline much easier to handle. “I think I might actually be able to make it through the day now,” I thought to myself. Finally, I made it to the top of the first peak and I could not have been more proud of what I had just accomplished. I had just accomplished hiking 4,009 feet in elevation in one day. Wow. The view was gorgeous, but as soon as I made it to the top, to no surprise, it started raining. We sat up there for a while waiting for the group to catch their breath and gain energy for the 2 hours of downhill left in the day.

We began the day with another early morning to hike 10 miles of the mostly downhill trail. One of the guides said this was her favorite day of the hike because of the beautiful views, which I was excited to see; however, she also told us about “the gringos killer” – this was a huge steep downhill portion of the hike that really scared me.

The second pass was my favorite pass because the weather was nice and we got to explore the mountain top for a good while. There were also some pretty lakes around. Afterwards, we walked to Sayacmarca and then to lunch at Chaquiccocha. Everyone was extremely hungry at this point so we chatted about our favorite foods until lunch was ready. There were also some llamas wandering around that entertained us. After lunch, we continued to the third pass and Phuyupatamarca. This Inca site was my favorite due to the architecture of the buildings. The buildings had curved walls that faced out into the Andes. Unfortunately, it was raining as we passed so we didn’t explore much. A lot of today’s walk was flat, or at least it seemed that way from the day before. There was a cool Inca tunnel we walked through and much of the trail was narrow along the way. I wondered how the Incas managed to build this pathway alongside such steep mountains. The outside of the pathway was literally a cliff, and it amazes me that this pathway even exists. After many steps downhill, my legs were burning, and the Winaywayna campsite finally appeared late in the afternoon for night three. I arrived with some of the group before our campsite was fully prepared so a few of us grabbed chairs and faced the unbelievable view in front of us full of Andes mountains and even some with snow at the top. This was, by far, my favorite campsite view. After everyone arrived and our site was prepared, we had tea time with the cocoa leaves and then dinner. While waiting we played a game called “Heads Up” by Ellen Degeneres that got everyone including our guides cracking up and having a great time. Dinner was delicious as always and presented very nicely with decorative animal carvings of various vegetables including a turkey. We all got right to bed afterward to prepare for our 3:30 am wake-up call to hike to Machu Picchu. We were told to pray to the Inca gods for nice weather tomorrow.

We awake to rain as we rushed through the dark morning to pack our bags. The porters had to catch an early train so we skipped breakfast and instead they provided us with some snacks. The morning was a little hectic, but eventually, we started hiking. About three minutes into walking we stopped in line at the checkpoint to wait for it to open at 5:30 am. This seemed like a very inefficient process to me; however, I made the best of it, and soon we were on the move again. I was so excited for today. I had made it through most of our tough, mentally and physically, challenging hike with just 3 miles to go! Never before had I been so proud of such an accomplishment. A few miles flew by and very shortly we arrived at sun gate, with a few clouds, we could finally see Machu Picchu. Wow. There are truly no words that can describe this sanctuary. It’s beautiful, mysterious, magical, healthy, and unbelievable. No pictures will ever show its true beauty of it. We took many photos and all high-fived and then walked to the center of the sanctuary after getting our tickets checked. Urbano and Herbert gave us a tour of Machu Picchu with many great stories about the Inca city. Urbano told us about how the water paths were strategically designed and curbed to slow down the water as a natural filter system. They showed us how the Incas used round rocks full of water to view the galaxy without cramping their necks. They also showed us their compass (which was exact) and how one mountain is where the sun aligns at the summer solstice and the sun gate is where the sun aligns at the winter solstice. This is what truly amazed me the most about the tour. I verified this story by checking the sun’s current position in January and it followed exactly what Urbano said. Wow. When the tour ended, I decided not to hike Huayna Picchu or the Temple of The Moon, although I originally really wanted to. The sun was hot (thank goodness for no rain today) and my body was exhausted. Instead, a few of us hiked a much smaller, easier, hike to the Inca bridge. The bridge was smaller and simpler than I was expecting, but still incredible. Afterward, we took some more photos, relaxed in the grass, and headed to Aguas Calientes for lunch. We ended up running into Urbano and Herbert having some beer before lunch so we joined them and had some fun. Lunch was delicious. I was very thankful for the bus to the city, the comfortable chairs at lunch, wifi, a nice sturdy table, and definitely a clean bathroom. A little while later, we caught a train and a bus back to Cusco where we said our goodbyes and thanks to Herbert and Urbano. We all gave hugs to the best, happiest, and most selfless guides I could have asked for. Amigos. Once in the hotel, I was finally able to clean up and refresh, pack, and get to bed for a long day of traveling tomorrow.