Wiñay Wayna, on the trail
On the Inca road
Stone and path, five centuries old
Arriving on foot, through the cloudsShort Inca Trail · One or two days · English-speaking Indigenous Quechua guides
Most arrive by bus.You arrive on foot.
Walk the last stretch of the original Inca road, from Kilometre 104 up through cloud forest and past the terraces of Wiñay Wayna to the Sun Gate. Then Machu Picchu opens below you, the way the Inca meant it to be first seen. Rail from Ollantaytambo and back, your permit, lunch on the trail, dinner in Aguas Calientes and an English-speaking Indigenous Quechua guide are included.
See dates and pricesWhy travel with us
What makes the difference.
An English-speaking Quechua guide.
Not a voice reading from a script. Someone raised in this language and these mountains, who can tell you what the stones were for and why they still matter to the families who live beneath them.
Everything held for you.
Your permit, your rail and your guide are arranged before you arrive. Permits are issued by name and by day, and we take care of every line of it.
Small by design.
Your own party, from one guest to twelve. One guide walks with up to eight, and a second joins beyond that, so no one is ever left at the back of the group.
The day
The road the Inca walked in.
Kilometre 104 is a railway marker, not a trailhead with a car park. You step off the train and the day begins on stone laid five hundred years ago.
Sleep in Ollantaytambo.
We suggest a night in Ollantaytambo before the trail. The train leaves from there at first light, so you wake beside the platform instead of leaving Cusco before dawn, and you sleep six hundred metres lower, which your body will thank you for on the climb. Would you rather start from Cusco? We can collect you there for an additional $40.
Off the train at Kilometre 104.
The line follows the Urubamba into the gorge and stops at a marker most passengers never notice. Your permit is checked, the river is crossed, and the walking starts.
The first site, and the first climb.
Terraces and ceremonial baths above the river, then stone switchbacks climb into the cloud forest. Orchids, waterfalls, and the quiet of a trail only permit holders may walk.
Forever young.
Wiñay Wayna is one of the finest sites on the whole trail, and no road reaches it. Your guide stops long enough to tell you what it was for. Lunch is on the trail.
The last twenty minutes.
The final climb to Inti Punku, the Sun Gate. Then Machu Picchu appears below you, the way the Inca meant it to be first seen.
Dinner by the river.
You come down onto the upper terraces of Machu Picchu, and the bus carries you into Aguas Calientes. On the one-day journey, we sit down together for dinner before the evening train. On the two-day journey, you stay the night at Hotel Ferré Machu Picchu or Hotel Santuario Machupicchu and return to the citadel with your guide in the morning.
Ollantaytambo, or on to Cusco.
On the one-day journey, the evening train carries you back up the valley to Ollantaytambo. Stay the night there, a short walk from the station, or our driver takes you on to Cusco, arriving late that night.
Exact times are set against your date. Rail timetables move through the year and permits are issued per day, so we confirm the shape of your journey after you book.
What the Sun Gate opens onto
“The last twenty minutes are the part nobody describes well afterward.”You have to be standing there
Gerson Barrios Zea, co-founder, at Vinicunca in the high country above Cusco.
Who you walk with
A guide who speaks Quechua.
A permit gets you onto the trail. An English-speaking Indigenous Quechua guide opens the conversations along the way.
Gerson Barrios Zea
Co-founder · Peru expert guide · Quechua liaison
Born and raised in Peru and formally trained in tourism, Gerson has guided the Inca Trail, the Sacred Valley and the country’s sacred sites for years.
His deepest gift is fluency in Quechua, the ancestral language still spoken in these mountains. It lets him speak directly with the Quechua families and communities you meet along the way, which is the difference between being shown a place and being let into one.
No vague promises
Everything the walk needs.
Included
- ✓ Expedition-class rail from Ollantaytambo to Kilometre 104, and back from Aguas Calientes
- ✓ Inca Trail permit from Kilometre 104
- ✓ English-speaking Indigenous Quechua guide
- ✓ Lunch on the trail
- ✓ Bus down to Aguas Calientes
- ✓ One-day journey: dinner in Aguas Calientes, and the drive from Ollantaytambo back to Cusco if you are not staying in Ollantaytambo
- ✓ Two-day journey: one night at Hotel Ferré Machu Picchu or Hotel Santuario Machupicchu with breakfast, the bus up and down, Machu Picchu admission and a guided day inside the citadel
Not included
- – Your room in Ollantaytambo, the night before or after the walk. We recommend it, and we will suggest where to stay
- – Transfer from Cusco on the morning of the walk, available for $40
- – Tips
- – Travel insurance
Request your date
Tell us your day. We’ll do the rest.
We check permits, tickets and your guide for the date you want, then write to you by email to confirm, usually within a day. Nothing is charged until you confirm.
Before you go
Good questions.
Do I need a permit?
Yes, and it is included. The Inca Trail is permit controlled and permits are issued per day, which is why the date comes first when you book.
Will I see Machu Picchu?
Yes. You arrive through the Sun Gate and come down onto the upper terraces, with the whole citadel below you. Walking inside the citadel itself is a separate circuit on its own ticket, and that is day two of the two-day journey, when we aim for Circuit 3, our favourite, or Circuit 2. Circuits are never guaranteed and tickets are capped daily.
Is the hotel included?
On the two-day journey, yes: one night at Hotel Ferré Machu Picchu or Hotel Santuario Machupicchu, with a buffet breakfast, based on two guests sharing. A private room is $50. On the one-day journey you return the same evening, so no hotel is needed.
Can I come on my own?
Of course. Your guide is just as present for one walker as for twelve. On the two-day journey, add a private room for $50.
How far ahead should I book?
Permits are issued per day and sell out, especially from May to September. For the one-day walk or the two-day journey, we recommend booking 30 days or more ahead, because permits, hotels and citadel tickets fill early, and we need at least 15 days. Travelling sooner? Write to us at [email protected]. Places sometimes come free, and we’ll tell you honestly what is possible for your dates.
How hard is the walk?
About eleven kilometres and six hours, with steep stone steps and real climbs at altitude. You should be comfortable walking for most of a day. Give yourself two days in Cusco to acclimatise first.
Where should I stay?
The trail train leaves from Ollantaytambo at first light, and the evening train brings you back there, so the easiest rhythm is a room in Ollantaytambo the night before, and the night after if you like. You sleep six hundred metres lower than Cusco and wake beside the platform. If your base is Cusco, our driver brings you back there after the evening train, and we can collect you in Cusco that morning for an additional $40. Either way, we will make it work.
Do I need my passport?
Yes, your original passport. Inca Trail permits are issued by name and cannot be transferred, so we need each walker's passport details when you book, and you show the same passport at the Kilometre 104 checkpoint. A photo or a copy will not be accepted.
What should I carry on the trail?
A light daypack with water, sunscreen, a hat, a rain layer, insect repellent and a warm layer for the higher sections. Walking poles help on the stone steps, but they are not allowed inside the citadel itself. Leave larger bags at your hotel; the train allows one small bag of up to about 8 kilograms.
How high does the trail go?
You start beside the river at around 2,100 metres and finish at the Sun Gate at about 2,720, lower than Cusco. The climb is real, but the altitude is gentle by Andean standards.
What if my plans change?
Changed your mind right after booking? Cancel within 48 hours of booking, with your Experience at least 30 days away, and you receive a full refund. After that, Machu Picchu tickets and Inca Trail permits are issued by the Peruvian government in your name and cannot be refunded, so the schedule is: 30 days or more before your Experience, a full refund less any tickets or permits already issued, and we tell you the exact amount; 15 to 29 days, 75% refunded; 8 to 14 days, 50%; 3 to 7 days, 25%; less than 72 hours or a missed departure, no refund. The $50 private room follows the same schedule. With 30 days' notice we move your date at no charge from us, subject to availability. If we cancel, or weather, a rail suspension, a strike or a site closure does, you choose a full refund or a new date. Write to us at [email protected].
Is the trail open all year?
It closes every February for maintenance. Outside February it runs daily, subject to permit availability.