Inca Trail to Machu Picchu 1D

Your Montavia Travel guide arrives at your Cusco hotel at 4:00 AM. Boarding a private van, you drive through the early morning darkness to the Ollantaytambo train station, arriving by 5:45 AM. (If you choose to stay in Ollantaytambo the night before, your pickup is at 5:30 AM). Your guide hands you a prepared boxed lunch to carry in your daypack before you board the train. After a 75-minute ride alongside the Urubamba River, you disembark at Kilometer 104 at roughly 7:30 AM. Sitting at 2,000 meters (6,560 feet), this checkpoint marks the official start of your hike. You cross a suspension bridge, present your original passport to park wardens, and pass the nearby Chachabamba ruins.

 The trail climbs steadily for the first 90 minutes. You navigate a dirt and stone path featuring sweeping views across the river canyon. Moving into the cloud forest, the humidity rises and the vegetation thickens. By 10:30 AM, the incline steepens as you approach a waterfall. Crossing a wooden bridge below the falls, you gaze up to see the Wiñay Wayna ruins clinging to the cliffside at 2,600 meters (8,500 feet). You spend an hour exploring these extensive agricultural terraces and structures while your guide explains the local flora and fauna. At 11:45 AM, you sit down near the ruins to eat your provided picnic lunch.

Resuming the hike at 12:45 PM, you follow a relatively flat section of the trail for an hour. The final approach to the Sun Gate requires climbing a nearly vertical set of ancient stone steps carved directly into the bedrock. Conquering these stairs, you step into Inti Punku around 2:00 PM, earning your first direct view of the Machu Picchu Sanctuary below. You hike down the final stretch, passing smaller stone ruins, and arrive at the upper platforms of the citadel by 3:00 PM.

Because you arrive in the mid afternoon, the heavy morning crowds have already exited. You take clear photographs from the classic viewpoint near the Guardhouse before your guide leads a two-hour walking tour through Circuit 2. You examine the precision of the stone blocks in the religious sectors and walk through the residential areas. Concluding the tour at 5:00 PM, you take the 25 minute shuttle bus down to the town of Aguas Calientes. You have a brief window to grab a snack or coffee before heading to the station to board the 6:20 PM Expedition train back to Ollantaytambo. A Montavia Travel driver meets you at the station and drives you back to Cusco, dropping you off at your hotel around 10:00 PM.