Acclimatise in Cusco, explore the Sacred Valley, then hike the classic four-day Inca Trail with a licensed guide, porters and camps, past cloud-forest ruins to arrive at Machu Picchu through the Sun Gate. Permits for May to September sell out months ahead; the trail closes every February.
Tour or safari route for your dates
7 days from Sat, Dec 5.
- Day 1 Cusco
- Day 2 Sacred ValleyDrive from Cusco to Sacred Valley (about 1.5 hours)
- Days 3–6 The Inca Trail · guidedTransfer from Sacred Valley to The Inca Trail (about 30 minutes)
- Day 7 CuscoTrain from The Inca Trail to Cusco (about 4 hours)
Good to know
- Only licensed operators can sell Inca Trail permits; book four to six months ahead for the dry season.
- Spend at least two days in Cusco before the trek; the high point, Dead Woman's Pass, is about 4,200 metres.
- Bring your passport on the trail: it's checked at the permit gate and at Machu Picchu.
Eat this
Places the planner can use
Mark places as a must or something to skip. The itinerary is built only from this list; ★ marks the destination’s highlights.
Inca foundations underneath colonial arcades and a cathedral holding a Last Supper painting featuring roast guinea pig.
The Inca empire's most sacred temple, once sheathed in gold, with a colonial church built directly on top of the stonework.
Steep whitewashed streets of silversmiths and weaving workshops above the main square — best explored slowly, altitude permitting.
Cusco's central market for produce, juice stalls and alpaca-wool goods — also a good, cheap breakfast stop.
A short walk above the city for a free panorama over Cusco's terracotta roofs, next to the Sacsayhuamán ruins.
Massive polygonal Inca stonework fortress overlooking Cusco, some blocks weighing over 100 tonnes and fitted without mortar.
Terraced Inca citadel on a ridge above the valley, then the craft market in the village below.
Giant stone terraces and a sun temple above a village still laid out on its Inca grid.
Thousands of white salt pools on a hillside and circular Inca terraces used as crop laboratories.
Trout, corn and quinoa dishes at a valley restaurant with a garden.
An easy start along the Urubamba river past the Llactapata ruins to the first camp; about 12 km.
The hardest day: a steep climb to the pass at about 4,200 metres, then down to camp at Pacaymayu; about 11 km.
The most beautiful day, over two more passes through cloud forest past Sayacmarca and Phuyupatamarca to Wiñay Wayna's terraces; about 16 km.
A pre-dawn start to the Inti Punku Sun Gate for the first view of Machu Picchu, then a guided tour of the citadel.
A demanding high-altitude day hike (5,200m) to a naturally striped mineral mountainside — acclimatize in Cusco for several days first.
Andean roast guinea pig, a special-occasion dish long before it was a tourist curiosity — order it whole and split it.
Bean-to-bar chocolate-making class using Peruvian cacao, a good low-exertion activity for the first acclimatization day.