The Inca Trail

The classic Inca Trail runs some forty-three kilometres from the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu along a route the Inca themselves built, and much of what you walk on is original paving, stairway and tunnel rather than a modern path. Over four days it climbs through three passes, the highest being Warmiwañusca, the Dead Woman's Pass, at around 4,215 metres, a long grinding ascent that is the trek's hardest morning, then drops through changing country from high grassland into humid cloud forest hung with orchids and moss. Along the way it passes ruined complexes that most day visitors to Machu Picchu never see, among them Runkurakay, Sayacmarca and the beautiful terraced site of Wiñay Wayna. The finish is the point of it: walking in through the Sun Gate at dawn on the fourth morning to see Machu Picchu appear below, having arrived the way it was meant to be approached.

What you actually see

• Dead Woman's Pass - the high point of the trek at around 4,215 metres.
• Original Inca paving - the built stairways, tunnels and road surface underfoot.
• Wiñay Wayna - the terraced ruin above the cloud forest on the final night.
• The Sun Gate arrival - the dawn approach to Machu Picchu from above.

When to go

May to September is the dry season and the main trekking window; the trail closes for the whole of February for maintenance, and the wet months either side are muddy and slippery. Permits are capped per day including guides and porters, and the good dates sell out many months ahead, so book early.

Honest expectations

Permits are strictly limited and routinely sold out four to six months in advance, and you cannot walk it independently, only with a licensed operator, so spontaneity is impossible. Altitude is the real difficulty, not distance: acclimatise in Cusco for several days first, or the second morning will be brutal. Nights are cold and camping is basic. Choose an operator by how it treats and pays its porters, not by price. Alternative routes such as Salkantay or Lares exist when permits are gone.

Nearby

Ollantaytambo and the Sacred Valley are at the start; Machu Picchu and Aguas Calientes at the finish.