2-Day Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu with Sun Gate arrival

2 Days Duration

Experiences

About This Tour

Experience the joy of trekking the Inca Trail through beautiful landscapes and past remarkable Inca ruins on this 2-day journey from Cusco to Machu Picchu. Trav...

Duration: 2 Days · Tour type: Shared · Activity level: Hard · Accommodation: Included · Standard · Transport: Included · Wheelchair access: Not applicable · Cities: Cusco, Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo, Wiñay Wayna · Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish

About Wiñay Wayna

Peru

Wiñay Wayna

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What's Included

Pre-trek briefing with your tour guide
Transfer by private vehicle to the railway station at Ollantaytambo
Accommodation: 1 night in a hotel in Aguas Calientes Town
Inca Trail permit and entrance fee to Machu Picchu
Meals: 1 breakfast, 1 box lunch, 1 snack bag, and 1 dinner (please advise us in advance if you are vegetarian; this option is available at no additional cost)
Round-trip shuttle bus to Machu Picchu on the second day
Round-trip train travel (Expedition Service) between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu)
1 night at Hotel Intipunku *** or similar
Tourist transportation (van or small car) from Ollantaytambo to Cusco, usually private
Experienced guides - groups of up to 8 participants have 1 tour guide, and groups of more than 8 participants receive 2 tour guides
English-speaking, professionally educated, official tour guides. Your guide will explain the culture and surroundings along the entire route and will keep you safe, comfortable, and well supported on your trek so you can enjoy your time worry-free.

Not Included

Breakfast on the first day and lunch in Aguas Calientes Town on the second day
Entrance fee to Huayna Picchu Mountain ($80)
Tips for local staff (please note: tipping is customary in Peru; however, it is not obligatory)
Travel insurance
Local flights are not included in the trek's price

Itinerary

1

Day 01

Cusco to Aguas Calientes via the Inca Trail

We pick you up from your hotel in Cusco and transfer you on a 2-hour ride to Ollantaytambo railway station. From there, we board the train and continue to Km 104, where the Inca Trail checkpoint is located. After crossing the Vilcanota River by bridge, we begin our Inca Trail trek. The first archaeological site we visit is Chachabamba, where you will enjoy a guided tour. We then continue through a landscape of cacti vegetation and cloud forest toward another significant Inca site, Wiñay Wayna. Before reaching it, we stop to refresh at a local waterfall, where you will also have lunch and a rest. Later, we admire the sunset above Machu Picchu as we arrive at the Sun's Gate, Inti Punku, before entering the Inca citadel area. As it is too late in the day for a guided tour of this overwhelming Inca city, we descend slowly to Aguas Calientes Town, enjoying the beautiful surrounding scenery along the way. We spend the night in a comfortable hotel in Aguas Calientes.
2

Day 02

Machu Picchu Guided Tour and Return to Cusco

After an early morning breakfast, we take the bus up to the mysterious city of Machu Picchu. Our tour guide shows us around the Inca city and explains its history and purposes. After the guided tour, you will have free time, which is the best opportunity to take pictures and walk through the Incas' lost city. You may also see animals such as llamas and birds. If you would like an even more complete experience, you can pay extra for access to the mountains, with the option to climb for about 45 minutes to Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain, whose peaks rise above Machu Picchu and offer panoramic pictures of the Inca city. You are then given additional time to explore Machu Picchu on your own. Machu Picchu is both the best-known and least understood site of the Incas. It is not mentioned in any Spanish conquistadors' chronicles, so contemporary archaeologists can do little more than speculate about its functions. Local Quechuan farmers had known about Machu Picchu for centuries before an 11-year-old boy showed the site to the American historian Hiram Bingham, who was searching for Vilcabamba, on 24 July 1911. At that time, the rest of the world became aware of its existence. However, the site was covered with thick vegetation, so Hiram Bingham and his team returned and cleared its surface between 1912 and 1915. Over the years, much work has been done to excavate and study the site. Despite these efforts, many unanswered questions remain. After exploring Machu Picchu, you return to Aguas Calientes on foot. The 2-day Inca Trail ends with a train ride to Ollantaytambo, or alternatively to Poroy, from where we take a van back to Cusco.