Cuzco is definitely on our list of destinations we would return to! Just a short one hour flight from the capital, Lima, it’s a beautiful tourist town. We were there in August which was their winter time and it was definitely a bit chilly. The first couple days were close to fall weather and we were fine with sweaters. But later on we did break out a light jacket to wear over them and a winter hat as well. So be sure to bundle up!

One well known characteristic of Cuzco is also its high altitude. Sitting at 11,000 feet it’s not uncommon for visitors to experience headaches or some dizziness. That’s why most hotels will have coca tea waiting for you upon arrival! Not only does it assist with warming tourists on chilly days, it’s supposed to help them acclimate to the high altitude as well. Choosing a hotel can be overwhelming as Cuzco is a popular destination but there are a few things to take into consideration for this process.

First of all, the main square of Cuzco is named Plaza de Armas. We stayed a little off the main square where it was a bit cheaper, but we were still within a 10 minute walk. Getting taxis around the city is never a problem either and usually cost 10 soles if you’re just staying within the city. Expect about 30 minutes to get from the airport to the city center and that costs about 20 soles. Plaza de Armas has some nice churches to see and lots of restaurants spread all around. We didn’t find a market while in Cuzco, but there was some small streets around the Plaza to walk down where it was easy to find outdoor vendors.

Cuzco is very clean and tourist friendly- we felt safe at all times, even when walking around at night. There’s also a wide variety of food options available wherever you look. And best of all there are TONS of vegetarian options! Cuzco is seriously the most vegetarian friendly destination I’ve ever been to, I was very impressed. Everywhere you look restaurants advertise as vegetarian or vegan and decent meals can cost 15-25 soles ($5-$9).

The only down side I could find is that street are very, very narrow. And the same goes for sidewalks. So if you’re not walking down the main streets be prepared to be hugging the walls very closely, especially when trucks, cars or taxis pass by. This could make some people nervous but as long as you’re careful there really shouldn’t be a problem.

Cuzco is usually used as a launching town for a whole lot of excursions. The most popular of course would be to see Machu Picchu (approximately 4 hours away via bus and train). Seeing Moray and Maras, ruins and salt mines, are also a popular day trip and you can read about us going there. There’s also some whitewater rafting options, mountain biking and lots of others. It’s not hard at all to find tour agencies as you’ll see signs for them wherever you look. While I like to book our excursions ahead of time so that I know exactly where we’re going it didn’t look too tricky to book them day of or even a day or two in advance at any of these agencies.

We definitely recommend a trip to Cuzco if you find yourself in Peru!

                                     Looking out over Cuzco from our hotel

When researching all kinds of information for the 11 months leading up to our Inca Trail trek it became clear that we wanted to make sure we had all the things in our packs that we would need for an enjoyable experience, yet at the same time packing as lightly as possible to minimize weight we were carrying. Needless to say this proved to be a very difficult task. In the end I think we did pretty well with what we had included and looking back on it here are my recommendations. Keep in mind we hiked the beginning of August so this could differ depending on the time of year you’re trekking.

• BACKPACK – If anything at all, I would highly, highly recommend having an extremely comfortable backpack and extremely comfortable shoes. We took Marmot packs with us, one with a 45L (me) and one with 35L. It was definitely tight for the two of us, but we were able to squeeze it in somehow.

Of course, if you plan to hire porters (MY BIGGEST RECOMMENDATION OF ALL FOR THIS TREK) then know that you don’t need to give them a backpack to carry your things in- just some bags are fine. If you plan on that ahead of time (unlike us) then you can get away with just bringing a daypack with you (I think mine is around 15L).

NOTE ON PORTERS: The porters will carry up to 12 kilos per person. Or, if you are packed light enough, you can “share” a porter between two people. We did this without a problem, giving the porter our big things such as sleeping bag, pad, extra snacks and extra clothes. This all came to about 12 kilos total between the two of us and we were left with carrying our water, some snacks, cameras and some clothes/toiletries for the day. This helped save us the money of hiring two!

• WATER – We drank probably around 1.5 liters on the trail while hiking each day; I would recommend drinking a bit more than that. Camel Back or other water bladders typically hold 2L of water so that is what I would recommend packing. Our group boiled water for us each morning and would fill our bladders for the hike for the day. So bringing just a small water bottle with you really isn’t the best idea as there is nowhere to fill up on the trail- plus it takes up more space.
• SNACKS – I packed way too much food. I ate probably 2 granola bars each day and we went through about 1 bag of trail mix between the two of us. It doesn’t hurt to slightly over pack as you definitely don’t want to go hungry, but they fed us very well at all our meals. I also grabbed some single serving dry mix packets, like lemonade, that were nice to have for some sugar at dinner time. We had one small bag of m+m’s with us as well that we ate during the four days.
• READING – I brought my Kindle with me thinking I would read at night since we typically reached our campsites by mid-afternoon each day. It was nice to have as a back up, but we were all so exhausted each day by the time we arrived that we typically went straight to bed. I spent zero time reading or bored.
• HEADLAMP – Do bring some sort of light with you. I have a Petzl headlamp which is nice as it packs down very compactly, however it’s not the brightest. You’ll need this for the mornings when you wake up and it’s still dark, especially on the last day. Headlamp is a must for sure.
• HIKING POLES – I went back and forth on this item for a very long time, but in the end we bought trekking poles to bring with us. ONE OF THE BEST DECISIONS WE MADE. I’m honestly not sure how I would have made it without them. They were helpful to lean on for the many stairs we took going up but more than that they provided stability on the very steep steps going down. I felt like they helped way more saving my knees on the downhill than anything else. Bring hiking poles with you!!! Here are the ones we got.
• TOILET PAPER – There are small toilets along the trail that are literally just holes in the ground you squat over. But no toilet paper is provided. Be sure to pack some with you! The two of us shared a roll over the 4 day hike and that was fine. I would recommend bringing some extra or some tissues with you as well as it can be a little chilly some day and I needed some for my nose.
• SLEEPING PAD – Thermarest is the way to go. They pack down compactly and don’t weigh very much. Here is the one I have that packs down to about the size of a nalgene bottle and weighs next to nothing. You can also rent some from the trekking company typically. They’re a lot bigger, so be prepared to clip them on the outside of your backpack, but they were super light so not a bad deal at all.
• SLEEPING BAG – All we had heard about this trek was how cold it was at night. So needless to say we grabbed not only our winter sleeping bags (rated to about 15 or 20 degrees) but also our summer sleeping bag liners to put inside them. This was definitely overkill and we didn’t use the liners at all. While it did get chilly, it was only in the low 40’s I would say. We were totally fine with our layers and winter bag (mine is a Kelty that’s about 10 years old and does not pack down very small at all).
• TOILETRIES – Other than the standard items (deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc) I would recommend a pack of wipes. It’s nice to use just to clean up a little at the end of the day when going to bed without a shower. Also bring sunscreen as the sun can be strong hiking at such high altitudes and bug spray as there were surprisingly quite a few mosquitoes along the way as well. We got eaten alive the first day!

We also packed blister guard bandaids just in case, but never ended up needing them. Oh, and if you’re a light sleeper I would recommend a pair of ear plugs- you can hear snoring from neighboring tents sometimes and the first night since we were near a village there was lots of dogs barking.

Lastly, mostly since we knew were going to the jungle, we also bought Sawyer bug spray ahead of time to treat our clothes with it. This meant we sprayed our clothes down before we left home- I’m not sure if that helped in the end or not but it’s highly recommended. Due to the high altitude, it was actually a little hard to get the bug spray to “spray”. You will either need some patience with it or to find a cream and rub it on your skin instead.

• ACCESSORIES – Each of us have a Buff and I think they’re just the best hiking accessory ever. I would strongly recommend investing in one as they can keep your ears toasty when it’s chilly out while not causing you to overheat. Sunglasses were also great to have on the trail as the sun can get really bright.
• MEDS– We were never in enough pain to need ibuprofen, but headaches can be a common side effect of altitude sickness so it’s a good idea to bring some along just in case. I also REALLY REALLY recommend getting altitude sickness medicine. We got some diamox from our doctor before we went but realized we didn’t have enough when we arrived. We bought some ______ locally at a pharmacy in Cuzco and took the pills religiously each day. Be prepared for tingly feelings the whole time, especially in your feet, face, and fingers- this can be a side effect of the meds of just from the altitude in general. But it was totally worth it to avoid feeling nauseous, having a splitting headache or throwing up. We had no altitude sickness at all and I’m extremely thankful for that.
• CLOTHES – Here’s what I packed for actual clothing:

2 pairs of thin wool liner socks for hiking

4 pairs of regular wool socks for hiking

2 pairs of underwear- sounds gross I know

2 sports bras

1 pair of thin, spandex leggings, 1 pair of thick knit leggings. I used these for sleeping and didn’t really need the thick pair at all

1 pair of quickdry, convertible zip pants. Used these as pants and shorts during the trip

2 longsleeve shirts- I did use both of these

1 sweater- didn’t need this

1 fleece jacket- I used this at night and in the early mornings

1 rain jacket shell- Used this the entire last day when it rained the whole time

1 winter hat- used this at night and mornings

1 pair of winter gloves- never used these

2 short sleeve shirts

Nights are definitely cold and so are the mornings. I started off with my long spandex on under my quick dry pants for the mornings when we began our hikes. But always within about 15 minutes of hiking I would warm up enough that I didn’t want them anymore and usually just wanted to zip the pants into shorts instead. So I would recommend using the spandex for sleeping in at night and maybe wearing at night around the campsite but other than that it’s not actually needed for hiking. It’s really hard to change out of it in the filthy bathrooms along the way when you’re trying to avoid anything touching the floor at all costs.

• SHOES – Finally, hiking boots. It is so so important to have comfortable shoes for this hike- getting blisters is just not something you want to deal with. I completed this hike in 5 year old hiking boots from Walmart and my feet were in PAIN each day. I’ve since bought nice Merrell boots and it’s made a world of difference.

I read reviews that you should bring along a pair of shoes to change into in the evenings to wear around camp, but we decided not to do that. It meant just more weight and a whole other item to try to fit. The amount of time we actually spent up and about at the campsites was very little. We basically went to sleep right away so we never needed them. If you are planning to shower in Aguas Calientes you may want a pair to wear in the showers there.

• CAMERA – Lastly, we brought our phones with us (though do not expect to have any signal or WIFI during the trek) to take photos, our DSLR camera and GoPro. We had back up batteries for the GoPro since there’s no opportunities to charge it along the way and we had large sized memory cards to use for them since we wanted to have the chance for lots of photos!
• MONEY – Oh yeah, bring cash! You’ll be expected to tip the porters and your guide so you’ll need some cash for that. Bring extra if you’re not planning to hire a porter, just in case you change your mind along the way. Also, you will need a few soles for a locker to store your pack at Machu Picchu and some cash or credit card to buy a bus ticket down to Aguas Calientes ($12) if that is not included in your trek package.

That was all! It doesn’t sound like much but it all adds up very quickly and our packs were busting at the seams. It was nice to have our phones once we made it down to Aguas Calientes as the restaurant we were in had free Wifi for us to use. We were very smelly by the time the trek ended so if you have space and weight available, consider bringing a fresh outfit to wear for the four hour trip it takes to get back to Cuzco. Some of the restaurants also have hot showers available (even for free) so again if you have space you can toss in some travel size soap and shampoo and enjoy that at the end as well.

I learned from this hike that I do not do well trying to hike and carry weight in my pack at the same time. I would caution anyone who does not have a lot of experience with this to load up your pack with all the items you’ll actually be carrying and practice hiking for long periods of time with it on. I threw in some items that I thought would equal out to the weight I’d be carrying and we went on some walks with that. But when you factor in the high altitudes which provides a lot of shortness of breath, and hiking uphill it was a lot tougher than I had anticipated. The fact that things also took up so much space and made my pack huge was tricky as well. I’m so glad we hired a porter in the end, but if you’re looking to save a few bucks make sure to do some practice runs with your pack ahead of time to 1) make sure everything fits in it and 2) see if you’ll be happy carrying it for four days straight.

Days 1 and 2 on the Inca Trail were down and that meant days 3 and 4 were supposed to be easier. We still decided to hire a porter for day 3 and again I’m very glad we did so. Even though the second half of the trail didn’t involve another 5 hours hiking uphill, it was still tough! At the end of the second day we learned that some of the close campsites to the Sun Gate had been washed out in the rainy season so it looked like we were going to have to camp farther away than normal. This meant we slept in a bit on the third morning since we had less to hike.

But day 3 was still rough! Not as steep, but lots of ups and downs. However, this was one of the prettiest days as the scenery changed to begin looking much more green and lush and jungle like. There were a few especially pretty look outs along the way and we took so many photos on this day. Even got a close shot of a hummingbird! Again, passed more ruins throughout the day and we learned that corrals for llamas were built every 20 kilometers along the trail. This was because that’s as far as the llamas could go in one day.

Our last campsite was near a big set of ruins, but I was so exhausted by the end of this day I actually started to fall asleep while sitting at the ruins listening to the history of it. This was where we hit the steepest and scariest stairs yet of the whole hike. And that’s also when I learned we would be hiking down the treacherous stairs at 3am the next morning.

Usually if you camp at the regular campsite near the SunGate it’s about 1 1/2 hours hike to get to the Sun Gate and Machu Picchu. However, since we were so far away we had much longer to go and woke up to start our hike at 3:00am. We were going extra slow since it was both pitch black out AND raining. Thank goodness we had our poles and head lamps, I was really nervous trying to go down the stairs in those conditions. Our guide, Edwar, was so kind, he saw how scared I was and how slow I was going and switched his backpack with mine. So he took all the tons of weight I had and I carried his little tiny daypack instead. I was so grateful for this and I’m sure the rest of the group was as well since I would’ve been much slower without that :-).

Funny enough, I found the last day to be the hardest day out of the whole trek. It took us about 6 hours to reach Machu Picchu and my hands were cold, we were soaked, and I was exhausted from going through the dark and getting up so early. I think part of it was a mental thing since I was expecting it to be an easy hike on the last day and kept thinking we were practically there already! But again, the last day also involved a lot of ups and downs and almost entirely over rocks and cobblestone which resulted in some very sore feet.

One part in the trail is so steep in fact that you have to put  your poles away and use your hands and feet to climb up the insane stairs. This is known as the “gringo killer”, not surprisingly. Thankfully it’s not too long, but it was the one part where I started to cry since my fingers were numb and I was exhausted and sick and tired of hiking in the rain. By that point I was pretty much ready to be done and never hike again! (Though thankfully that didn’t last too long :-))

Then soon after that we reached the Sun Gate which was the sign we were almost there! Sadly our last day was the one day it rained so the clouds made it nearly impossible to see Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate. We also met a lot of tourists there who had hiked up from Machu Picchu and were a little confused to see us coming from the other direction.

I will say Machu Picchu is one of the most incredible sites I have seen. Whether or not you decide to do the Inca Trail, I would absolutely highly recommend visiting Machu Picchu! It was just absolutely huge and there was so much to see. Our guide took us on a tour around Machu Picchu after we paid a few soles to leave our bags at the locker area. You could easily spend a few hours touring around Machu Picchu, but with the rain/cold/exhaustion we only spent about an hour. Be prepared to be met with a lot of crowds wherever you go and know that getting down to Aguas Calients (the main town) is another hour hike down from Machu Picchu. Or, like us, you can pay $12 for a bus to take you down in about 10 minutes. From Aguas Calientes you catch the train back in the direction of Cuzco. At the main train stop you’ll grab a collectivo (mini van buses) to take you the rest of the way to Cuzco. All in all it’s about 4 hours minimum from Aguas Calientes to get back to Cuzco.

Back to Machu Picchu: they say a picture is worth 1,000 words so I’ll leave a few here to speak for themselves.

Hiking the Inca Trail was both fun and miserable, all at the same time. We did a lot of prep work for it as we had to plan so far ahead to make reservations- read all about that process here. The whole hike is 4 days in length and ends the final day at Machu Picchu. The way the majority of visitors travel to Machu Pichu is via train but we wanted to hike the way of the ancient Incas!

Because of unforseen flight delays we had only one day in Cuzco to acclimate to the altitude- regularly 2-3 days are recommended. In fact, some trekking companies won’t even let you on the hike unless you can show proof from your hotel that you’ve been in Cuzco at least 2 nights.

The first morning starts very early, for us it was around 5:00am. We drove for about 1 1/2-2 hours to KM 88 which is the check point for the start of the trail. Eat breakfast ahead of time and buy water in Cuzco as well- you are not provided water on the first day of the hike and while you can buy it along the trail that day, Cuzco is much cheaper. The trekking company offered sleeping bags and sleeping pads for rent, but we brought our own. So we took a bit of time unloading things and gearing up and then after our passports and ticket for the trail was checked we were off.

The first day was a definitely a bit of a challenge, but by far the easiest day of all. We probably started hiking around 9:00am or so since we had also stopped at a restaurant for breakfast along the way. We hiked for around 5-6 hours which included some gentle slopes up and down and some flat space as well. This was nice as it was mostly dirt- not a lot of hiking over rocks yet. The downside is that the first day you’re passing through a lot of small villages for the whole first day. This means it’s not as much nature, it’s more manure from donkeys along the way, very poor people and houses and some small huts to buy snacks and drinks from. Our first night we camped right near one of the villages and heard barking dogs all night (thankfully I had earplugs with me and had no trouble sleeping with those in). Because there are so many groups starting each day there are many campsites spread within a quarter mile or so- you won’t be too close to the other campsites.

Typically groups can have around 10 hikers at a time, sometimes even up to 15. Ours only had 4 for whatever reason. Our guide told us that when he leads the large groups usually there is one person every time who can’t make it the whole way and turns back. We passed a handful of people on this day who were doing just that. The second day is the most physically challenging so if you finish that, you’re already half way there and no sense it turning around then.

Around 1:00pm we stopped for lunch on the first day which the porters had already prepared for us. After lunch it was around 1 1/2 – 2 more hours until we reached camp. It sounds like that leaves a lot of free time in the afternoon since we arrived around 4:00ish- but honestly each day we were so exhausted by the time we reached camp that once we unpacked our sleeping bags and pads and set them up we pretty much fell asleep until dinner time.

Don’t get your hopes up too high for bathrooms along the way on the trail. They pretty much consist of outhouses. Again, our guide, Edwar, told us that they’re trying to renovate these as it’s really hard on hikers to trek all day and then have to squat to use the bathroom. Plus it’s nasty! Don’t forget to pack toilet paper as that’s not available along the way.

Day 2 started bright and early around 6:00 or 6:30am with the porters delivering hot coca tea to our door. This tea helps with altitude sickness, which we thankfully didn’t experience, so we made sure to drink it each morning. We had a delicious breakfast consisting of a pancake with fruit and we were off. After being tired enough from carrying a pack on the “easy day” we decided to hire a porter for the next two days. Each porter will carry up to 12 kilos so Pablo and I each unloaded about 6 from our packs so that we would only have to pay for one porter. This was plenty as we were left with just a few things in our packs that weren’t very heavy at all. Usually porters cost $100 to carry your bag for the whole trek, we paid 200 soles for 2 days for ours so pretty close to the regular charge cost.

Day 2 is known as the hardest physically because it involves 5 hours of going uphill on stairs the whole way. And boy was it hard. Wear layers as the mornings are cold but you’ll be warming up in no time from the excursion it takes to go up step after step. I tried putting my long spandex on under my quick dry pants and quickly regretted that idea. Same with a winter hat. Within 5 minutes I was sweating too much to want either of them. So stick to just a buff to keep your ears warm and just quick dry pants- though they’re thin and you’ll feel a little chilly at first, trust me you heat up fast. I wore a t-shirt, long sleeve shirt and fleece every morning to start and would lose the top layers throughout the day as we went (usually the fleece didn’t last long at all).

Dead Woman’s Pass is the highest point of the trail and this is what takes 5 hours to hike up. The views were great!! After that it was about 3 hours hiking down hill down stairs on the other side of the pass to our campsite waiting below. We arrived early at it again and had both lunch and dinner there. This time I really fell asleep so fast once we got there because I was exhausted from all the strain on my legs from the day. While going uphill is challenging and exhausting, going downhill can be more painful. I was so grateful to have our hiking poles going down as they really help to take some of the shock off the joints and feet on the steep downhill steps. We had such great views from our campsite on this night, and were very close to all the other hikers groups as well! But no noise to really worry about because everyone is in bed early, up early and very, very tired.

The Inca Trail was the main thing that drew us to Peru in the first place and caused us to plan our trip. But I will say when I was doing research on the trail I was completely overwhelmed by what I found. I’m hopeful that by sharing the information I’ve found it will help to cut down on others’ time as well.

1. Which trekking company do I go with?

   This is perhaps the most overwhelming part of all as there are so many companies to choose from! You will find all sorts of price points from the different groups and different dates of departure and inclusions as well. We went with Eco Path Trek and couldn’t have been more pleased with our decision. They were one of the cheapest quotes I found which made me a little wary, but this was mostly due to the fact that they’re a new company. This also made me slightly nervous as I could only find a total of two reviews for them online, but what I read looked good so we went with it and paid $385 per person. Some things to know about what was included and not included in this price:

• Bus from Machu Picchu down to Aguas Calientes NOT INCLUDED: $12 a person. You can also walk down but it will take about an hour. It was cold and raining the day we were there and we were tired from already hiking a ton that day.
• Train ticket and bus transportation back to Cuzco INCLUDED: The pricing on these tickets can vary greatly.
• Porters to carry our packs NOT INCLUDED: I would absolutely highly, highly recommend paying for this if it’s not included in your trek. We tried to tough it out and do it ourselves and gave up after day 1. Hiring porters was the best decision we made (and literally EVERYONE on the trail does it).
• Guide, porters to carry cooking/tent equipment and transportation to the start of the trail INCLUDED. Tents were two people per tent and very spacious, we didn’t feel squished at all.
• Meals along the way MOSTLY INCLUDED. Breakfast the first day was not and on the last day lunch/dinner was not. We did make a stop on the first day at a small breakfast place where we ordered food and on the last day we ate at a restaurant in Aguas Calientes.
• Entrance ticket to Machu Picchu INCLUDED.
• Tips for guide and porters NOT INCLUDED. Be prepared to pay around 70 soles for a tip to each porter- however this is divided among all the hikers in the group. The more people, the more porters needed, but the more people to divide the cost between.

Our guide, Edwar, was fantastic!!!! He spoke excellent English and of course Spanish and was very knowledgeable about everything we saw along the way. The food was also extremely impressive- who knew they would be cooking us multiple course plates for each meal! I barely manage spaghetti when we go camping so not sure quite how they did it. One night they even produced a freshly baked cake! Edwar did say he sees some other companies do less of the carbs and more just focus on serving salads for the meals. This caters more to the European crowd, but the last thing I wanted to be eating after hiking for hours each day was a salad. This would be a good question to ask whatever company you book with.

2. Is it really that hard?

Short answer- YES. While I wouldn’t consider myself to be an expert hiker, we do like to go on several good hikes each year and the Inca Trail was by far the hardest I’ve ever done. It’s also the longest one I’ve ever done so keep that in mind. Up until this point climbing Mt. Kinabalu in Malaysia was the winner but that was only two days.

What makes it so hard? First of all, the altitude. It’s so difficult to breathe up there! I absolutely would recommend everyone to get altitude sickness medicine when attempting it just to be on the safe side. We got diamox from our doctor before leaving and in Cuzco bought some at a local pharmacy as well (make sure you buy the actual stuff to help you with the altitude- there’s other meds you can buy that are pretty much just a lot of caffeine which also helps, but is not what  you really want). Note, your face, hands and feet will probably feel very tingly when hiking- this can be a side effect of the meds or just from being at a high altitude in general; it’s weird at first but after a while you won’t even notice it anymore. Second, there are hardly any flat sections of the trail. It’s almost uphill or downhill and mostly also over rocks. My feet were sore by the end just from constantly stepping on uneven ground and not having a soft smooth surface. I can’t stress enough how much hiring a porter helped and using trekking poles. I think I would have been crying on the trail without those two pieces.

3. How do I train for this hike?

From what I had read the best advice is to start at least 3 months in advance and work up to using the stair master for 2 hours a day. Yes, you read that right, 2 HOURS EACH DAY. We never made it to quite that level of dedication, but we would regularly go to the gym at least 3-4 times a week and do the stair master for 1- 1 1/2 hours each time. It’s really hard, but I think really helpful as well.

We also spent some time getting used to the weight in our packs by carrying them with us on walks. If you can find hills to walk up and down with your pack on, even better. My advice here would be to actually fill your pack with the exact items you will be taking as the date of departure approaches. I tried to fill it with weight I thought would be equivalent, but then had a surprise in store for me when I put the actual stuff in there. It was slightly heavier, but more than that it took up so much room! My pack was jammed full!

4. When is the best time to go?

I believe April-October are the main months for doing the hike. You may be able to do it in November or March, but during the months of December, January, February it’s rainy season and you can’t access the trail. August is the peak month go, which is when we went right at the beginning of the month. Do keep in mind they’re below the equator so August was actually wintertime in Cuzco.

5. How far ahead should I plan this?

We made our reservations 11 months in advance. This is probably a bit on the safe side, but it’s definitely strongly recommended to reserve at least 6 months in advance, especially for the busy season. Our guide told us he thinks a year in advance is the best option so that trekking companies can put in reservations early to get the best campsites along the way. Keep in mind that if you have exact dates you need to do the hike you really want to make a reservation as soon as you can. If you have some flexibility, you probably have a bit more time.

6. Can I just hike this on my own?

No, no one is allowed on the trail without a guide and all the proper paperwork. Don’t forget to bring your passport!

7. Why is it so expensive?

This was my first thought too, but when I looked at all the costs that are actually included it doesn’t start to look so bad in the end. Here’s some estimations to help you understand (and rationalize) the spending better.

For example, it’s 299 soles (US$105) for the entrance ticket for the Inca Trail, 126 soles (US$44) for your Machu Picchu pass and around 45 soles (US$16) for a guided tour of Machu Picchu. On top of this is your US$48 train ticket and bus transport to and from the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu.

If you add all these costs up, you’ve got US$213 vital elements included in your ticket, meaning you’re paying around US$45.50 per day for your food, porters, camping equipment and guide.

8. Any tips for the trail?

I know I sound like a broken record, but HIRE PORTERS AND BRING HIKING POLES. This will make your hike so much more enjoyable. Other than that, pack bug spray because the mosquitoes were annoying (sprays are hard to work at the high altitude so if you have a cream or lotion even better). Sunscreen is important, sunglasses, a buff was great and a water bladder. Other than that, enjoy each day along the way as it’s all fun, not just when you reach Machu Picchu!