The first and most popular alternative is the Short Inca Trail which can be completed in 1 or 2 days.
This is an easier trek and starts further along the Vilcanota River Valley closer to Machu Picchu at a place called kilometer 104. Trek permits are required for this trek so you must book several months in advance.
This option trekking is for people with little time to hike the Inca trail or the ones that don’t wish to walk the traditional 4 day trek, yet are eager to live the one-in-a-lifetime experience of hiking to Machu Picchu.
Along the Inca Trail you will experience the changing landscape and climates as you reach Wiñay Wayna a superb site because of its capricious structure, yet with a very specific function: to take as much advantage of the land as possible. Build on a steep hillside overlooking the Urubamba River, comprises an upper and lower house structures surrounded by agricultural terraces.
After your arrival to the impressive Wiñay Wayna, you will continue along a splendid and colorful trail and right before you lose your breath climbing up a steep flight of stairs on the last bit of the trail, you will have reached Intipunku (Sun Gate) and Machu Picchu will majestically reveal itself right in front of your eyes. Most at the end of this adventure you will do a short downhill to lead you to the citadel to meet your tour guide and to begin your Machu Picchu tour.
Day 1
We will start this unique experience with the pick up at your hotel in Cusco (3399 m). In the course of the route we will pass through the towns of Chinchero (3754 m), Maras (3310 m) and Urubamba (2875 m) to the village of Ollantaytambo (2800 m). The train there is already waiting for us to get on bord! During this trip we will be on a route that knows to impress with its fantastic landscape for 1:45 hours, until we reach kilometer 104 (the start of the trail for us). Arriving to km 104 we will leave the traib and start to walk for around 4 hours up to the Inca site Wiñay Wayna (‘Forever Young’ 2,650 m / 8694.23 ft).
You have joined the path in time to see the most impressive site on the whole Inca Trail!
Then the trekking continues until we reach ‘Inti Punku’ (‘Sun Gate’ 2,720 m / 9923.88 ft) from where you will have the first incredible panoramic view over Machu Picchu (2,400 m / 7,874 ft). We will walk down the last part of the trail towards the ancient city itself. Before reaching Machu Picchu we will take a bus to go down to Aguas Calientes (2000 m), leaving the visit to Machu Picchu for the next day.
Hiking time: 6 – 7 hours .
Day 2
Pick up at your hotel in the early morning to go to take a bus to the citadel of Machu Picchu, where we will have a guided tour for about 2 hours. Finishing the tour you will have time to take pictures around Machu Picchu and to explore this magic side on your own. Then we descend by bus to Aguas Calientes for lunch (not included) and board the train back to Ollantaytambo where our bus will be waiting to take us back to our hotel in Cusco. We hope you enjoyed your time with us!
Guided Tour: 2 hours in Machu Picchu.
Bus ride: 25 min from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu.
Bus ride: 25 min from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes.
Train: 1:45 hours from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo.
Bus ride: 1:40 hours from Ollantaytambo to your hotel in Cusco.
