Inca Trail to Machu Picchu (4 days) - Peru Treks and Adventure - Inca Trail to Machu Picchu Peru Services and Prices

The appeal of this particular trek is the stunning combination of Inca ruins, magnificent mountains, exotic vegetation and extraordinary ecological variety. The trail goes over high passes with unforgettable views, through cloud forest, and finally into subtropical vegetation.

Over 250 species of orchid have been counted in the Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary, as well as numerous rare birds, animals, reptiles, including several species considered to be in danger of extinction. In order to complete the Inca Trail you need to have a reasonable level of fitness, age shouldn't be a barrier. The most important thing is to be well acclimatized to the altitude. The maximum height above sea level along the way is 4200m so we recommend anyone coming from the coast to spend at least 2 days in Cusco before attempting the trek. This period is ideal for visiting the city of Cusco, the nearby ruins of Sacsayhuaman and the beautiful Sacred Valley of the Incas.

Our standard 4 day group service trek is the most popular of the Inca Trail treks that we offer. With this service you join one of our groups so you will find yourself trekking with a variety of like-minded people from all over the world. This service is perfect for individuals, couples and small groups of friends.

* the above price now includes all credit card & PayPal transfer fees within the cost of the trek

The prices INCLUDES the Inca Trail entrance fee (251 Peruvian Soles, about US$85), bus from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes (US$7), return on tourist train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo Backpacker Cerojo (US$31), Bus from Ollantaytambo to Cusco (US$5) and all local sales taxes (19%).

*** As from March 2010 all of our clients will receive a free "I survived the Inca Trail" T-shirt and Inca Trail certificate (only for clients who successfully complete the trek!!) ***

Discounts: US$30 discount on the above prices to students with a valid International Student Identity Card (ISIC) and to children under the age of 16 years old (scans of your ISIC card or child's passport must be provided at the time of paying the trek deposit in order to qualify for the discount). International Youth Travel Cards (IYTC) or other forms of student identity are not acceptable. South America Explorers Club members receive a discount of US$10 (membership number must be provided). We can also offer a US$10 per person discount for group bookings of 4 persons or more, provided just one person in the group is responsible for making the booking and sending the trek deposit. Unfortunately we do not offer travel agent discounts or commissions.

In 2009 we have managed to obtain trek permits for ALL of our clients and have had a 100% success rate in obtaining the campsite Wiñay Wayna on the 3rd night of the trek (the campsite nearest to Machu Picchu) which allows you to arrive at Machu Picchu for sunrise. Only tour operators that buy their permits early can do this. However the campsite Wiñay Wayna can never be guaranteed and clients have to accept that we may have to use other campsites depending on availability & allocation of trek permits.

Aug - Sep 2010	We are no longer taking any further trek bookings. All Inca Trail trek permits have now sold out for these months so no trekking company can offer you this trek during these months. No waiting list sorry
Oct 2010	20*, 22, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30 Please note that Inca Trail permits in October are dropping much quicker than we expected so we recommend making a trek booking as soon as possible.
Nov 2010	01, 03, 05, 08, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 22, 24, 26, 29
Dec 2010	01, 03, 06, 08, 10, 13, 15, 17, 20, 22 (arriving Machu Picchu Christmas Day), 26, 28 (arriving back in Cusco for New Year's Eve), 29 (arriving Machu Picchu for New Year's Day)
Jan 2011	02, 03, 05, 07, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, 31

* indicates government-issued Inca trail trek permits have already dropped to below 150. Bookings for this date should be marked as URGENT

** indicates government-issued Inca trail trek permits have already dropped to below 100. Bookings for this date should be marked as URGENT

*** indicates government-issued Inca trail trek permits have already dropped to below 50. Bookings for this date should be marked as URGENT

When to make a trek booking: The government has strictly limited the number of people permitted on the Inca Trail during 2010 (permits are issued to about 200 trekkers per day plus 300 porters). We recommend that you make a trek booking as early as possible. In 2009 the trek permits for some dates sold out more than 4 months in advance !! However don't make a booking until you have all the group details (names, passport numbers, ages etc) and you are sure about your trek departure date since these details cannot be changed after we have bought your trek permit.

Important Note: We will buy your Inca Trail trek permit using the names & passport numbers that you send us with your trek booking application. You must bring these same passports with you to Cusco and take them on the Inca Trail. If the name or number in your passport is different from the name and number on the trek permit, the government authorities will not allow you to start the trek and you will not be entitled to a refund. If you plan to renew your passport between making the trek booking and actually starting the trek please visit our web page Frequently Asked Questions relating to passport numbers. If you make a trek booking at the student price you must send us a copy of your ISIC card at the time you pay the trek deposit. If you fail to bring your ISIC card on the trek the government authorities will not allow you to start the trek. You will not be given the opportunity to pay the extra difference in price.

Includes: Private bus to the start of the trail, Inca Trail & Machu Picchu entrance fees (248 Peruvian Soles per person, about US$80), English speaking professional guide (two guides for groups over 8 persons), 4 Person dome igloo tents - 2 persons per tent with plenty of space for your backpacks, Double thickness foam sleeping mattress, Cooking equipment, Experienced cook, Meals (03 breakfasts, 03 hot lunches, 03 hot dinners) - food includes pancakes, omelettes, soups, fresh fruit, avocado, pasta, chicken, fish, meat, rice, all rich in carbohydrates and suitable for trekking, hot drinks including coca leaf tea which is excellent for the altitude. Teatime everyday (tea, coffee, biscuits, popcorn), Porters (to carry the tents, food, and cooking equipment), Dining tent, Kitchen tent, Accommodation for our porters and cooks, First aid kit including emergency oxygen bottle, Bus from Machu Picchu ruins down to the village of Aguas Calientes US$7 (many companies don't include this), tourist train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo (Backpacker Cerojo US$31), Bus from Ollantaytambo to Cusco (value US$5). The price of the trek includes all local sales taxes.

Excludes: Breakfast on the first morning. Some hotels offer an early morning breakfast service. If not, we stop at the town of Ollantaytambo on the way to the start of the trek where you’ll have the opportunity to buy breakfast, Meal (lunch) in restaurant in Aguas Calientes on the final day. Entrance to the thermal springs in Aguas Calientes (optional) US$3, Sleeping bags can be hired in our office for the 4 day trek (every sleeping bag is washed prior to each use), Tips for the guide, cook and porters. The optional night in Aguas Calientes, along with the associated accommodation, meals, entrance fees, bus tickets etc are not included. This can be arranged easily, independently (We can change the date of your train ticket, if you advise us before paying the deposit).

1. Personal porters can be hired to help carry your personal items such as clothes, sleeping bag etc. The services of a third of a porter (maximum 6kg or 13lb per person) can be hired for US$40. If you hire the services of a third of a porter we will provide you with a lockable porter bag to safeguard your equipment (you will need to supply the small padlock). However, even with this service you will still need to take a daypack to carry your essential items such as rain poncho, warm fleece, camera and water bottle. Please note that due to new government regulations the maximum number of porters that we can use in each group has now been capped. This is why we have had to limit the maximum amount of personal equipment that you can give to a porter to carry for you to 6kg or 13lb per person. (The maximum amount that each porter can carry on the Inca Trail has also been limited to 18kg or 40lb per porter). Approximately 30% of our clients hire the services of an extra third porter.
2. An extra night in Aguas Calientes can easily be arranged independently. Hotels costs and costs associated with returning to Machu Picchu the following day are additional to trek costs. For more information see our frequently asked questions. Please note that if you spend an extra night in Aguas Calientes we will purchase your train tickets from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo, for the following day. Obviously we won't be able to send a bus especially to collect you from Ollantaytambo so we will refund you the US$5 so you can catch one of the many buses waiting for the train to take you back to Cusco.
3. We can also provide vegetarian meals or cater for special diets at no extra cost but we need to know when you make the trek reservation.
4. You can hire sleeping bags in our office. All sleeping bags are synthetic (easy to wash). They are washed after every use and are guaranteed to be clean. After we have hired out our standard sleeping bags just 12 times, we donate it to a porter to use. We have now issued sleeping bags free of charge to all of our porters (over a 125 in total) although they are constantly being replaced as they become old and worn out.

Cost: US$15 per person for the 4 day/3 night trek. Weight 2.5 kg and are rated to 12 degrees below freezing (nice and warm even during the coldest of nights experienced on the Inca Trail).

Why choose Peru Treks ?
In the last few years Peru Treks has been working hard to become one of Peru's most responsible tour operators. Since we operate all of our own treks we have complete control over the quality of our service. The fact that you will enjoy our service is of utmost importance to us, however it is also important that everyone involved in the operation of our is well treated and cared for and that the benefits of tourism are shared throughout the Peruvian communities. We now employ over 200 full time porters the majority of whom have worked with us for over 5 years. All of our porters are picked from one of three mountain villages: Amaru (in the mountains behind Pisac), Paucartambo (on the road between Cusco and Manu just before the Andes drop down to the Amazon) and Cuper Alto (a small community beside Lake Piuray near Chinchero). Since the beginning of 2004 all of our porters have been issued with free sleeping bags, rain ponchos, backpacks and suitable shoes. All of our porters sleep in a communal tent which has a waterproof floor and they have access to any first aid equipment if necessary. Since the beginning of 2006 we have provided free life insurance to ALL of our Inca Trail porters. Obviously we hope that the insurance won't be needed but it should provide our porters and families with peace of mind. We don't consider any of these items to be luxuries or anything special, we consider them to be the absolute minimum requirements for treating our porters fairly and like human beings. We cannot promise you that our porters are happy all of the time (they still have to work extremely hard for a living) but we can guarantee that our porters are well treated, fairly paid (in accordance with the Porters Law and requirements set down by the Ministry of Work) and have warm dry accommodation and plenty of nutritious hot meals to eat. Of course many other trekking companies will tell you this, but there are less than a handful of companies that genuinely care for their porters. More detailed information can be found on our Porter Welfare page. Peru Treks is recommended in many guidebooks including South American Handbook (Footprint), Peru Handbook (Footprint), The Inca Trail Cusco & Machu Picchu Guide (Trailblazer) and Peru Guide (Moon handbooks). In October 2006 Peru Treks was awarded the Best Travel Agency in Cusco by the Ministry of Tourism. Peru Treks have also been recommended in several articles in the New York Times and Independent newspapers. The new Lonely Planet Guide to Peru (published March 2007) describes Peru Treks as a "locally owned, ecoconscious company with experienced guides; it also invests in the ethical treatment of porters. Highly recommended". It is the only trekking company to be highly recommended.

Community Projects: Ever since Peru Treks was first established we have been helping to spread some of the benefits brought by tourism to local communities by donating school equipment to village schools and ensuring that it is properly used. A large percentage of the profits made by Peru Treks go towards such community projects. (rather than just talking about helping communities we would prefer to be judged upon our actions. Information and photos of our most recent projects can be seen on our community projects page). In March 2005 we built a new school for 60 children in the remote mountain village of Checaspampa near Ausangate. In November 2006 we completed the construction of a primary school for 30 children in the community of Pinipujio in the district of Ccatcca (on the road between Cusco and Ausangate). In 2007, with help from some of our clients from Canada, we were able to construct a Kindergarten for 30 children together with toilet block and repairs to the primary school in the community of Pampallacta near Chahuaytire in the mountains behind Pisac. In 2008 we have distributed school equipment to over 2000 children living in the foothills of the great Ausangate mountain. This year in April we have donated 5 new computers (Pentium IV, 17" LCD monitors with DVD-writer) to a secondary school in Ocongate, a remote town about 3 hours by road from Cusco. We hope to donate another 5 computers later in the year to a similar school. Starting in May we hope to distribute school equipment to a record 2250 children and continue to donate warm clothing to some of the communities in the more remote districts. For the last 2 years we have "adopted" the secondary school of Tiracanchi and continue to pay for their school promotion. In 2007 the visit was to Cusco & Machu Picchu, in 2008 the promotion went to Cusco & Lake Titicaca. Many of these children had never left their village before, never been on a bus, seen a restaurant or eaten an ice-cream!! In 2009 we also hope to open a weaving-cooperative shop next door to our offices. This shop will allow some of the more distant mountain communities to exhibit and market their textiles with the small company being completely owned and run by the communities and 100% of the profits being distributed amongst them.

IMPORTANT: Possible changes to Inca Trail trek price 2010: (information updated on the 18 September 2009)

The above Inca Trail prices are based on the following third party costs which are outside of our control:

1: Inca Trail entrance fee is 251 Peruvian Soles, about US$85 (US$30 discount for students with ISIC cards and children <16yrs) and 42 Soles, about US$13 for all of our porters. The price paid for the entrance fee is clearly marked on the trek permit. This price includes entrance to Machu Picchu. The government reserves the right to increase the entrance fee at any time and may only give us one or two weeks notice.

2: Included in the price of the trek is the returning journey on the train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo on the Backpacker Cerojo train which currently costs US$31 per person. (details of service and price can be checked on the Peru Rail website www.perurail.com). Please note that Peru Rail have not announced their prices for 2010. The Peru Rail website states that they reserve the right to change the price at anytime. There is also the possibility that Peru Rail will no longer sell a one-way ticket and will only sell return tickets i.e. Ollantaytambo - Aguas Calientes - Ollantaytambo. If this is the case it is possible that the price of the ticket could double!! However this is unlikely. We will try to do everything in our control to keep the price of the ticket to as low as possible but clients must be prepared for such increases in the price of the train ticket. Peru Rail currently runs a monopoly service so we don't have an alternative (Peru Rail is 50% owned by Orient Express, a British company which is registered in Bermuda and listed in the NY stock exchange). The price paid for the train ticket is clearly marked on the ticket.

3. Included in the price of the trek is the bus ticket from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes which currently costs US$7 per person. It is not anticipated that these costs will increase during 2010, and if they do they are unlikely to increase by more than US$3 per person. The price paid for the bus ticket is clearly marked on the ticket.

4. Local sales taxes known as IGV are included in the price of the Inca Trail trek. The currently rate of IGV is 19%. It is not anticipated that this rate will increase during 2010.

If any of the third party costs listed above change to increase the cost of the trek we will immediately update the trek price listed on our website (apart from the exchange rate which can continue to go up and down throughout the year so the website will not be updated to reflect these cost changes - see Trek Terms & Conditions for more details about change in exchange rate). Clients will be liable for paying any increased cost of the Inca Trail trek upon arrival in Cusco.

Due to the new Inca Trail regulations that limit the number of trekkers on the Inca Trail it should be noted demand for spaces on the trek far outweigh the number of available trek permits. Unlike many trekking companies Peru Treks and Adventure have not taken advantage of this situation and in real terms we have not increased the price of our treks during the last 2 years. We feel that the service provided by Peru Treks and Adventure is second to none, and the price that we offer is very competitive and offers great value for money.

Prior to making a reservation with Peru Treks & Adventure it is important to read through our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). This will help answer any queries that you may have about our services or about the Inca Trail in general. In order to make a booking with our 4 day Inca Trail group service just click on the Reservations link below. The reservations page contains information about how to make a booking, as well as details of how to pay your trek deposit (US$175 per person) and final balance when you arrive in Cusco.