The Classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

Permits are capped at 500 people per day (only about 200 of them trekkers), sell out months ahead for May–August, and are date-fixed, non-transferable and tied to your passport number — no name changes, no refunds. Sales for the following year have historically opened in autumn, so serious planners book the week they’re released. Independent trekking is prohibited — book through a licensed operator, and bring the exact passport your permit was issued against; it’s checked at the trailhead.

The famous peaks above the ruins — Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain — are separate, limited add-on tickets that sell out on their own timetable. If you want one, have your trek operator book it at the same time as your permit, not after. Huayna Picchu has also closed for part of the year in recent seasons, so check the calendar before setting your heart on it.

The dry season gives the most reliable trail conditions. The trail closes completely every February for maintenance — plan around it rather than discovering it at booking time.

Dead Woman’s Pass on day 2 is 4,215 m, and altitude — not distance — is the real challenge. Arrive in Cusco (3,400 m) at least two days early and take it easy before the trek starts.

Your operator drives you to the trailhead at Km 82 (Piscacucho) near Ollantaytambo; the return is by train from Aguas Calientes below Machu Picchu. Confirm which station your train leaves from and book the return leg with the trek.

You only carry your daypack — but porter loads are capped by Peru’s porter-welfare law and weighed by rangers at checkpoints, so most operators limit your personal duffel to roughly 7 kg including sleeping bag and mat. Pack layers for freezing camps and sun protection for the passes, and as little else as possible.

The final morning delivers you to Machu Picchu on foot through Inti Punku, the Sun Gate, at dawn — the way the Inca road was meant to arrive. It’s why day 4 starts brutally early; don’t fight the wake-up call.

Machu Picchu is now visited on timed one-way circuits, and Inca Trail trekkers arrive onto an assigned route — you can’t wander the whole site at will. If you want both the temples up close and the classic postcard terrace, the clean solution is a second visit the next morning from Aguas Calientes on its own ticket. The circuit rules have been reshuffled several times — have your operator walk you through the current version.

On the last evening in camp the crew — porters, cook, guide — gathers for a farewell where tipping is a genuine tradition, not an ambush. It’s a real line in your budget, and there are no ATMs after Ollantaytambo, so bring enough cash in soles from Cusco and organise the group’s contribution early. Your operator can tell you the customary range.

Operators boil water at camps, but carry purification for refills between them, plus high-energy snacks — the long climb to Dead Woman’s Pass is not the place to run empty.