2-Day Short Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

From Cusco to the trailhead.
Leave your Cusco hotel early for the drive to Ollantaytambo and board the PeruRail Expedition train. Keep your passport and daypack with you: your stop is Km 104, where hikers get off before the train continues to Aguas Calientes. After the checkpoint, walk with your guide to Chachabamba and look up the valley you are about to climb.

The climb to Wiñay Wayna.
This is the longest sustained ascent of the trek, roughly four hours of steady climbing. Stone steps alternate with stretches of forest trail. In the openings, look back toward the Urubamba, now far below the path. Keep water and a rain layer handy for the humid climb. At Wiñay Wayna, trace one terrace across the slope before looking up at the rows above it. Your guide shows how the stairways connect the levels and where water channels run through the stonework. A boxed lunch is included.

Through the Sun Gate.
Beyond Wiñay Wayna, the trail winds through cloud forest before a final steep flight of steps to Inti Punku. On a clear afternoon you can pick out Machu Picchu on the ridge below. From the gate, follow the trail down to the viewpoints permitted for that afternoon. Tomorrow's ticketed circuit is when you explore the citadel itself.

Evening in Aguas Calientes.
Take the downhill bus, included in your fare, and check into your three-star hotel. After a shower and dinner, review the next morning's meeting time with your guide. Your Machu Picchu entry time determines when you leave the hotel.

Back to Machu Picchu.
Have breakfast at your hotel and meet your guide for the bus up the switchbacks to the visitor entrance. The round-trip bus is included. Keep your original passport and entrance ticket within reach. The time and circuit printed on your ticket shape the morning's visit.

Inside the citadel with your guide.
Allow roughly two to three hours for the guided walk on Circuit 3. Yesterday the terraces looked like narrow bands across a mountainside. Up close, you can see how much stonework it took to create one level surface. Follow a water channel where the route allows and look at how walls fit against the natural rock. With a maximum of 8 travelers, you can gather around a detail, ask your guide and hear the answer before moving on.

The Vistadome journey home.
After the visit, take the bus down to Aguas Calientes. Lunch is on your own; plan it around the departure time on your train ticket. Board the PeruRail Vistadome for Ollantaytambo. Through the panoramic windows, follow the river back through the valley where your walk began. Your Vistadome seat is included in the US$585 fare. At Ollantaytambo station, meet your driver for the road transfer to Cusco.