Machu Picchu & the Classic Inca Trail
April 15-23, 2011

The Classic Inca Trail has become one of the world's most famous trekking routes. It offers spectacular ridgetop views of the surrounding mountains, a challenging ascent of 13,800-foot Warmiwañusca (Dead Woman's Pass), and beautiful evening campsites. The trek ends at the Sunrise Gate overlooking Machu Picchu. See this Classic Inca Trail map for an overview of the trek.

The local staff who carry our equipment, cook our meals, and cater to our every need are amazing and really the heart of the trip. We have a staff to trekker ratio of about 1.5 to 1, with all the staff from the same village, Cachiccata, in the Sacred Valley. The trek involves luxury camping where our tents are set up for us, tea is delivered to our tent door each morning, and we have the use of group cooking, dining, and toilet tents. Our Peruvian guide, Santiago, is outstanding and is usually helped by Ruben or another assistant guide. We pass several isolated Incan ruins en route and eventually make our way to the end of the trail and to Machu Picchu, the amazing Lost City of the Incas. The nine-day trip includes airport-to-airport service including Lima transfers, acclimatization hikes in the Sacred Valley, and a post-trek day in Cusco.

Special Notes
1) Each Peru trip is limited to 15 participants due to group size limitations on the Inca Trail. Minimum group size is five. 2) Not included in the trip price are sleeping bag rental of $75, an internal flight from Lima to Cusco and back, and domestic departure taxes of about $6 per flight. The internal flight is estimated at $280 ($180 if you only need a one-way ticket because of your post-tour plans) and will be billed on your invoice. 3) Inca Trail passes are limited to 500 travelers and local staff each day. Passes always sell out! Please book as early as possible.  4) Because we must provide a deposit to ensure space on the Inca Trail, which is limited in numbers, the $500 deposit for this trip is not refundable or transferrable to another trip, starting seven days after you receive your trip confirmation email and Pre-Departure Packet. Please strongly consider trip insurance!

Accommodations
Our hotels in Peru are three-star or four-star quality; they are always clean and sometimes luxurious. We start our stay in Lima at the Casa Andina hotel, located in a good area of the capital city. In the Sacred Valley town of Ollantaytambo we stay in the Hotel Pakaritampu, a beautiful hotel located right next to Incan ruins. In Aguas Calientes near Machu Picchu, we stay in the pleasant but simple Inti Inn, while our final night in Cusco is at the Picoaga, a four-star, 17th century Spanish mansion.

For More Information

• See our Peru Frequently Asked Questions and Itinerary pages.
• Request a detailed Trip Description by email.