The Inca Trail

Travelers can reach Machu Picchu by an air-conditioned train but the more adventurous route is hiking along the Inca Trail. The route passes by crumbling temple ruins and tiny towns, where women still carry babies wrapped in shawls on their backs while leading a donkey down the road. While trekking, you’ll snake through lush sub-tropical jungles, and keep catching your breath as you climb over mountain passes. The sea of peaks surrounding you is breathtaking. During portions of the trek, hikers actually walk along paths the Incas trod when traveling from Cuzco, the Inca’s imperial capitol, to the sacred city of Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu

The classic trail, the shorter Inca Trail, and the Salkantay trek are the most well-known routes, but a growing number of trekking companies are finding other, less crowded routes. These, too, meander through desolate valleys, past isolated shacks with thatched roofs and men herding scraggly cows, and up and down mountainsides. Most treks end at the narrow flight of hand-hewn stone steps that leads to Intipunko, the Sun Gate entrance to Machu Picchu. Groups usually arrive here at dawn, so they can watch the sun climb above a mountain peak and foot by foot slowly reveal the remains of temples and structures that once housed the Inca elite.

The classic route, most often a 4-day trek, usually begins at kilometer 82, the farthest point reachable by bus, or kilometer 88, reachable by train. The short route, which starts farther along the Vilcanota River Valley, is an easier trek, which can be done in 1 day. Both treks are partly on a trail in the Machu Picchu Historical Sanctuary, a national park. The Salkantay trek, called the alternative route, is the choice for many travelers who want a less touristy experience. This route, often a 7-day trek, is the toughest. Trekkers may spend 6 to 8 hours hiking and will be going over passes that top out around 4,500m (15,000 ft.) above sea level.

Travelers must hike the Inca Trail with an accredited trekking company, but choose the company you trek with carefully. Before booking a trip, confirm that the company has the requisite number of permits to handle hikers, guides, and porters on the dates you will be there. Because the Inca Trail began to resemble pedestrian highway, government authorities now limit the number of trek permits to 500 per day—and that includes visitors, guides, porters, and cooks—for the classic trail, the shorter Inca Trail, and the Salkantay trek.

Although some brochures suggest that any reasonably fit person can handle the trek, hikers should be in good shape and have hiking boots that have been broken in well before the trip. Altitudes during the classic trek range from 2,790m (9,300 ft.) above sea level in the Urubamba Valley to 4,080m (13,600 ft.) above sea level while going over mountain passes. Hikers living at sea level should consider arriving in Cuzco a few days before the trek starts, to start acclimating to the altitude. —LF

Machu Picchu Tourist Information (www.machu-picchu.info). GO2Peru ( 305/728-4717 in the U.S. or 511/627-4331 in Peru; www.go2peru.com). iPerú, Av. Pachacútec, cdra. 1 s/n ( 084/211-104).

Tour: Mountain Travel Sobek ( 888/831-7521; mtsobek.com).

When to Go: Best in Peru’s dry season Apr–Nov. Most popular time to trek is June–Sept.

Cuzco, 111km (69 miles).

Stay in tents during 4-day trip. $$ Gringo Bill’s Hostal, Calle Colla Raymi 104, Aguas Calientes ( 51/1/84/211-406; www.gringobills.com). $$$ Inkaterra Machu Picchu, next to the ruins ( 800/442-5042 in the U.S., 0800/458/7506 in the U.K., or 51/1/610-0400; www.inkaterra.com).