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 prices INCLUDES the combined Inca Trail trek permit and Machu Picchu entrance fee of 300 Peruvian Soles (S/.254* + S/.46 sales tax) which is about US$115, bus from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes (US$10), return on tourist train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo Expedition Service 84 (US$61), Bus from Ollantaytambo to Cusco (US$5) and all local sales taxes (18%). There are no hidden charges in our trek prices. For full details see below. The price now includes all credit card & PayPal transfer fees within the cost of the trek.

* indicates prices based on 2012 rates: the price of the 2013 Inca Trail permits has yet to be announced.

Other trekking companies 2013 prices: SAS US$620, Llama Path US$599, Qente US$590, United Mice US$580. So you can see that we have made every effort to keep our prices as competitive as possible whilst still providing an excellent service and paying our porters the legal wage agreed with the Porters unions. Our trekking staff are some of the best paid in Cusco which allows us to attract only the best guides, cooks and porters. We feel that the Inca Trail service that we provide is second to none and other trekking companies can only provide a cheaper price by providing an far inferior service and saving on staff costs, porter welfare and taxes.

US$40 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. If claiming a student discount you must bring your ISIC card on the trek and your card must be valid on the date of trek departure. Without a valid ISIC card government authorities will not allow you to start the trek and you will not be entitled to a refund.

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.

The government has strictly limited the number of people permitted on the Inca Trail during 2013 (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 2012 the trek permits for some dates sold out more than 5 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.

Typically we have Inca Trail trek departures every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday plus a few departures on Saturdays. For all available departure dates please see the table below.

May - Aug 2013	We are no longer accepting any further bookings, sorry All government-issued Inca Trail trek permits have now sold out right up until the end of August. This means that NO company will be able to offer you a place on the Inca Trail. Government regulations do not allow cancelled spaces to be filled by new clients so there is no waiting list system available.
Sep 2013	We are no longer accepting any further bookings, sorry
Oct 2013	9^th, 11^th, 14^th, 16^th, 18^th, 21^st, 23^rd, 25^th, 28^th, 30^th Government-issued Inca Trail trek permits are already selling very quickly for departure dates in October, much quicker than in previous years, so try to make a reservation as soon as possible. Dates marked in red indicate that there are less than 150 trek permits available for this date so are likely to sell out very quickly. If you want to book on this date please mark your email as URGENT.
Nov 2013	1^st, 4^th, 6^th, 8^th, 11^th, 13^th, 15^th, 18^th, 20^th, 22^nd, 25^th, 27^th, 29^th
Dec 2013	2^nd, 4^th, 6^th, 9^th, 11^th, 13^th, 16^th, 18^th, 20^th, 21^st, 22^nd, 26^th, 27^th, 28^th, 29^th

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.

*** All of our clients will also receive a free "I survived the Inca Trail" certificate (only for clients who successfully complete the trek!!) **

Includes: Private bus to the start of the trail, Inca Trail & Machu Picchu entrance fees 300 Peruvian Soles (S/.254 + S/.46 sales tax) which is about US$115, 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$10 (many companies don't include this), tourist train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo (Peru Rail Expedition service 84 or similar US$61), 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). Entrance fee to climb Huayna Picchu (optional) - Huayna Picchu is the tall mountain behind Machu Picchu, a fee to climb this narrow and steep trail was recently introduced by the government in July 2011 and entrance tickets should be purchased in advance online. See our frequently asked questions page for further details.

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$50. 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 230 in total) although they are constantly being replaced as they become old and worn out.

Cost: US$20 per person for the 4 day/3 night trek. Weight 2.5 kg and are rated to 10 degrees below freezing (nice and warm even during the coldest of nights experienced on the Inca Trail).

Why choose Peru Treks ?
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. We want to make sure that you have a great experience on the Inca Trail, however it is also important that everyone involved in the operation of our treks is well treated and cared for and that the benefits brought by tourism are shared throughout the Peruvian communities. We now employ 20 professional Peruvian guides (all bilingual) and nearly 250 porters the majority of whom have worked with us for over 7 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), Peru Guide (Moon handbooks), Lonely Planet Peru Guide, South America on a Shoestring & the Rough Guide to South America on a Budget. 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 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 2005 we built a school for 60 children in the remote community of Checaspampa near Ausangate. Since then we have continued to support the school with school equipment, sports shirts, second hand clothing and we even paid for a teacher for nearly 2 years before the local council agreed to provide this resource. In 2006 Peru Treks donated US$5000 to a local non-profit organisation to build a kindergarten for 30 children in the village of Umuto, near Ccatca (between Cusco and Ausangate). In 2007 Peru Treks donated another US$5000 to this non-profit organisation to build another kindergarten in the small community of Pampallacta close to Chahuaytire (between Pisac and Paucartambo). A group of our clients donated an additional US$2500 to this project which was completed on November 2007. Between 2009 & 2011 we have donated 50 new computers to secondary schools and colleges in the Ocongate & San Salvador region. In 2012 we plan to donate another 15 or 20 computers. Every year since 2006 we have paid for a group of 20 to 25 school children from the remote village of Tiracanchi to take a 3 or 4 day educational visit. The tour includes a visit to Cusco and surrounding attractions and usually a few days visiting the Islands of Lake Titicaca which is their destination of preference. Most of the children have never left their village before, never spent a night away from home. All the children receive a photo album of their adventure after the trip. Thanks for all your support.

IMPORTANT: Possible changes to Inca Trail trek price 2013: (information updated on the 28 November 2012)

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 300 Peruvian Soles (S/.254 + S/.46 sales tax) which is about US$115 (US$40 discount for students with ISIC cards and children <16yrs) and 43 Soles, about US$16 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 throughout the year and may only give us one or two weeks notice. The above price is based on 2012 rates, the government probably won't announce the 2013 trek permit price until just a few days before they go on sale !! which is usually in early January.

2: Included in the price of the trek is the one-way journey on the train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo on the Peru Rail Expedition service or similar which currently costs US$61 per person. (details of service and price can be checked on the Peru Rail website www.perurail.com).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). Train ticket prices for 2013 were announced at the end of November 2012.

3. Included in the price of the trek is the bus ticket from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes which costs US$10 per person. It is not anticipated that these costs will increase during 2013, and if they do they are unlikely to increase by more than US$1 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 18%. It is not anticipated that this rate will increase during 2013.

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 2013 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$220 per person) and final balance when you arrive in Cusco. It should be noted that the final balance needs to be paid in Cusco at least 2 days before trek departure.