Hiking and biking to Machu Picchu
Bite-sized trip
Day 1 – Cusco to Santa Maria (55 kilometers)
From a pre-arranged meeting point, you will depart today towards the Sacred Valley. After breakfast there, it is another three-hour drive before you arrive at the Malaga pass which is situated at an altitude of 4300 metres. After a short briefing and with the right protection (a sturdy helmet, gloves and knee protection) you will get on your mountain bike. In about three hours you will descend about 2000 metres and pass villages, fruit plantations and rivers. From the town of Huamanmarca it is another 30-minute drive to today’s end point, Santa Maria. Where the fresh Andes wind still blows through your hair in the morning, you will end up here in the humid heat of the jungle. In the afternoon (for about USD 35 pp), enthusiasts can take a two-hour rafting trip on the Urumbamba river. You will spend the night in a simple but good hotel with private facilities, run by a local family.
Day 2 – Santa Maria to Santa Teresa (23 kilometres)
After breakfast you start today’s walk you will see coffee, cocoa and coca plantations, orchards, many types of flowers and plants such as orchids, but also birds. Your guide will show you them and tell you about them. You will visit a local family to refill your water bottle and can also taste some fruit here. You continue the walk on an original Inca path towards Machu Picchu. Your guide will tell you more about the history of the Incas here. After a beautiful viewpoint on a canyon, you walk to the village of Quellomayo, where you stop for lunch and can relax in one of the hammocks. It is then about a two-hour walk to the hot springs of Cocalmayo. Relax your muscles in the water of natural springs, before you continue walking to Santa Teresa, today’s end point. You will spend the night here again in a simple family hotel.
Day 3 – Santa Teresa to Aguas Calientes (16 kilometres)
After the cycling and rafting get ready for the next adrenaline rush as you can go ziplining this morning! Zoom between two mountain walls and enjoy (if you dare to keep your eyes open of course) the view. For about 35 USD pp you can arrange this on site. If you skip the ziplining, you will walk through a valley in three hours to Hydroelectrica, the end of the railway line that takes passengers from Cusco to Aguas Calientes. Here the group will meet again and stop for lunch. The last three hours you will walk along the rails towards Aguas Calientes. You will walk in a tropical environment and will encounter a river on the way. The immense mountain walls around you are from the Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu mountains. With a bit of luck you can see an astronomical sundial in the distance that was used by the Incas and a citadel of Machu Picchu.
In the evening there is a luxurious dinner and you have time to explore the village. Then early to bed, because tomorrow morning you leave for the highlight of your trip, the world wonder Machu Picchu.
Day 4 – Visit to Machu Picchu
Early in the morning you can set off to climb the 1500 steps towards the entrance of Machu Picchu. This takes about an hour. If you prefer to take it easy, you can buy a ticket in the village for the bus that takes you to the entrance gates in 25 minutes. We try to arrange an early entrance ticket so that you can see the sun slowly rise behind the mountain tops, causing the mist to lift and the city to appear. Your guide will tell you all about the history and the various buildings and their mysterious history. It was not until 1911 that the scientist Hiram Bingham accidentally came across the fortress, he was actually looking for another city. No matter how many pictures you have already seen of Machu Picchu, it remains special to walk between the temples, corridors, terraces and rooms.
It is possible to climb one of the two mountain peaks at Machu Picchu: the Huayna Picchu. The extra time you need is about 2.5 hours. You have to pay an extra entrance fee for this, which we do not arrange for you as standard. If you are interested in this tough climb, please let us know well in advance. The entrance tickets are limited.
Your visit to Machu Picchu will last until the end of the morning. When you are done looking, there are buses ready to take you back to Aguas Calientes. You will have lunch under your own steam and the train leaves in the afternoon and in the evening you will get off in Poroy, the end point of the train. From there you can easily arrange a taxi to Cusco.
