Inca Jungle Trail, 3 Days
The bike, the river and the ziplines, without the walking day
- 3 days
- 4,300 m max
- Moderate
- Cusco to Cusco
Sixty kilometres of downhill riding from Abra Málaga, class III rafting, the Cocalmayo hot springs and a night in a glass dome on day one. Then coffee, five ziplines and the railway walk into Machu Picchu Pueblo, and the citadel on day three.
This is the Inca Jungle with the walking day taken out. It suits people who came for the bike, the river and the ziplines rather than for a trek, and people whose week in Cusco will not stretch to four days.
Day one does most of the work — you drop from 4,300 m to the cloud forest on a bike, raft a stretch of the Urubamba, sit in a thermal pool while it gets dark, and sleep under a glass roof. Day two is coffee, five cables and a flat walk beside the railway. Day three is the citadel.
What it does not contain is the section of original Inca road that the four-day version walks on its second morning. If that is the part that appeals, spend the extra day. If it is not, nothing here is a compromise.
What you'll see
Everything on day one
The bike descent, the rafting and the hot springs all happen before you sleep, and you still end the day in a dome at Lucmabamba. It is a lot, and it works.
Sixty kilometres downhill
From Abra Málaga at 4,300 m towards the cloud forest, three to four hours on tarmac, with a support vehicle behind the group the whole way.
Class III on the Urubamba
Ninety minutes of rafting with a specialist river guide, after lunch in Santa María.
Five cables and a Tibetan bridge
The Lucmabamba circuit — the longest cable is 900 m, and the 300 m rope bridge hangs about 500 m above the Salkantay river.
Nothing carried on day one
The support vehicle takes your things from activity to activity, so you ride, raft and bathe without a bag. You carry your own only on the railway walk.
Three days, not four
The shortest adventure route to the citadel, and the one that fits a week in Cusco without eating it.
Inca Jungle Trail, 3 Days: day by day
Times are what we actually aim for, not a best case. Traffic into Cusco and the train timetable move them by a little.
Day 1
Cusco to Lucmabamba, by bike, raft and hot spring
A long and busy day. You lose more than 3,000 m of altitude, get wet twice, and finish under a glass roof in the cloud forest.
- 05:30We collect you from your hotel or flat in Cusco. Pick-ups run until about 06:00.
- 07:45Breakfast in Ollantaytambo, included.
- 09:30Abra Málaga at 4,300 m. Bike, helmet and protective gear handed out, and the descent explained.
- 10:00The ride to Huamanmarca — three to four hours, about sixty kilometres, entirely downhill on tarmac, with the support vehicle behind you.
- 12:30The Inca site at Huamanmarca with your guide, then thirty minutes on to Santa María.
- 13:00Lunch in Santa María, and time to sit down before the river.
- 15:00Rafting on the Urubamba, about an hour and a half through rapids up to class III, with a specialist river guide.
- 17:00Forty-five minutes by vehicle to the Cocalmayo hot springs near Santa Teresa, and an hour and a half in the thermal pools. The entry fee is about 10 soles, paid there.
- 19:00Forty-five minutes on to the Lucmabamba lodge and your dome.
- 19:30Dinner at the lodge, a short briefing for tomorrow, and the stars through the roof.
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Night
- Glass dome at Lucmabamba
Day 2
Coffee, ziplines, and the railway into Machu Picchu Pueblo
A gentle morning and a three-hour afternoon on foot — eleven kilometres beside the rails, flat the whole way.
- 06:00Breakfast at the Lucmabamba lodge.
- 07:00The coffee tour with a local family, about an hour, ending with a cup of what you have watched them make.
- 08:30The zipline base, ten minutes away. Five cables and a 300 m Tibetan bridge, about an hour and a half.
- 11:00Forty-five minutes by vehicle to Hidroeléctrica, and lunch at a local restaurant.
- 13:30The walk to Machu Picchu Pueblo, eleven kilometres along the railway, about three hours, under the flank of Machu Picchu itself.
- 16:30Into town and your hotel, with time to shower before the evening.
- 19:00Dinner in town, then the briefing for the citadel.
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Night
- Hotel in Machu Picchu Pueblo
Day 3
Machu Picchu, then back to Cusco
A four o'clock start, the citadel with a guide, and a journey home that is either long by road or short by rail.
- 04:00Breakfast at the hotel.
- 04:30On foot to the gate — thirty minutes of flat walking, then an hour of stairs. The 05:30 bus does it in twenty-five minutes for about £12 if you would rather.
- 06:00Through the gate at the hour printed on your ticket, which is usually the first one of the day.
- 06:15Guided tour of the citadel, one to two hours depending on which circuit your ticket carries.
- 08:30Your optional peak, if you booked one, or the start of the journey back.
- 15:00By road — a three-hour walk to Hidroeléctrica and a vehicle at 15:00. By rail — the 14:30 or 14:55 train, then a transfer from Ollantaytambo.
- 19:00Back in central Cusco by train. By road it is closer to ten at night.
- Meals
- Breakfast
- Night
- Not included — you are back in Cusco
What the price covers
Before you set off
- Briefing with your guide and the group at 18:00 the evening before, in central Cusco or over WhatsApp
- Collection from your hotel or flat in Cusco between 05:30 and 06:00
- Private transport from Cusco to the top of the bike descent
- Free storage of your main luggage in Cusco for the whole trip
The activities
- Mountain bike, helmet, gloves and protective gear for the descent from Abra Málaga
- A support vehicle behind the group throughout the ride, which you can get into at any point
- Rafting on the Urubamba with a specialist river guide and all safety equipment
- Time at the Cocalmayo hot springs on the first evening
- The Lucmabamba zipline circuit — five cables and the Tibetan bridge — with its own guides
- The coffee tour with a local family in Lucmabamba
- Your guide for the whole three days, alongside the specialists for each activity
- Your belongings carried between activities on day one
Where you sleep and what you eat
- One night in a glass dome at the Lucmabamba lodge
- One night in a hotel in Machu Picchu Pueblo
- Three breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners
Machu Picchu and getting home
- Machu Picchu entrance ticket, with the circuit and entry time confirmed when you book
- Guided tour of the citadel, whichever circuit and hour you are given
- Your chosen return to Cusco, by road from Hidroeléctrica or by train via Ollantaytambo
Not included
- Lunch on day three, after the citadel
- The bus up to the citadel gate, about £12, unless you add it
- The Cocalmayo hot springs, about 10 soles at the gate
- Sending your bag ahead by train from Hidroeléctrica, 10 to 20 soles, if you would rather not carry it on the railway walk
- Drinking water — budget a litre or two a day and buy it along the route
- Travel insurance, which for the biking and rafting you really should have
- Tips, which are genuinely optional
- Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain, which need their own permit
Inca Jungle Trail, 3 Days: prices and options
Add-ons
- +£70
Return by train instead of the road
The 14:30 train to Ollantaytambo and a transfer. Cusco by seven in the evening rather than ten at night, and necessary if you add a peak.
- +£12
Bus up to the citadel gate
Twenty-five minutes instead of an hour of stairs at half past four in the morning.
- +£45
Vistadome train, one leg
Panoramic glass roof on the return. Only available with the train return.
- +£60
Huayna Picchu
The peak behind the citadel, on day three. Train return required.
- +£60
Machu Picchu Mountain
Higher and longer than Huayna Picchu. Also requires the train return.
What to bring
Papers and money
- Your original passport, checked at the citadel gate
- Your student card, if you are claiming the reduced rate
- Cash in soles for the hot springs, water and tips
- Your medication and any personal first aid
On your back
- A daypack for the railway walk on day two
- A refillable water bottle
- A head torch for the last morning
- A camera and a power bank
Clothes
- Walking shoes or trail shoes with grip
- Long trousers for the bike descent, and a windproof layer for the top of the pass
- Light, quick-drying clothes for the jungle sections
- A waterproof jacket or a poncho
- A swimming costume and a quick-dry towel for Cocalmayo
- Something dry to change into after the rafting
Sun and skin
- High-factor sun cream
- Sunglasses, which the bike descent makes necessary rather than optional
- Insect repellent, and plenty of it
- Lip balm
Questions we get asked
What do I lose against the four-day version?
One whole day, and the walking that goes with it. The four-day spends day two on an original section of Inca road, climbing for two hours to a tambo with the Urubamba and Santa Teresa valleys below, and sleeps in Santa María. This version drives from the rafting to the hot springs and on to Lucmabamba the same evening. Everything else — the bike descent, the river, the coffee, the ziplines, the railway walk and the citadel — is identical.
How dangerous is the bike descent, honestly?
It is sixty kilometres of tarmac, all downhill, on a public road with traffic — that is the fair description, and it is why we say take a travel insurance policy that covers cycling. You get a helmet and protective gear, a briefing before you start, and a support vehicle that stays behind the group so anyone who wants to stop can. Most people ride all of it. Nobody is made to.
How fit do I need to be?
Not very, by trekking standards. The bike is downhill, the raft and the ziplines ask nothing of your legs, and the only real walking is the eleven flat kilometres beside the railway on day two. If you can manage three hours on a level path with a daypack, you can do this trip.
Is day one too much in one go?
It is a fourteen-hour day and there is no point pretending otherwise — a bike descent, a river, a hot spring and three transfers. What makes it work is that almost none of it is on your feet, and it finishes in a dome rather than a tent. People arrive at dinner tired and cheerful.
Which circuit will I get at Machu Picchu?
We ask for Circuit 2, Route 2-A, the classic route with the panoramic viewpoint, and work down from there if it has gone — 2-B, then Circuit 1, then Circuit 3. The Ministry of Culture controls the allocation, and in high season it sells out months ahead. Book about four months out if the classic route matters to you. We confirm your circuit and hour in writing before you fly.
Do I have to walk up to the citadel on the last morning?
Only if you do not add the bus. On foot it is half an hour of flat walking and then an hour of stairs, starting at half past four in the dark. The bus takes twenty-five minutes. Decide when you book rather than at four in the morning.
Which return should I choose?
The train, if it fits the budget. It has you back in Cusco around seven in the evening. The road means a three-hour walk to Hidroeléctrica after the citadel and then six hours in a vehicle, arriving about ten at night. The road option also rules out Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain — there is not enough day.
Can I skip an activity?
Yes, any of them, and the price does not change, because the cost is in having the guides and the equipment there. Tell your guide at the briefing.
Is there a reduced rate for students or children?
Yes. Children aged 8 to 17 and university students pay about £20 less per person. The student rate needs an original university card and you must be 25 or under — send us a photograph of both sides when you book. Children under 8 are not suitable for this trip.
When is the best time to come?
May to September, when the road is dry for the descent and the river runs at a sensible level. April and October are quieter and usually fine. Between December and March the tour still runs, but the tarmac is slick, the river is fast and you will be wet at some point most days.
Ask us about Inca Jungle Trail, 3 Days
Tell us your dates and we'll come back with availability, the circuit we'd recommend, and a firm price. No deposit to ask, and we answer within one working day.