Private Inca Trail, 4 Days
The classic route with a guide, a chef and a crew who work for you alone
- 4 days
- 4,215 m max
- Challenging
- Cusco to Cusco
Forty-two kilometres of the original Inca road over four days, with your own guide, your own chef and your own porters. You set the pace, you linger where you want, and the Sun Gate on the last morning belongs to your group alone.
The four-day Inca Trail is a superb walk that is often spoiled by something nobody warns you about — walking it on somebody else’s clock. Group departures leave at a set hour, regroup at set points and move a mixed party of twelve over a 4,215 m pass at whatever pace the middle of that party can sustain.
This is the same forty-two kilometres with that constraint removed. Your guide, your chef, your porters, your morning. It is most obviously worth it on day two, when a group of two or four can take Dead Woman’s Pass slowly and stop as often as it likes without holding anyone up.
The permits are the same, the sites are the same and February is closed for everyone. What changes is whose trip it is.
What you'll see
Your pace, not a timetable's
The single reason people pay for this. Stop at Sayacmarca for as long as it holds you, start an hour later because yesterday was hard, or push on early to beat a group to the pass.
A crew of your own
Private guide, private chef, private porters. No waiting for strangers at regrouping points and no set mealtimes you did not agree to.
Dead Woman's Pass on day two
4,215 m, sixteen kilometres and around ten hours. It is the hardest day of the trek whoever you walk it with — but on a private departure you climb it at the speed your legs actually have.
Both circuits at the citadel
You arrive through the Sun Gate on Circuit 1 for the panoramic sweep, then exit and re-enter on Circuit 3 for the Temple of the Sun, the royal palace and the fountains.
Food cooked for your table
A chef travels with you and cooks for your group only. People are sceptical about this until the second lunch.
Single tents on request
Spacious tents for two as standard, with a single tent available if you would rather not share.
Private Inca Trail, 4 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 Ayapata, past the first Inca sites
Fourteen kilometres and about six hours. A deliberately gentle opening — streams, small villages and your first ruins — finishing at Ayapata at 3,300 m with the tent already up and dinner cooking.
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner
- Night
- Camping at Ayapata, 3,300 m
Day 2
Over Dead Woman's Pass to Chaquicocha
Sixteen kilometres and around ten hours, the hardest day of the trek. Coffee at the tent door, the long climb to Warmiwañusca at 4,215 m, then Runkuraqay Pass and down to camp at 3,600 m.
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner
- Night
- Camping at Chaquicocha, 3,600 m
Day 3
Cloud forest, Phuyupatamarca and Wiñay Wayna
Ten kilometres and six hours, with both passes behind you. The most scenic day — Phuyupatamarca, Intipata and Wiñay Wayna, with real time at each because nobody else sets the schedule.
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner
- Night
- Camping near Wiñay Wayna, 2,600 m
Day 4
The Sun Gate, the citadel, and the train home
Six kilometres and two to three hours to Inti Punku for your first full view of Machu Picchu, then a private guided tour of the citadel and the panoramic train back. You are at your hotel around 19:30.
- Meals
- Breakfast
- Night
- Not included — you are back in Cusco
What the price covers
Before you set off
- Safety briefing at your hotel the day before
- Collection from and return to your hotel door in Cusco
- Free storage of your main luggage while you are on the trail
Permits, guiding and safety
- Your Inca Trail permit and Machu Picchu entrance, issued in your name
- A private certified guide, English and Spanish, for your group alone
- A second guide for parties of nine or more
- Satellite phone, first-aid kit and oxygen carried throughout
Camp and crew
- All camping equipment, carried and pitched by your porter team
- A personal porter carrying up to 7 kg of your own gear
- Spacious tents for every two trekkers, with a single tent on request
- Dining tent with tables and chairs, and private portable loos
- Pillow, rain poncho and hand towels
- Every meal on the trail cooked by your private chef, except lunch on day four
- Drinking water and daily snacks
Getting home
- Bus down from the citadel to Aguas Calientes
- Return on the panoramic Vistadome or 360° train
- Private transfer from Ollantaytambo to your hotel in Cusco
Not included
- A sleeping bag, an inflatable sleeping mat and trekking poles, all of which you can hire
- Lunch on day four, after the citadel
- Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain, which need their own permit
- Travel insurance, which for this trek you really should have
- Tips for the guide, the chef and the porters
Private Inca Trail, 4 Days: prices and options
Add-ons
- +£15
Sleeping bag hire
Rated to -10 °C, for the whole trek. Worth it rather than flying one out.
- +£15
Trekking poles
A pair for the whole trek, with the rubber tips the rules require.
- +£60
Huayna Picchu
The peak behind the citadel, after the guided tour. About two hours there and back.
- +£60
Machu Picchu Mountain
Three hours there and back, on a broader path than Huayna Picchu.
What to bring
Papers and money
- The original passport your permit was issued against
- Cash in soles in small notes, for tips and anything bought on the way
- Your medication and any personal first aid
- A head torch
On your back
- A daypack of 20 to 30 litres
- A refillable water bottle
- A camera and a power bank
- A quick-dry towel
Clothes
- Walking boots, broken in well before you fly
- Thermal base layers, trekking trousers and hiking socks
- A fleece and an insulated jacket for the camps
- A waterproof jacket, a warm hat and gloves
- Camp sandals and a sun hat
Sun and cold
- High-factor sun cream
- Sunglasses with UV protection
- Lip balm
- Insect repellent for the cloud forest
Questions we get asked
Is a private departure actually worth the difference?
It depends entirely on how you like to walk. On a group departure you move to regrouping points and eat when the group eats, which most people find perfectly fine. A private departure buys you three things — you set the start time each morning, you decide how long to spend at each ruin, and the guide answers your questions rather than a group's. For families with children, for anyone worried about being the slowest, and for a trip that is marking something, it earns its price.
How does this compare with your standard four-day trek?
Same road, same passes, same sites, same permits. The difference is who else is walking with you and who the crew is working for. If budget is the deciding factor, take the group departure — the route is identical.
How fit do I need to be?
Fit enough for four consecutive days of walking, with a sixteen-kilometre day that climbs to 4,215 m and takes around ten hours. Being private does not make the mountain shorter. It does mean you can take that day as slowly as you need to, which in practice is what gets people over it.
When do I have to book?
Earlier than feels reasonable. The government issues a fixed number of Inca Trail permits per day, they are named and non-transferable, and between May and September they sell out four to six months ahead. Private departures need the same permits as everyone else.
Is the trail ever closed?
Every February, for maintenance, across the whole Inca Trail network. Machu Picchu itself stays open that month, so a February trip is still possible, just not on foot by this route.
Which circuits do we get inside the citadel?
Both. You come through the Sun Gate onto Circuit 1, which is the panoramic upper route, then leave through the main checkpoint and re-enter on Circuit 3 for the lower sector — the Temple of the Sun, the royal palace and the water fountains. Between them you see the two halves most people have to choose between.
How much do I carry?
A daypack. A personal porter carries up to 7 kg of your things, and everything else — tents, kitchen, dining tent, loo — is the crew's. Your main luggage stays in Cusco, stored free.
Do I need travel insurance?
Not to walk the trail legally, but we would not leave the UK without it for this trip. Check that your policy covers trekking above 4,000 m, since plenty of standard British policies stop at 3,000 m, and that it includes medical evacuation.
Ask us about Private Inca Trail, 4 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.