How to Hike the Short Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

When I learned there was an option for a short Inca Trail to Machu Picchu that included both hiking on the trail and a soft bed at the end of the day, I knew I was sold.

My body wasn’t made for the full Inca Trail. It doesn’t camp.

I don’t mean I’m physically incapable of camping. I just really don’t like it.

If you’re short on time on your trip to Peru and similarly short on patience for uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, this is the Machu Picchu hike for you.

I’ll get into how we made it happen, what we saw along the way, and why it’ll meet all expectations.

There’s a shortcut to Machu Picchu!

I’m not talking about taking the train all the way to the Inca citadel and spending the day there. I’m talking about an option for those who want to hike the Inca Trail but don’t want to tackle the whole thing.

The short Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is about eight to nine miles, depending on the outfitter you’ve chosen to guide you along the way.

This is compared to the 26 miles you’d be expected to hike on the classic Inca Trail or the 37 miles on the Salkantay Trek, a popular Inca Trail alternative in South America.

If you want a less well-known option closer to Cusco, I hear the 11.2-mile Huchuy Qosqo trek is a worthwhile challenge.

From there, intrepid travelers can add Rainbow Mountain to their itinerary. For our purposes, the shortest hike to Machu Picchu worked best for us.

Is the short Inca Trail worth it?

The short Inca Trail is ideal for travelers who want the best of both worlds.

It still involves one full day of hiking with a tour guide, but what follows is a night in a real bed. An early morning the following day includes a half-day tour of Machu Picchu itself.

It’s a great combo of hiking along a piece of the classic Inca Trail and seeing the best of the Machu Picchu citadel.

Where does the short Inca Trail start?

The short Inca Trail starts at Km 104, a mile marker on the Urubamba River. The scenic PeruRail train makes a stop here on rides from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes town.

While it’s not rated as a hard hike — most trail apps rate it as moderate — you’re hiking at elevation at a fairly decent clip. I wasn’t a beginning hiker, but I wasn’t feeling my best on the hike, so I had a tougher time than usual.

There are a lot of steps to climb over the course of the day, too. In fact, there are so many steps you may never need to see another step in your life following this hike.

Hiking the Short Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

You cannot do the short Inca Trail without a guide. You can’t do the classic Inca Trail trek without a guide, either.

You wouldn’t want to anyway. A guide is essential not only for keeping pace but keeping you safe and prompting rest stops. They keep the trail safe from litterers and tourists who like going off-trail, pooping in the woods, etc.

The full hike comes with additional personnel, like porters and cooks who make sure that your trekking includes regular meals and camping equipment.  

We booked our Inca hike through Action Peru Treks. Our guide, Lino, was excellent, and other than my own limitations, I wouldn’t have changed a thing about our trip and our one-day Inca trek.

I highly recommend them as your trekking partner for your trip. We had a private guided tour, but they also do larger hiking groups and the full Inca Trail, as well.

Note: While I do often get a little back from companies I recommend on the site, I don’t get a kickback from this one. That’s how good they were!

Interested in shopping around? The tours below are all highly rated. They just weren’t tested out by us:

Now, let’s get into what it’s really like to hike the short Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

Your day starts early.

Pickup for our Machu Picchu trek was at 5:20am. This was actually later than we had initially thought, as our original itinerary said 4am.

We didn’t mind and were notified of the change at our pre-briefing meeting the night before at our Cusco hotel, so no one woke up early for nothing. 

The winding roads in our passenger pickup vehicle left us a little green, but I was used to that sensation. I’d been suffering through it with the altitude in Cusco, so wasn’t feeling my best to start.

We arrived in the Sacred Valley’s Ollantaytambo with about a half-hour to spare until our train, so I made friends with some stray dogs, likely catching fleas. I’ve become quite the dog lady at this point.

That buffer also gave us time for coffee or more coca tea and snacks if we wanted. Our guide had some trouble checking our overnight bag, but we were told later that Peruvians like to wait until the last minute to get things going. It all worked out.

The train ride alone is worth the trip.

You’ll ride the train for about an hour until you reach your special stop, Km 104. Along the way, you’ll see glaciers from your windows, including Veronica. She’s the tallest of all the glaciers in the Andes Mountains and looks like a pyramid reaching into the sky. 

Hope for clear skies to catch a glimpse along the way, although you’ll revisit Veronica on your hike, too, when you’re done climbing all of those steps.

Fun fact: You’ll have assigned seats, but if you’re able to swap or there are enough empty seats, sitting in the direction of travel will make for the best views and an easier time of any motion sickness you’re feeling.

The morning is a steady climb.

You’ll be hiking for about three hours to kick things off, starting at 6,691 feet and ending at 8,920 feet. That’s some decent elevation gain for the uninitiated, so make sure this isn’t the very first hike you ever do.

Your guide will give you opportunities for breathers along the way, especially if they notice something interesting. That may be the orchids that line the path, depending on the season.

I found that moving slower than I usually do helped at the harder bits, as I was still keeping a steady pace. This revelation came thanks to our guide, who could often be heard muttering, “Slow and steady, slow and steady.” 

I now know he was talking to me.

You’re introduced to monkey steps.

Monkey steps are steps that are often handled on all fours, like you’re a little monkey. My guide only mentioned one set, but they returned later on in the day. Be prepared and just do as the monkeys do, although you won’t see any in the jungles here.

You’ll experience things you wouldn’t without the hike.

I wouldn’t know what I missed out on if I just took the train and then the bus straight to Machu Picchu. I likely would’ve had a great time regardless, impressed by Machu Picchu all the same.

Now that I know the treasures that await you on the short Inca Trail, I urge you to do the same if you’re able to hike. 

The archaeological and natural sites along the way don’t just break up the way. They’d be worth the trek alone if the final destination weren’t one of the greatest wonders in the world.

What You’ll See on the Short Inca Trail 

These are all things you’d miss if you didn’t do the hike, just to activate the FOMO within you.

Chachabamba

This archaeological site comes at the start of your full day on the trail. The ruins are what remains of shelters used by the Incas on their way to Machu Picchu. Your guide will point out evidence of religious ceremonies conducted here.

We were told there were never any human sacrifices at the altars still on display in and around Cusco.

Waterfalls

You’ll be rewarded for the steady climb of the morning with a beautiful waterfall. If you’re wearing a hat — you better be! — dip that thing in the water for an instant refresh.

I refused to move from the lovely spot for some time, and no one seemed to mind or rush me.

Wiñay Wayna

This castle in the sky is named after an orchid that translates to “forever young” in Quechua, the local language. 

Fun fact: You’ll certainly feel every single year of your age once you’re done climbing the steps of this place, but I promise that the incredible views across the Sacred Valley from the top are worth it.

All jokes aside, Wiñay Wayna is spectacular. The terraces here are worth marveling at as you imagine the effort it took to grow Incan crops along the mountainside.

You’ll feel really bad about how tired you were climbing those steps just this one time, rather than every time harvest or planting seasons came around.

You’ll likely enjoy your bag lunch once you’re done at the ruins in a covered area at the top. This is also a camping site for folks doing the classic Inca Trail hike. Facilities nearby allow for bathroom breaks.

I’ll mention it again later as part of your packing list for Machu Picchu, but toilet paper is always a handy item to bring along.

Sun Gate

This will be the highlight of your day. Arriving at the Sun Gate, the original entrance to Machu Picchu, left me breathless and a little weepy.

This trip had been 12 years in the making after a failed attempt that soured us on Peru for a while. Once we arrived at the Sun Gate, it was apparent that the wait was worth it.

READ MORE: Don’t make the same mistakes we did. Learn about the best times of year to visit Machu Picchu.

If you skip the hike, you don’t get this vantage point from Intipunku, the Quechua name for this place. From here, you’re looking down on Machu Picchu, Machu Picchu Mountain, and Huayna Picchu Mountain from above.

It’s overwhelming and one of the best payoffs you’ll ever experience following a long day of hiking.

In fact, I tried thinking of a better payoff on all of the hikes we’ve done in the past, and couldn’t do it. The Sun Gate tops them all.

Our guide had a field day messing around with settings on our iPhones once we got to the top. He loved cinematic mode, you guys. You’ll spend as much time as you like here taking your photos, resting your legs, and taking in the view.

If you have time for the full Inca Trail trek and don’t mind the sleeping bag life, the experience will feel even more exclusive. Highlights on the full trail include Dead Woman’s Pass on the challenging second day of your trip. 

I haven’t done the full trek, but am simply relaying what our guide told us about the treachery of the second day. It’s a lot of climbing.

For you all, though, the fun isn’t over once you hit the Sun Gate. 

Just when you think the long hike is over, you have more steps.

This time, though, you’re heading down. If you’re like our guide Lino, going down is worse than going up due to the effect on your knees. I’m not that person. Going up is terrible. There are days I’m still walking like a monkey from the effort.

You’ll pass an Inca burial site along the way to rest those knees if they’re bothering you at this point.

Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock

Once you’re actually done with your hike and closer to the bottom, you’ll spend some more time at a separate vantage point only open to hikers on the Inca Trail.

This is the Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock, and the start — or the end, depending on your direction — of the original Inca Trail. It’s also a great place to get to know the local caretakers these days.

I’m talking about the resident llamas.

If you’re worried about missing out on the complex itself, you’ll be back the following day for a guided morning tour of the archaeological ruins. Today is about seeing Machu Picchu from above without the crowds and feeling like the VIP you are.

Once you’re done at the last viewpoint, you get in line for the bus with all of the other tourists who didn’t get to do something quite as awesome as you today.

You’ll have yourself a nice meal with your guide in Aguas Calientes and ideally hit the hay early. You have a full morning at Machu Picchu the next day.

The Second Day of Your Machu Picchu Trek

Tour companies will describe the short Inca Trail as a multi-day experience, but that isn’t because you’re hiking for two full days.

After one of the best nights’ sleep of your life at your Aguas Calientes accommodations, you’ll wake up early to take the tourist bus back to Machu Picchu. You’ll spend the morning exploring the site with a guide.

All of the ticketing is handled, by the way, including your bus fare. Much like Inca Trail availability, you won’t be shut out or have to worry about the site reaching capacity before you get there.

Our morning started around 7am. This leaves you plenty of time to catch the bus up to the Machu Picchu archaeological complex at a decent hour and beat most of the crowds.

We were traveling during the pandemic, so the capacity limits made it seem like any talk about the crowds I’d heard from friends was overblown. The site did get busier as we were making our way back around noon.

Every guided tour of Machu Picchu is a little different, and there are different routes you can take once you’re there, depending on what you’d like to target. Some areas are only accessible during certain hours of the day, so you’ll need to make some choices.

Keep in mind that even if you’re booking transportation to Machu Picchu independently, you cannot tour the complex on your own once you get there. You must visit Machu Picchu with a guide.

Here’s what our tour included:

• Intihuatana: This is Machu Picchu’s sun dial. Our guide shared with us that this section will be closed to tourists soon due to erosion. You’ll see workers attempting to shore things up at this spot, but some areas of the site are still sinking.
• Temple of the Sun: You can no longer enter the actual temple, but a viewing platform allows you to see the structure from a nice viewpoint. The temple was a place for the Incan people to pay tribute to the sun god inside Machu Picchu.
• Temple of the Condor: Experience the magnificent stonework of the Inca at this temple, shaped into a condor about to take flight. Some historians say the flattened head at the bottom was used as a sacrificial altar.
• Sacred Rock: As you near the exit for Machu Picchu, you’ll come upon a roped-off rock. This is La Roca Sagrada, or the Sacred Rock. You can look at it, but don’t touch the rock.

Seeing Machu Picchu from below would have always felt special, but it felt a little bit more special knowing we arrived there on our feet the day before, just like the Incas.

What to Pack for the Short Inca Trail

We got a list from our tour company about what to bring, and it turns out they were right about pretty much every item on there. You want to pack light as you’ll be carrying whatever you bring on your full-day tour on the trail.

Here are the essentials, including a few I added myself:

• Passport: Bring your original documents for checkpoints. We had a snafu with the tour company when we realized our trail permits didn’t include Brian’s updated passport, but it all worked out when we showed the old paper copies.
• Waterproof hiking backpack: We were very lucky with the weather on our trip, but it isn’t a bad idea to invest in a nice waterproof backpack, especially if you’re planning on becoming an avid hiker after this trip. We love our Osprey packs.
• Hiking shoes/boots: These should be hiking shoes or boots with good traction that you’ve worn on hikes already. We’ve done quite a few miles on both Merrells and waterproof Altra trail runners, so I’d recommend those over any others.
• Sunscreen: Bring a good sunscreen of at least SPF 30 and reapply liberally throughout the day. Unless I need reef-safe sunscreen, I’m typically buying Neutrogena products for my suncare. Bring a hat and sunglasses while you’re at it.
• Bug spray: We felt some bug activity once we got into the jungle portion of the trek. Bring along a solid bug spray to keep yourself from getting bitten along the way.
• Rain jacket: Again, we got very lucky with the weather, but we did see storm clouds in the distance during our trek. Pack a jacket that’s nice and easy to roll up so that it doesn’t take up too much room in your daypack.
• Water: I sucked my 1.5-liter Osprey water bladder dry by the end of our hiking day, and then again during our day tour of Machu Picchu. Much of the hike isn’t shaded, which means you’ll get hot and need more hydration.
• Toilet paper: You’ll have bathroom facilities at lunchtime on your hike. This means you’re doing your business in a hole in the ground at lunchtime. Bring some toilet paper if you’re a lady.
• First-aid supplies: Your guide will have some basic first-aid supplies with them, but I’d add a few assorted bandaids and pain meds if you’re a delicate flower. Bring your altitude sickness pills, too, if you’re already taking them.

Some travelers also bring bathing suits and towels for the hot springs in Aguas Calientes. We were so tired from the day hike that we crashed right after dinner, so I can’t tell you whether those are a good idea or not.

A Few More Details About the Short Inca Trail

I can only speak for Action Peru Treks, but I assume most of the guided treks are similar in what they include and what they don’t, with your two days with them.

Our short Inca Trail tour included:

• An English-speaking guide.
• Pre-trek briefings at the company’s office or your hotel, depending on whether you’re on a private or group tour.
• Transportation from your hotel to the Ollantaytambo train station.
• Train transportation from Ollantaybamo to Km 104.
• Bus tickets from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes on the first day and round-trip tickets on the second day.
• Inca Trail permits and admission tickets to the Machu Picchu archaeological site.
• Overnight accommodations in Aguas Calientes, including one breakfast. Upgrades are available for more luxe options and private rooms. Assume any rates are always per person and come down with double occupancy.
• Lunch and dinner on the first day.
• A guided Machu Picchu tour on the second day.
• Train transportation from Aguas Calientes to Poroy or back to Ollantaytambo on the second day, depending on your plans.
• Transportation by private car back to your Cusco hotel from Poroy, if that’s in your plans.

Note: Your lunch on the first day is a boxed lunch. You’ll be carrying this with you in your backpack. While the meal is quite filling, it didn’t add much to our packs. Ours included a chicken sandwich, a quinoa burrito, mixed nuts, fruit, veggie sticks, a brownie, and a granola bar.

Our trip did not include:

• Hiking sticks. I’d recommend bringing a pair. I didn’t and had some regrets about all of those steps, especially as I watched our guide use his own with ease.
• Breakfast on the first day and lunch on the second day. You’ll arrive in Aguas Calientes for lunchtime after a full morning at Machu Picchu.
• Alcohol with dinner on the first night.
• Tips for your guide and drivers.
• Additional hiking permits, e.g. Huayna Picchu Mountain.

We didn’t hike up to Huayna Picchu Mountain as we wanted the full morning at Machu Picchu itself. It’s a challenging hike of about three miles, best enjoyed on fresh legs. You’ll see the Temple of the Moon on this trek, too.

For our return trip, we were dropped off in Poroy. Your train tickets may say “Cusco” on them, but the station is still about a half-hour away from most hotels in Cusco. We had a driver waiting for us there, but confirm that this is happening for you and your group.

There was a frazzled group on the train with us that realized they didn’t have a pickup scheduled from Poroy, and they had to figure out alternative transportation upon arrival.

There are usually taxis waiting there for this express purpose, but I promise that they will take advantage of your plight.

READ MORE: Love historical sites? Plan your next trip to Thailand to visit Sukhothai and its ancient temples.

Where to Stay Near Machu Picchu

You’ll likely need to book stays in Cusco and Aguas Calientes if you’re following along here. Our tour came with a night in Aguas Calientes, the small town that will get you as close as possible to the archaeological site without staying at the site itself.

They booked us at the Hatun Inti Classic. I’d still highly recommend it even if you book on your own for its friendly staff and friendly pricing.

If your tour doesn’t come with accommodations, use the map below to browse your options in Aguas Calientes:

Cusco is likely where you’ll start your Machu Picchu adventure. Arrive a few days early to acclimate to those elevations so that the bulk of your struggle doesn’t happen on the trail.

We stayed at the Posada San Blas on our trip to Cusco. It was a short walk to anything you’d need in town with a very helpful staff. I’d highly recommend it.

Use the map below for more options:

You don’t need to hike the full Inca Trail.

The two-day Inca Trail is absolutely worth your time. If you want to hike some of the Inca Trail but aren’t able to do the full trek due to time, hiking ability, or your own motivations, it’s a great alternative.

I wouldn’t even call this one a compromise. I can still say I hiked on the Inca Trail. I was able to see the viewpoints of Machu Picchu along the approach that day-trip visitors aren’t able to see.

This bucket list hike will remain at the top of my favorite travel memories in Peru for a very long time.