Inca Trail Express: The Private 2-Day Premium Trek

Included and Excluded

The listing states five inclusions: lunch, one box lunch and one snack, hotel pickup and drop-off, a professional English and Spanish speaking guide, and the train ticket. Note the pickup caveat: some hotels sit in areas where vehicle access is not permitted, so the meeting point may be a short walk away. The exclusions are stated plainly: dinner in Aguas Calientes on day 1, lunch on day 2, hotels in Cusco and Aguas Calientes, extra services and tips.

What is not stated anywhere in the inclusions is the part that worries a careful buyer. An Inca Trail permit, a Machu Picchu entrance ticket and a circuit assignment appear nowhere on the list. The trail cannot legally be walked without a permit tied to your passport, and the citadel cannot be entered without a ticket, so message the operator and get both confirmed in writing before the non-refundable sale goes through.

What You Pay On the Day

Beyond the base price you carry the real costs yourself. The hotel night in Aguas Calientes, which sits at about 2,040 metres, is yours to book. Dinner there on day 1 and lunch on day 2 are outside the price.

Tips are listed as extras with no suggested amount stated. The Consettur bus from Aguas Calientes up to Machu Picchu costs $12 one way and $24 round trip, and it is not named in the inclusions, so ask whether the transfer is arranged. If the permit and citadel ticket turn out to be extra, those are government fees on top of everything else.

Compare this against the private short Inca Trail at $756, which lists the Inca Trail tickets, the day 2 Machu Picchu entrance and a hotel night in its own inclusions, and the picture of what $1,032 buys gets sharper.

Day 1: Pickup, Trail and the Hotel Night

The day starts with pickup from your Cusco hotel, though the listing gives no departure time, so check availability for the exact start. You travel to Km 104, the railway stop on the short trail at about 2,200 metres, and start the express walk the listing describes as light. The route follows the short Inca Trail to the Winay Wayna complex, the terraced ruins that are the stated highlight of day 1, then continues to the Sun Gate for the first view over Machu Picchu.

After the viewpoint you descend to Aguas Calientes for the night. Dinner there is not included, so the evening and the meal are on your own account. Overnight accommodation is not in the price, which is the single biggest gap between this listing and the $585 short trail with a 4-star hotel included.

Day 2: Machu Picchu and the Train Back

Day 2 is the guided visit to Machu Picchu, which sits at 2,430 metres and about 80 kilometres northwest of Cusco. The listing does not state the circuit, the entry time or how long the guided tour lasts, so confirm the circuit when you confirm the ticket. After the visit you take the train back, in the Vistadome or Expedition class you chose at booking.

Vistadome has ceiling windows and a cultural performance on the return, and trains from Ollantaytambo take about 1 hour 30 minutes. Lunch on day 2 is excluded, and the listing states no return time or final drop-off point, so plan the last hours loosely.

Fitness, Age and Health

The listing asks for a high level of physical fitness and rules out pregnant travellers, anyone with a spinal injury and anyone with poor cardiovascular health. The short trail is rated moderate by other operators, but day 1 still involves a full climb to the Sun Gate at about 2,720 metres (sources give 2,720 to 2,745 metres), and altitude sickness can appear from about 2,500 metres. The listing takes bookings for travellers aged 12 to 85.

If you want a longer, slower build-up with a real camping expedition, the premium 4-day Inca Trail trek walks the full classic route instead.

Non-Refundable and Paperwork

All sales are final. There is no refund for cancellations, and no bad-weather escape clause. The reason is structural: Inca Trail permits are personal, non-transferable and non-refundable, issued against one passport.

That same rule means you must send your full legal name, date of birth and nationality soon after booking, because missing details may lead to cancellation of the tour with the money already spent. The February closure applies to the whole trail network, so the listing effectively cannot run in that month. Read Inca Trail permits before choosing dates.

What You Carry and Compare

There is no porter service in the inclusions, so you carry your own backpack with a change of clothes, rain gear, waterproof boots, warm layers for cold nights, a headlamp, snacks, sun protection and a plastic-free water container, since plastic bottles are not allowed on the trail. If that list feels heavy, the private short Inca Trail includes luggage shipping to the Aguas Calientes hotel, and the private one-day Inca Trail removes the overnight entirely.

Acclimatise in Cusco

Cusco sits at about 3,400 metres, nearly 1,000 metres higher than Machu Picchu. Common altitude symptoms are headache, nausea, fatigue and poor sleep. Book at least a couple of Cusco hotel nights before the pickup, since hotels in Cusco are excluded from the price anyway.

Sleeping altitude should rise by no more than about 500 metres a day above 3,000 metres, so flying in and trekking out the next morning is asking for trouble.

Permits, Tickets and Timing

Inca Trail permits are capped and sold only through authorised agencies, issued to one person on one passport and non-transferable. The trail closes each February and reopens on 1 March, and permits sell out early in the year. Machu Picchu tickets are separate, with circuits that fix your route inside the citadel, and the Sun Gate route 1-C runs only in high season.

Because this listing states neither the permit nor the ticket, both need confirming before the non-refundable payment. Adding Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain means a different, more expensive ticket, and the listing says nothing about either.

Trains, Luggage and Aguas Calientes

PeruRail allows one backpack up to 8 kg on Machu Picchu trains, with free luggage storage at the station, so leave the big bag at your Cusco hotel. The bus up from Aguas Calientes takes about 25 to 30 minutes and costs $24 round trip. A night in Aguas Calientes before or after the trek is worth booking yourself, since this listing makes you arrange it anyway.

For the wider logistics, read the guide to the short Inca Trail and the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu.