Inca Jungle 4 Days / 3 Nights

Day 01: Cusco – Santa Maria

Advice Peru will pick you up early in the morning and begin a drive through the stunning Sacred Valley – cradle of the Inca civilization, located at 4,316m high on the mountain range of Abra Malaga.

Here we will begin biking. We will change into the gear provided (gloves and helmets) following a 20-minute briefing by our experienced tour guide.

Then the fun begins… Freewheeling down quiet but challenging dirt roads, passing by ever-changing landscapes with ice-capped mountains in the background. With so much excitement, you will not want to stop to catch your breath until the first pit stop in Alfamayo; more or less 2 hours from your starting point.

Here you can enjoy a packed lunch provided by our team while taking in the astonishing views.

We will then carry on, descending to heights of 1200m, while the jungle’s edge rears closely and the small, but charming town of Santa Maria looms into the horizon.

Once we get to this point you can rest your legs and enjoy a cold beer before dinner; a traditional Peruvian dish served fresh and straight from the pot.

Tonight you can have a hot shower at a family-run hostel and sleep in either single, double or three-person bedroom.

Or, if you prefer, you can choose the RAFTING OPTION instead. We offer the rafting tour for an additional $50 USD dollars. For a truly adventurous trip, we recommend this option especially when the weather is warm, and the rapids and the nature create an especially welcoming place for visitors – giving way to a whole new experience of the Amazon Jungle.

Before the rafting, there is a briefing. We will be in the water running rapids class II, III and IV, finishing around 5 pm, and thereafter we will back to Santa Maria to join the rest of the group for dinner.

Day 02: Santa Maria to Santa Teresa – Inca Trail

Rise and shine is at 5:30 am, shake off any weariness from your limbs with the finest indigenous coffee prepared by your landlady.

Under dawning skies you´ll begin your walk which gets progressively steeper until arriving at a welcoming family restaurant in Santa Rosa, where you can relax in hammocks admiring the coca plantations and enjoying refreshments while being entertained by the family monkey.

After a short while you will board the real Inca Trail, which winds around precipitous slopes and sheer drops for approximately half a miles – be warned this is not for people who suffer from vertigo! The descent continues for just over two hours until you reach Qellomayo village, where you will have lunch. Make sure you have saved enough energy for the final stretch, a riverside walk along the mighty Vilcanota River until reaching the hot springs of Colcamayo – one of the best in the region.

Rejuvenate in the heavenly hot waters and forget your weariness in these natural, beautiful settings.

Overnight in Basic Hostal.

Day 03: Santa Teresa – Llactapata – Aguas Calientes

Wake up at 7am and have breakfast before taking our private transport to the town of Lucmabamba, the entrance to another Inca Trail which was discovered just a few years ago. We are the only tour company to walk this part of the Inca Trail, so for three and a half hours you might feel like Adam and Eve! – walking amidst parrots in this tranquil garden of eden. You will be rewarded for your efforts with a view of Machu Picchu from the top of Llactapata, flanked by the towering peak of the majestic Salkantay.

Your picnic here is unlikely to be forgotten for long time; gazing down on all those tourists who took the traditional Inca route – probably because they didn’t know about your route! From here it´s only a two hour walk down to the train station of Hidroelectrica, where the train departs for Aguas Calientes – the base town for Machu Picchu.

Overnight in Aguas Calientes.

Day 04: Machu Picchu-Ollantaytambo-Cusco

We will have breakfast at 05:00 then catch one of the first busses (around 05:30) up to Machu Picchu (25-minute ride) in order to appreciate the magnificent old Inca city as the sun casts its first rays upon it.

You will have a guided tour for 3 hours and then plenty of free time to explore in awe and take pictures at your own pace. You also have the option of climbing Huayna Picchu – the famous peak in the background of most images of Machu Picchu. Or you can visit the Temple of the Moon or the Gate of the Sun.

Generally, around 1pm people head down the steps back to Aguas Calientes for lunch and at approx 16:00hrs we take our return train to Cusco, arriving there at around 9:00pm.