5-Day Lares Inca Trek and Machu Picchu - Peru

Early this morning you’ll be picked up by your guide and the rest of your group for the scenic drive to Lares, the starting point of the trek. It’s a small colonial town filled with fruit trees and is famous for its hot springs, so you take a quick dip before lunch is served.

The afternoon trek kicks off with a climb to Huaca Wasi, perched at 3,780 metres. On the way, you’ll pass through lush countryside blooming with wild orchids and begonias, as well as several small villages. After around 4 hours you’ll reach your campsite in Waca Huasi, a welcoming little mountain community where you can stroll around the village and perhaps kick a football with the kids before dinner. You’ll settle into your tent for a night sleeping under the stars.

This morning, you’ll set off early to trek up to Huaca Wasi pass at 4500m. It will take 4-5 hours, and along the way you’ll have views across the Andean vegetation with llamas and alpacas grazing in the sunshine. From the top you will have sweeping views of the Blue Lagoon in front of you. After lunch, you’ll head to your second camp in Miski Unuyoc near the Mantanay community, where you can watch the sunset with a steaming cup of coca tea.

Today the trail leads mainly downhill, giving your aching muscles a bit of breather. The trail passes mountain villages that feel lost in time, and after 3-4 hours you’ll arrive just outside Yanahuara in the Urubamba Valley, where you’ll stop for a final lunch with views over the plains. This is the end of your Lares Trail, and you’ll spend the evening in a comfortable hotel in the village of Ollantaytambo.

After an evening of resting and enjoying some of the village’s restaurants and bars, you’ll catch the train to Aguas Calientes – the town at the foot of Machu Picchu. Here, you’ll be amidst the travelling community again. Aguas Calientes is centred around the railway, which runs straight through the heart of the town. Here, you will stay in central hotel where you can sit back with Pisco sour, plunge into the hot springs and get an early night before tomorrow’s action.

You’ll be up before dawn to reach Machu Picchu, but it’ll be well worth it. Arriving early, you’ll see the wisps of cloud rise from the valley to reveal the Lost City in all its glory. It really is as spellbinding as people say….

In keeping with Peruvian Law introduced to protect the site, you’ll explore the ruins as part of a group, along with an official guide. In the late afternoon, you’ll catch the train back to Cusco.