Peru and the Inca Trail: the 18-35 guide to getting it right

No. This is the first thing to get straight before you spend a penny. Machu Picchu is reachable by train and bus without setting foot on the trail, and several of the trips in our data do exactly that — Kantu Peru Tours' 5-day Cusco Travel Package (from £415 4.9★) covers Cusco, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and Maras Moray with none of the multi-day trekking.

The actual Inca Trail — TreXperience's Classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu (4 days, from £623 5★) or G Adventures' Trekking the Inca Trail (4 days, from £699 5★) — is a genuinely tough physical challenge. Reviewers describe it as one of the hardest things they've done, harder than expected even when they'd trained. If you're not confident in your fitness, or you'd rather spend your days exploring ruins than counting switchbacks, a non-trekking package gets you the same Machu Picchu sunrise photo for less money and less pain.

Across our data, one thing comes up again and again: the guides. Named guides like Yeny and Hernesto on Waman trips, or Brian, Miguel, Yossep and Elias on trekking itineraries, get singled out repeatedly for making Inca history genuinely engaging rather than reciting dates. That's not a small thing on a trip where you're paying largely for interpretation, not just transport.

Porters and chefs are the other consistent highlight. On trekking trips, porters set up camp ahead of the group so you arrive to a hot meal and a pitched tent, and food quality is repeatedly praised — vegetarian requests handled well, chefs named as exceptional. Logistics on the non-trekking, city-based packages are also genuinely impressive: airport pickups, centrally located hotels, daily check-ins, things running on time. If you hate the admin of independent travel, handing it all to an operator buys real peace of mind.

Altitude is the big one. Several itineraries market their trekking as 'moderate' while actually taking you to 14,000–16,000ft. That's a serious elevation regardless of your trekking experience, and it hits people unevenly — reviewers note that older or unacclimatised travellers can struggle significantly. Build in a day or two in Cusco (itself over 11,000ft) before any trek starts.

Schedules are packed. Early starts are a constant across nearly every trip in our data — the payoff is usually a timed entry to Machu Picchu at dawn via the Sun Gate, which reviewers say is worth it, but it means very early mornings for days beforehand too. Breakfasts on trekking days are also reported as carb-light, so you may be hungry before a late lunch — worth packing your own snacks.

Most tours are subcontracted to local operators, so don't expect the same guide or even the same group size every day — this shows up specifically in the Peru Express and Southern Treasures verdicts. And carry soles: some local fees, like island boat trips, are cash-only in the local currency, not card, not dollars.

Our catalogue runs £415 to £2,545 with a typical trip around £1,000 — but that's the tour price, not your total spend. Add tips for guides and porters (expected, not optional in practice), soles for cash-only local fees, and if your chosen trip doesn't include them, domestic flights between Lima and Cusco. Trips like Waman's Inca Adventures and Peru Express bundle domestic flights into the price, which is worth factoring in when you compare against a cheaper-looking package that leaves you to book flights separately.