Peru » Cusco

Cusco: 4-Day Jungle Inca Trail to Machu Picchu with Biking

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.95 (825 reviews) 96% rated it 5 stars

Instant confirmationTravelers' pick

1/10

Duration4d

GroupUp to 8

LanguagesEN · ES

PickupAt your hotel

Mountain Bike Down 55 km, Then Hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Four Days

You bike downhill for three hours, then hike the Inca Trail over two days through cloud forest and thermal springs, arriving at Machu Picchu on day four. The tour includes all transport from Cusco, three nights' accommodation, meals, a professional guide in English or Spanish, and entry to the ruins. Rafting and zipline are optional add-ons. You need moderate fitness and should bring sturdy boots and layers.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Cusco to Santa Maria via bike

Pick up at 6am in Cusco
Travel to Ollantaytambo
Short break in Ollantaytambo
Drive to Abra Malaga (4,316m)
Receive protective equipment and bike
Security explanation by guide
Downhill bike 3 hours (55 km)
Arrive at Huaman Marka
Van to Santa Maria
Walk to Pispitayoc Eco-house

Day 2 — Hike Inca Trail to Santa Teresa

Breakfast at Santa Maria
Walk Inca Trail through fruit vegetation
Reach Huacarcasa viewpoint
Break and view valley
Walk to Quellomayo for lunch
Walk to Cocalmayo thermal baths
Relax in thermal pools
Walk to Santa Teresa
Dinner in Santa Teresa

Day 3 — Hike to Machu Picchu town

Breakfast in Santa Teresa
Walk 3 hours to Hydroelectrica
Lunch at Hydroelectrica
Walk 3 hours to Aguas Calientes
See Machu Picchu mountain
Dinner in Aguas Calientes

Day 4 — Visit Machu Picchu and return

Breakfast in Aguas Calientes
Visit Machu Picchu
Travel to Ollantaytambo
Return to Cusco

The Experience

The van leaves Cusco at 6am, climbing toward Abra Malaga at 4,316 meters. Your lungs feel the altitude before your mind catches up. At the pass, the guide hands you a full-suspension bike, helmet, pads, gloves—the whole armor—and points downhill. For the next three hours you're dropping 55 kilometers through a temperature shift so sharp you'll peel off layers as the forest thickens around you. The Inca Jungle Trail to Machu Picchu starts here, not with a hike, but with gravity and your own brakes.

By afternoon you're in Santa Maria, then walking to the eco-house in Pispitayoc where you sleep. Day two wakes you early. The Inca Trail proper begins after breakfast—a real trail now, not a road, winding through orange and coffee plantations, coca plants, pineapples. Forty minutes in, the viewpoint at Huacarcasa opens the valley below. You stop at Quellomayo for lunch, then walk down to the thermal pools at Cocalmayo, where water of different temperatures lets you soak the day into your bones before walking into Santa Teresa for the night.

Day three is the long push. Three hours from Santa Teresa to Hidroelectrica following the river, lunch there, then another three hours on foot to Aguas Calientes—the town at the base of Machu Picchu. The vegetation gets thicker, the mountain itself starts appearing through the trees. You rest that night knowing tomorrow you walk into the ruins. Day four, you enter Machu Picchu with your guide, then train back down to Ollantaytambo and drive to Cusco. The whole thing—biking, hiking, sleeping in hostels and an eco-house, three meals a day, the mountain itself—is included. You bring walking boots, a rain jacket, cash in soles, and the fitness to move for four days straight.

What’s included

Your four days include hotel pickup and drop-off in Cusco, transport to Abra Malaga and from Ollantaytambo back to Cusco, a full-suspension mountain bike with helmet, elbow and knee pads, gloves, goggles, and reflective jacket, three nights' accommodation (eco-house in Pispitayoc, hostel in Santa Teresa, hostel in Aguas Calientes), all meals, a professional guide speaking English and Spanish, a first aid kit, train tickets from Machu Picchu to Ollantaytambo, and entrance to Machu Picchu itself. Rafting on day one and zipline on day three are optional extras.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelNot for pregnant travelers

Operated by Inkas Destination Tour Operator

Is this one for you?Right for travelers who want to reach Machu Picchu without repeating the classic Inca Trail, and who have four days and moderate fitness to combine biking, hiking, and hot springs. The fixed itinerary and included transport, guide, and lodging mean you don't arrange logistics yourself—you just show up at 6am in Cusco.