Duration: 3 days/2 nights
Departure Dates: Any day you would like!
Our two day Inca Trail tour with a homestay in a local community is an amazing opportunity to experience the very best of Cusco! During this special 3 day, two night tour, you´ll have the opportunity to visit Sacred Valley highlights, hike the incredible Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, and experience local culture during an overnight homestay in a traditional Andean community.
The tour begins with travel to the Sacred Valley of the Incas, with visits to Moray and the beautiful Salineras. The route is wonderfully scenic, with snowcapped peaks, expansive blue sky, and agricultural fields of corn, potatoes, quinoa and more. These visits can be made by van, during a gentle hike, or by mountain bike, depending on your preferences. After a traditional lunch, we´ll head to your host community, to spend time with your homestay family and learn about daily village life. You´re very welcome to just relax and enjoy the experience, or choose from activities such as weaving, traditional agriculture or cooking.
Early the next morning, you´ll set out for the best two day Inca Trail tour around! From the village, travel with your private guide to the entrance of the trail. The route is beautiful, filled with lush high jungle scenery, snowy peaks in the distance, and magnificent Inca ruins. You´ll visit Wiñaywayna, considered the most beautiful site on the trail, along with several smaller ruins. The culmination of the hike is the Sun Gate (Inti Punku), where you´ll enjoy panoramic, late afternoon views of Machu Picchu
You will spend your final tour day at breathtaking Machu Picchu, where you will explore the ruins alongside wandering llamas and observe the lush jungle fauna before returning back to Cusco.
For a detailed, firsthand account of this amazing Inca Trail tour, please check out Brooklyn Tropicali´s informative two day Inca Trail tour with homestay post.
This morning depart with your guide for an overnight homestay in a rural community. Travel there requires that we cross the Sacred Valley, and we´ll make interesting stops along the way. The first is the Salineras, a complex series of spring-fed, terraced salt pans, built into a steep mountainside. Observe locals preparing the pans and harvesting salt in the traditional manner.
After lunch, travel to your host community and meet your homestay family. You´ll have time to relax and spend time with them, before sharing stories over dinner. Your evening is free, but we recommend getting plenty of rest for the following day on the Inca Trail.
Meals: B, L, D
Today you will begin your short Inca Trail hike! After a short transfer to Ollantaytambo,l travel by train with your guide to kilometer 104, your entry point for to the Inca Trail. During the hike you will pass through incredible scenery, visit the Inca ruins of Wiñaywayna, and arrive at the Sun Gate, or Inti Punku. From here, enjoy breathtaking views of Machu Picchu before descending to the town of Aguas Calientes by bus. Check into your hotel, enjoy dinner on your own, and rest up for your visit to Machu Picchu the following day.
Meals: B, L
We awake this morning to catch a return bus to the gates of this Wonder of the World. You will ascend stone steps, through heavy tree cover to finally emerge at the top of the world – Machu Picchu! The incredible Inca stone construction will be spread below, alternately hidden and revealed by clouds. You`ll have a 2.5-3 hour private tour with your guide, followed by time to explore on your own. In the afternoon, descend to Aguas Calientes for your return train to Ollantaytambo. We will be waiting in the station and bring you to your hotel in the Cusco for a good night’s rest.
Meals: B
“Ayni Peru is committed to supporting remote Andean communities like the ones we visited by creating homestay partnerships with local families and also offering their clients a direct connection to authentic Peruvian life. No other tour company in Cusco is doing this.”
“Recently I returned to Cusco and Peru to experience Ayni-Peru’s homestay program. I had arranged with Domingo to meet him in Cusco and to travel to the village of Patacancha to spend a couple days with the families there. Amazing! The village was beautiful, the homestay accommodations far exceeded my expectations and the families were just wonderful! And the food!!! . . .I will be returning and highly recommend everyone truly experience the culture by spending time with the people not just looking at the ruins!”
“The homestays themselves were simple and homely. The hosts were very warm and made us our meals . . .these homestays help the community and work with the local community to discover new treks in the area. It is good to know that your tourist dollars goes back to the people that enabled your experience.”
