• Difficulty: Strenuous
• Duration: Four days
• Max elevation: 4,215 metres (13,828 ft)
• Accommodation: Camping
• Start/end point: KM82 to Machu Picchu

The Inca Trail is easily the most famous of all the Peru treks. Since it first opened, it’s been included in every roundup of the world’s best trekking routes, and for good reason. There’s something profoundly magical about making this pilgrimage, as the Inca once did from Cusco to Machu Picchu.

Only on this classic route can you actually arrive at the famous ruins on foot. For any of the so-called alternative Inca Trail treks, the route will finish at a different point, and you’ll arrive in Machu Picchu via train to Aguas Calientes.

Although you’ll certainly see your share of stunning landscapes as you head from the mountains to the high jungle, this trek is particularly known for its stop-offs at numerous Inca sites along the way. While you’ll be sharing the path with a great number of other tourists, porters, cooks, and guides, you can still snatch some private moments to take in the scenery, not to mention the history, of the trail.

For me, a major downside to the Inca Trail is its deeply problematic workers' rights concerns. Be sure to book with a responsible operator, or consider one of the alternatives.