Four routes, one ruin, and a lot of marketing. We hiked the main options to Machu Picchu and broke down which one is actually right for you.

This is the part most people skip past in the brochure. The bit about getting up at midnight, putting one foot in front of the other for hours, and deciding whether you're actually having a good time. We went out to Peru to find out what it's really like — not the highlight reel, the middle of it.

What It Actually Involves

You'll hear a lot of confident advice before you go. Most of it is reasonable. Some of it is people who did it once, badly, and have been telling the story ever since. Here's what we found mattered.

  • The first two days are genuinely easy. Don't read anything into them.
  • Pole, pole — slowly, slowly — is not a slogan. Walk slower than feels reasonable and you'll buy yourself the summit night.
  • Hydration matters more than fitness. Drink before you're thirsty, every single time.
  • Your guide's opinion of your chances is more accurate than your own.

The Moment It Gets Real

Somewhere around midnight on summit night, the headtorch line snakes up the scree and the wind finds every gap in your layers. This is the part the photos never quite capture — the slow, cold, repetitive work of gaining altitude when every step costs you something.

You don't summit on the top. You summit on the decision you made three months ago to keep training when it was raining.— A guide who's done it 140 times

Is It Worth It

Yes, with a caveat. Hiking to Machu Picchu: Which Route Should You Take? is not a holiday and it shouldn't be sold as one. It's a hard, slow, occasionally miserable thing that turns into one of the best stories you'll ever own. Go prepared, go honest about your fitness, and go with operators who've actually done it.

Hiking to Machu Picchu: Which Route Should You Take?
Peru — mid-route, where the air thins and the schedule stops being yours.

Worth knowing: The companies that get you up safely are rarely the cheapest and never the loudest. Ask how often they turn people around. A high turnaround number is a good sign, not a bad one.

What You'll Wish You'd Packed

  1. A second pair of warm gloves. Always two pairs.
  2. Snacks you'll actually eat at 4,000m. Everything tastes different up there.
  3. A buff you can pull over your mouth to warm the air you breathe.
  4. Plastic bags for wet kit. Your tent will smell otherwise.

You'll come down tired, a little lighter, and unwilling to shut up about it for about six months. That's the sign it was worth the flight.