All Machu Picchu Trekking Companies and Inca Trail tour Operators must be registered and have a special Inca Trail operators license. This license is issued annually each January. There are about 200 licensed operators for (2023). Many of these companies, however, may only operate a trek a couple of times a month during the high season and these treks are mainly private groups for overseas tour companies. Top rated professional companies that specialize in the Inca Trail do more than 300 treks a year, with groups leaving daily during high season. Their guides are some of the best in the industry and get high reviews on the treks they guide.
Great care has to be taken when choosing a Machu Picchu Trekking Companies since many companies have great looking websites but operate out of a bedroom on the outskirts of Cusco!! They do not usually service the treks they sell, they transfer them to another company to provide the trek. You may not know what company is really doing the trek and there are usually no guarantees that you will go if they do not get an adequate group size. Treks may get cancelled at the last minute. There are really only a handful of reliable professional tour operators that offer the Inca Trail Trail with fixed-dates that the trek leaves throughout the year. They always guarantee if you book a trek you will go!
When making a trek booking you will be asked to pay a deposit of about 40% to 50%. This is needed by the company to buy your trek permit and reserve your train tickets. Always ensure that this deposit is paid to a company account and not to an account in the name of one of the employees. Below are well established and highly recommended operators in at least one major guidebook so you shouldn’t have any problems. Many accept payment of the deposit by credit card or PayPal to their company account. For added security try to avoid wiring money to individuals working for these companies and ask for their company account details. Beware of “fly by nights”, where the prices are just unbelievably cheap. It may be a scam because all operators have certain fixed costs set by the government for permits and tickets plus licensed Inca Trail guides. No one can provide quality services for very low prices, the overhead costs are too high.
The information given in this website is given in good faith and the authors cannot be responsible for the services provided by the individual companies.
The following trekking companies have received consistently good reviews on TripAdvisor, Google and other forums:
Recommended Machu Picchu Trekking Companies.
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** Apple Travel Peru: Small and New company that can be consider for the Short Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
www.appletravelperu.com
