You’ve seen it in the Discovery Channel and you’ve heard people talk about it. This is one place every hiker should go. It’s a place of wonder, culture and beautiful sceneries.

It was first discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911 which was later dubbed the “lost city”.

“When Hiram Bingham stumbled upon Machu Picchu on a 1911 expedition, it took him days of travel by foot and mule to get from Cusco to the general vicinity. Then he crossed a rickety bridge on hands and knees before climbing several hours up a steep slope to reach the hidden ruins.”

Now you can get there in 3 1/2 hours, dining luxuriously on the famous Hiram Bingham train while listening to a pan pipe group and sipping pisco sours. While many take this option to get to the ruins of Machu Picchu, you can also hike all the way from Cusco and feel like an explorer making discoveries in the Andes Mountains. Much of the landscape you’ll see remains unchanged since the conquistadors arrived in 1532.

There are four hiking trail you can choose from to get to Machu Picchu by foot:

The Classic Inca Trail

This is the original used by the Incans to reach the Sun Gate of Machu Picchu. This trail is known as one world’s greatest travel experience.

If you take this route, you will be walking on stone paths built hundreds of years ago by the Incans and marvel at impressive ruins along the way that cannot be reached by any land vehicle. In 3 days and 3 nights you make the grand entrance to the main attraction at sunrise, a truly wonderful experience. You then explore the citadel in the early morning.

The trail is well maintained and hikers must follow the carry-in/carry-out rule meaning you must carry just about everything you have with you at the beginning of the trip, including garbage.

Since this is a highly popular hiking destination, you would need to book at least 4 months in advance. Only about 200 hikers and 300 porters are allowed per day. Since there are more porters than hikers, you can have someone carry your camping gear for you, set up you tent and cook for your group.

The Salkantay Trek

This is a totally different experience to the Classic Inca Trail. In some ways, the sights are more spectacular. Among the main attractions are the waterfalls, the glaciers and the view of the Salkantay peak.

This trail is much more physically demanding even though you don’t actually walk all the way to the entrance of Machu Picchu. At the end of the trail you need to take the local train a short distance to the entrance. Be prepared for high altitudes of up to 15,000 feet.

You can stay in comfort at lodges that provide hot showers and a comfortable bed if you want to avoid camping.

Choquequirao

This is a great mountain hiking experience for hardcore hikers only. Dubbed the “Ultimate Trek” through the Andes, it starts near the largest set of Inca ruins on the South American continent, Choquequirao. Only take this route if you are an experienced in good physical shape.

The Lares Trek

Take this route if you want to know more about the local people. This is probably the least demanding route and takes about two days to reach the end of the trail.

You can then take a train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes at the base of Machu Picchu and spend the next day at the archeological site. There are no daily limits for this route and you can book it on short notice.