Discover Machu Picchu on Trekking Holidays In Peru

For those keen on exploring a country on foot, Peru is one of the best destinations available for trekking holidays. The country is famous for its peaks, often littered with treasures of Inca architecture and atmospheric spots to explore.

The mysteries of Machu Picchu

Of these, none is more famous or mysteriously atmospheric than Machu Picchu, the legendary cornerstone of the Inca culture and a mandatory stop for travellers enjoying trekking holidays in Peru. Located on a mountain in the region of Cuzco, roughly 8000 feet above sea level and overlooking the Sacred Valley, this 15th century Inca site is sure to capture the imagination of anyone who visits.

The construction of the site is believed to date back to 1450. After completion, the site was inhabited for roughly one hundred years, until the time of the Spanish conquest of Peru in the mid-16th century. But despite Cortez’s subsequent pillaging of the country’s natural resources, Machu Picchu remained unknown to the Spaniards, and to everybody else who was not local. The outside world only became aware of the site’s existence in 1911, when American historian Hiram Bingham came across it and promptly called attention to it in his publications. The area therefore became that rarest of finds – a tourist site, which, despite having existed for nearly 600 years, has been explored commercially for little more than a hundred.

It is, therefore, unsurprising that the site retains so many of its original characteristics, which are precisely what piques the interest of ramblers taking trekking holidays in Peru to begin with. The unspoilt character of the Inca ruins was further ensured in 1981, when Machu Picchu became a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary, and then in 1983, when it was attributed the distinction of becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Despite these precautions, however, it still does face the threat of excessive tourist activity. Local and foreign authorities alike have been working together to ensure the damage dealt to the site by the daily throngs of visitors is minimal, with helicopter landings having been forbidden for several years and a no-fly zone being instituted over the monument. The Peruvian government has also been working to try and preserve the archaeological integrity of the monument, a process which included a spat over ownership of artefacts involving Yale University.

In amidst all this turmoil, however, the religious Inca site, believed to be the birthplace of the ‘Virgins of the Sun’, sits unperturbed, just waiting to be visited by adventurers on their Peruvian trekking holidays.

Tony Maniscalco is the Marketing Manager for Ramblers Worldwide Holidays. Join us on trekking holidays to see scenic locations & landscapes at the best value prices. We offer over 140 guided group walking holidays in over 60 different countries.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.