Does anyone know how necessary it is to book way in advance for the 4-day Machu Picchu trek these days?? I leave May 2nd for South America, starting in Quito and working my way down, and at some point within that May-early June time I plan to be landing in Cuzco to do the trail. However, I don’t know when at this point, and as I look into the various companies that people recommend, I see how many/most say you need to book 6,8,10 or more weeks in advance, due largely to the fact that now there are severe limitations as to how many can go there each day. I know you used to be able to just get there and find a good company right then, easy, but is this still possible?? What about a week in advance? Because I really don’t know when I’ll end up there, and really hate to randomly just pick a date and then be stuck to that the entire first month and a half of my trip.

Anyone have any words of advice on/recent experience with this??