We were just there in Mid February. It was the rainy season so the weather wasn't ideal but not too bad.
You seem to be having a hard time trying to find a tour that fits your wishes, so why not just do it yourself? A bunch cheaper and really not such a big deal.
We flew from Canada into Lima, just stayed there overnight and then flew on the next morning into Cuzco. We don't speak Spanish apart from a handful of words.
Cuzco is an interesting and photogenic town to spend a couple of nights. It's also at 11,000 ft so needs some acclimatization.
We booked our own hotel there and asked them to pick us up at the airport. There is a very decent hotel chain in Peru called Casa Andina. They have a few hotels in both Cuzco and Aquas Calientes (Machu Picchu village). Booking dot com or Trip Advisor is your friend.
You can also book the train online. We booked a PeruRail Vistadome train from Cuzco to A.C. for about $90 US each way. Very nice train, includes a light meal, no restrictive luggage requirements that we could see. We each had a rolling carry-on plus I had a photo backpack with about 23 lbs of gear.
We left Cuzco about 6am and arrived in Aqua Calientes about 10am. Our hotel was a 5 min walk from the train station. We dropped off our luggage and walked a couple blocks to the ticket stand for the bus up to Machu Picchu. The bus up the hill and back costs about $25 US return each. We had previously booked our reservations and tickets to Machu Picchu online. Paid with Visa. It was about $90 US for each days ticket. We bought tickets for 2 days as I was also hoping to maximize my chances for a decent break in the weather.
I had read all kinds of stuff online about $300 permits for pro gear and tripods too.
Nobody looked inside my photo backpack at the entry turnstiles. The first day I took in my D810 and 3 Nikon zooms. Left the other body and tripod at the hotel. The following day I also brought my small Gitzo travel tripod and used it discretely with no issues. I used all 3 lenses, 14-24 to 28-70 and 70-200. Didn't need anything longer than 200. One thing I read, said, if they check, over 200 mm is considered "professional".
There are lockers at the entrance where you can lock things up.
You certainly don't have to hike the Inca trail if you don't want to. There are also lots of English speaking guides waiting at the entrance gates if you want.
They limit the amount of tickets each day to 2500 people. There is a fair bit of walking around up and down just to cover the site itself, but not a big deal if you are relatively healthy. It's only about 8000 ft altitude so a piece of cake after you've survived the higher altitude at Cuzco.
There are lots of decent places to eat in Aquas Calientes and you can walk everywhere you need to get to.
We did this as part of an independant 3 week trip around South America. Very much enjoyed Peru and Machu Picchu is a truly spectacular, bucket list photo destination.
Here's a link to my (flash) slideshow.
http://www.msphoto.ca/South_America.htmlAnyway, my point is, it's not really that challenging to just do it all yourself. You can stay as long as you like, wherever you like, and go where you want. Plus save a bunch of money.
Feel free to contact me through my website if you want any more info.
Have a great trip!