Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu 5 Days

Depart from Cusco at approximately 5:00 a.m. and travel to Mollepata (2,900 m / 9,514 ft), where you will make a brief stop to use the restrooms, purchase any last-minute essentials, or simply take a short break.

Continue to Challacancha (3,850 m / 12,631 ft), the starting point of the trek, where you will meet the trekking support team. Your duffel bags and camping equipment will be transported by horses and mules throughout the expedition.

At around 9:00 a.m., begin the hike toward the breathtaking Humantay Lake, one of the natural gems of the Peruvian Andes. This approximately 3-hour trek offers spectacular views of the majestic Salkantay Mountain, the surrounding peaks, and the scenic Apurímac River Valley.

Around midday, enjoy a delicious lunch at Salkantaypampa. Afterwards, continue hiking to Soyrococha, your first campsite, where the tents will be ready upon arrival. End the day with a warm dinner before resting and preparing for the next stage of the adventure.

• Transportation time: 4 hours.
• Hiking time: 7 hours.
• Climate: Cold.
• Included: Lunch and Dinner.

After breakfast, begin the most challenging day of the trek. At approximately 8:00 a.m., start the ascent to the Salkantay Pass (4,600 m / 15,092 ft), the highest point of the route. From here, take in breathtaking views of the majestic Salkantay Mountain (6,264 m / 20,551 ft), one of the most iconic peaks in the Cusco region.

Beyond the pass, the scenery changes dramatically, transitioning from towering snow-capped mountains to lush subtropical cloud forests. Around midday, enjoy lunch at Huayracmachay before continuing the hike for approximately three more hours to Challway (2,920 m / 9,580 ft), where your campsite awaits.

End the day with a hearty dinner and a well-deserved rest to recharge for the next stage of the adventure.

• Meals included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
• Hiking time: 8 hours.
• Included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

At 7:00 a.m., we will begin our trek. We will walk for about 5 hours toward Sahuayaco, on the route, we will observe Collpabamba, also called the “Forest Cloudy Brow” where we can view waterfalls, fruit-bearing trees, varied flora, and birds. If we are lucky, we will be observing the famous bird called the “Cock of the Rocks”.

Arrive at Sahuayaco around midday, here we have lunch, by the afternoon we continue our tour, by local transport until reaching our camping site, very close to Santa Teresa town. (who wishes can go to the hot springs to take a relaxing bath).

Around 7:00 p.m., we will have dinner and camping.

• Hiking time: 5 hours.
• Climate: Warm during the day with mosquitoes.
• Included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

After an early breakfast, we start our walk to hydroelectric for approximately 3 hours, down a path, which will take you to the Hydroelectric, here you will have time to rest and enjoy the scenery and lunch at a local restaurant.

We continue our journey to the community of Mandor; where we will arrive after 1:30 hours approximately.

Here we will have a fantastic visit to the orchid garden to appreciate some of the 317 varieties of orchids in the area; the last part of the route to reach Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu town) we will do it in an hour and a half more.

Upon arrival, transfer to the hotel (included in this package).

Then we enjoyed dinner at a local restaurant around 7:30 p.m.

• Hiking time: 6 hours.
• Climate: Warm with a lot of mosquitoes.
• Included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Today, we will start early in the morning at around 5:30 a.m., to take the bus to Machu Picchu. In Machu Picchu, we will have a guided tour for around  2 or 3 hours and after that, we will have free time to explore the citadel and take pictures.

Bus to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu town). At according time (depending on availability), we will be taking a train to Ollantaytambo or Poroy. Arrival, reception and transfer to your hotel in Cusco.

• Included: Breakfast