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Huaraz from above, the Cordillera Negra behind

Huaraz · Costs

Costs: what Santa Cruz and the Huayhuash really cost down to the bus to Lima

List prices from Huaraz range from USD 380 for four days of Santa Cruz in a shared group to 1,999 for twelve days around Alpamayo. What comes on top is similar with all of them and stands in no list: the park ticket or the community fees in cash, the sleeping bag for rent, three to four hotel nights in Huaraz for acclimatisation, the bus from Lima and back, tips for guide, cook and donkey driver. Here are all 19 prices in one table, the missing items with rates, and four bills down to the bus station.

Editorially checked on 25 September 2026Prices as of 26 September 2026Photo: NiwradLM, CC BY 4.0
In short
  • List pricesSanta Cruz USD 380–620 in a group, 1,071 private for two · mini Huayhuash 550–800 · Huayhuash circuit 800–1,900 · five days east 750–899 · Alpamayo circuit 1,400–1,999 · from Lima 1,750
  • What is usually missingPark ticket 60–150 soles or community fees ≈ 270 · sleeping bag USD 3–5 a day · hotel Huaraz € 20–35 a night · Lima bus € 15–30 each way · tips USD 10–15 a day for the team · insurance with altitude · meals in Huaraz
  • The billSanta Cruz in a group ≈ € 600 per person with everything from Huaraz · Santa Cruz private ≈ 1,200 · Huayhuash ten days ≈ 1,120–1,420 – each without the flight to Lima
  • Where to saveShared group instead of private (factor two to three) · two or four people with tiered prices (Scheler Artizon 1,071 → 857) · bus instead of flight · rent the sleeping bag instead of buying · Santa Cruz as acclimatisation before the Huayhuash instead of three hotel days

The list prices: 19 packages by price

All prices per person in US dollars, with tiers the price for two; Viator shows them in euros at the daily rate. The table is refreshed daily from the Viator data. “What is missing” names the three largest items not in the inclusion list.

ProductDaysList priceCancellation
Peru Expeditions · Santa Cruz 4 days, USD 380, guide in Spanish4 daysUSD 380Free cancellation up to 24 hours before start.
Peru Bergsport · Santa Cruz 4 days, sleeping bag included, from 2 people4 daysUSD 390Full refund up to 6 days before start, partial up to 2 days.
Peru Bergsport · Huayhuash mini 3 days, USD 550, from 2 people3 daysUSD 550Free cancellation up to 24 hours before start.
IZI Peru · Santa Cruz 4 days with Alpamayo base camp, no refund With reservations4 daysUSD 575No refund.
Turismo Exploring · Santa Cruz 4 days, guide in German, emergency horse4 daysUSD 620Free cancellation up to 24 hours before start.
Peru Expeditions · Huayhuash 5 days with community fee, Siula pass, Santa Rosa5 daysUSD 750Free cancellation up to 24 hours before start.
IZI Peru · Huayhuash mini 4 days, Jahuacocha with rest day, USD 7994 daysUSD 799No refund.
Andean Summit · Huayhuash 8 days private with sleeping bag, USD 8008 daysUSD 800Full refund up to 3 days before start, none after.
First Class Huaraz · Huayhuash mini 4 days, list names meals only With reservations4 daysUSD 800Free cancellation up to 24 hours before start.
Peru Expeditions · Huayhuash classic 10 days, fees included, Diablo Mudo optional10 daysUSD 850Free cancellation up to 24 hours before start.
IZI Peru · Huayhuash 5 days west and east, 3 am start, no refund5 daysUSD 899No refund.
Scheler Artizon · Santa Cruz 4 days private, sleeping bag and toilet tent4 daysUSD 1,071Free cancellation up to 24 hours before start.
Andean Raju · Huayhuash 10 days, five meals, no itinerary With reservations10 daysUSD 1,110No refund.
Peru Bergsport · Alpamayo circuit 11 days, USD 1,400, from 2 people11 daysUSD 1,400Full refund up to 6 days before start, partial up to 2 days.
Peru Expeditions · 13 days Santa Cruz and Cedros-Alpamayo from Lima13 daysUSD 1,750Free cancellation up to 24 hours before start.
Peru Expeditions · 14 days from Lima with mountain rescue, fixed date in August With reservations14 daysUSD 1,750Free cancellation up to 24 hours before start.
First Class Huaraz · Huayhuash 10 days from Queropalca with Huánuco Viejo With reservations10 daysUSD 1,800Free cancellation up to 24 hours before start.
Peru Bergsport · Huayhuash 10 days, price for four, “tents excluded” With reservations10 daysUSD 1,900Full refund up to 6 days before start, partial up to 2 days.
First Class Huaraz · Alpamayo 12 days from Laguna 69, list names meals only With reservations12 daysUSD 1,999Free cancellation up to 24 hours before start.

List prices per person, adults, from Viator availability data; reconciled daily. Converted at the exchange rate of 26 September 2026; Viator converts at the day's rate at checkout.

What the lists leave out – and what it costs

Park ticket and community fees. For Santa Cruz the Huascarán National Park ticket at the post in Cashapampa: 60 soles for two to three days, 150 from four – how the post counts a four-day trek is not uniform; Peru Expeditions reckons 90. All five Santa Cruz packages exclude it. For the Huayhuash the village fees, around 270 to 280 soles for the circuit and 70 to 150 for the short versions; only Peru Expeditions has them in the price. Cash in soles, there is no ATM beyond Chiquián. Sleeping bag and mat. Included in three of 19 packages (Scheler Artizon, Peru Bergsport Santa Cruz, Andean Summit). Rental in Huaraz three to five dollars a day for a down bag to minus ten, mat one to two; the operators arrange it. Hotel in Huaraz. No package except the Lima versions includes nights in town; you need two to four for acclimatisation, 20 to 35 euros for a double room in a simple hotel, from 50 in better ones. Bus from Lima. Eight hours, 50 to 100 soles each way in a reclining seat; Peru Expeditions has it in the thirteen- and fourteen-day packages. Acclimatisation. A day trip to Laguna 69 costs 40 to 60 soles with the agencies in Huaraz plus 30 soles park ticket; Churup and Wilcacocha work by shared taxi for 10 to 20 soles. Tips. Not in the lists; usual are ten to fifteen dollars a day for the whole team per guest, shared between guide, cook and donkey driver. Insurance. Peru Expeditions and Scheler Artizon require it with rescue cover; travel health policies with altitude above 4,000 m cost 40 to 80 euros for two weeks. Operator extras. Single tent USD 225 and satellite phone 500 with Peru Expeditions (14 days), emergency horse rental with First Class Huaraz, Diablo Mudo for a surcharge with Peru Expeditions. First breakfast, last dinner. Expressly excluded with Scheler Artizon, Andean Raju, Andean Summit and Peru Expeditions (Huayhuash).

Four bills: down to the bus station

Four packages worked through to the end, per person for two, from arrival in Huaraz to departure, with hotel and acclimatisation, without the flight to Lima. A question mark means the item is not in the inclusion list and is an estimate.

ItemPeru Expeditions Santa Cruz 4 d.Scheler Artizon Santa Cruz private, for twoPeru Expeditions Huayhuash 10 d.Andean Raju Huayhuash 10 d.
List price€ 334€ 941€ 747€ 975
Park ticket / community fees? ≈ € 15? ≈ € 15included? ≈ € 70
Sleeping bag and mat (rental)? ≈ € 20included? ≈ € 40? ≈ € 40
Hotel Huaraz, 3–4 nights≈ € 75≈ € 75≈ € 100≈ € 100
Acclimatisation (day trips)≈ € 25≈ € 25≈ € 50≈ € 50
Bus Lima–Huaraz return≈ € 60≈ € 60≈ € 60≈ € 60
Insurance≈ € 40≈ € 40≈ € 60≈ € 60
Tips for the team≈ € 30≈ € 40≈ € 60≈ € 60
Total per person≈ € 600≈ € 1,200≈ € 1,120≈ € 1,420

Values rounded, estimates with question marks. Conversion the exchange rate of 26 September 2026, rate as of 26 September 2026; soles at 3.5 per dollar. Meals in Huaraz (≈ € 10–15 a day) not included. Base price plus known mandatory costs. Items marked “?” are not quantified but still real.

The turquoise Laguna Llanganuco between the rock walls of the quebrada
The Llanganuco lakes on the last day of the Santa Cruz trek lie inside the national park: the ticket from the Cashapampa post covers them too; if you visit Laguna 69 beforehand, you pay another 30 soles there.Photo: PsamatheM, CC BY-SA 4.0

Where to save and where not

The shared group is the biggest lever: Peru Expeditions and Peru Bergsport walk Santa Cruz for USD 380 to 390, Scheler Artizon private for 1,071 – in between lie toilet tent, oxygen, cook and the certainty that the group is your own. If you travel as four, Scheler Artizon drops to 857 and Turismo Exploring gives you its list price. On the Huayhuash the difference between 850 (Peru Expeditions, fees included, cook only from eight) and 1,110 (Andean Raju, cook always, five meals, fees extra) ends up around 200 euros – for ten days of food that is well spent. Do not save on the sleeping bag (a rental bag with a comfort rating of zero is a bad night at 4,400 m), on acclimatisation (an abandoned trek is not refunded – with Andean Raju and IZI Peru nothing at all) or on insurance with rescue. The Santa Cruz trek as acclimatisation before the Huayhuash replaces three hotel days and day trips and costs about 250 euros more net; if you want both, plan two and a half weeks.

Questions about the costs

What does the Santa Cruz trek cost in total?

Per person for two around 600 euros from Huaraz with a shared group, hotel, acclimatisation, bus from Lima and tips; private with Scheler Artizon around 1,200. The list price is 55 to 80 percent of that.

And the Huayhuash circuit?

Around 1,100 to 1,450 euros per person for two from Huaraz for ten days, depending on the package – Peru Expeditions with fees included cheaper, Andean Raju with cook and five meals dearer. Without the flight to Lima. From Lima with hotels, Peru Expeditions charges USD 1,750, plus sleeping bag and tips.

Do I pay the park ticket in dollars?

No, in soles, cash at the post; cards are not accepted. The community fees in the Huayhuash are cash too. Withdraw enough in Huaraz – beyond Caraz and Chiquián there are no ATMs.

How much tip?

No operator names a sum. Usual are ten to fifteen dollars per guest per day for the whole team, handed to the guide on the last evening, who shares it out; on private treks with cook and two donkey drivers rather the upper figure.

Santa Cruz and Huayhuash: all packages

19 products, inclusions compared, recommendations.

Read more →

Santa Cruz trek

Stages, Punta Unión, Alpamayo circuit, best time.

Read more →

Huayhuash circuit

Passes, camps, community fees per village, mini versions.

Read more →

Acclimatisation in Huaraz

Laguna 69, Churup, Wilcacocha: which days before which trek.

Read more →

Sources and check status

Show 5 sources
  1. www.viator.com/tours/Huaraz/Santa-Cruz-Trek-4-Days-Private/d22813-5049 – Scheler Artizon: tiered price 2,000 / 1,071 / 857 USD by group size, donkeys 12 kg, emergency horse from 6 (Viator Partner API) (accessed 25 September 2026)
  2. www.viator.com/tours/Huaraz/Huayhuash-Trek-8-Days-Private/d22813-74926 – Andean Summit: community fees “200–250 soles” excluded, sleeping bag included (Viator Partner API) (accessed 25 September 2026)
  3. www.viator.com/tours/Huaraz/Huayhuash-Trek-14-Days-Lima/d22813-262171P – Peru Expeditions: single tent USD 225, satellite phone USD 500 as add-ons (Viator Partner API) (accessed 25 September 2026)
  4. www.gob.pe/institucion/sernanp/informes-publicaciones/ – SERNANP, fee table Huascarán National Park (table 2024) (accessed 25 September 2026)
  5. www.huayhuash.com/ – Community fees 2026 per village (operator site, secondary source) (accessed 25 September 2026)