- Classic 5 daysUSD 760 list price; complete about USD 815
- Short 4 daysUSD 695; complete about USD 725 plus rental gear (unclear)
- Premium 5 daysUSD 1,270; on site only tips and one dinner
- Machu Picchu ExpeditionsUSD 290; complete about USD 485 with ticket, return train, transfer, gear
- Biggest single itemreturn train Aguas Calientes – Ollantaytambo with transfer to Cusco: USD 60–100 if not included
- Never includedtips for guide, cook and horsemen; nights in Cusco before and after; travel insurance
List prices per option
Adult list prices from the Viator Partner API availability data as of 23 September 2026. The mountain options (Huayna Picchu, Machu Picchu Mountain, Huchuy Picchu) are add-on tickets with their own quotas.
| Product | Option | List price |
|---|---|---|
| Salkantay Trekking, Classic 5 days | Classic | USD 760 |
| Salkantay Trekking, Classic 5 days | + Huchuy Picchu | USD 840 |
| Salkantay Trekking, Classic 5 days | + Huayna Picchu / + Machu Picchu Mountain | USD 860 |
| Salkantay Trekking, Short 4 days | Standard | USD 695 |
| Salkantay Trekking, Premium 5 days | Premium | USD 1,270 |
| Salkantay Trekking, Premium 5 days | + Huchuy Picchu | USD 1,350 |
| Salkantay Trekking, Premium 5 days | + Huayna Picchu / + Machu Picchu Mountain | USD 1,370 |
| Machu Picchu Expeditions, 5 days | Standard | USD 290 |
Total per product
Same trip, four products: trek, Machu Picchu, back to Cusco, no mountain ticket. Guide figures for items outside the product data come from the operators (Ministry of Culture, bus company Consettur, PeruRail/Inca Rail) and are marked as such; items without a number stay out of the sum.
| Item | Classic 5D | Short 4D | Premium 5D | Machu Picchu Exp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| List price | USD 760 | USD 695 | USD 1,270 | USD 290 |
| Machu Picchu entry | included | included | included | ≈ USD 40 (PEN 152, 2025 guide figure) |
| Bus Aguas Calientes → Machu Picchu | included | included | included | ? not mentioned (≈ USD 12) |
| Bus Machu Picchu → Aguas Calientes | ≈ USD 12 (on site) | ≈ USD 12 (on site) | included | ≈ USD 12 (on site) |
| Train Hidroeléctrica → Aguas Calientes | optional ≈ USD 35 or 3 h on foot | optional or on foot | included | ? on foot per itinerary |
| Train + transfer to Cusco | included | included | included (Vistadome) | ≈ USD 90 (guide figure) |
| Sleeping bag + poles (rental) | ≈ USD 25 (guide figure) | ? not mentioned | included | ≈ USD 25 (guide figure) |
| Meals on the last day | ≈ USD 17 | ≈ USD 17 | ≈ USD 12 (dinner Cusco) | ≈ USD 17 |
| Drinking water | included | included | included | ? bottles excluded |
| Tips for guide, cook, horsemen | ? customary | ? customary | ? customary | ? customary |
| 2 nights in Cusco before | ? recommended | ? recommended | ? recommended | ? recommended |
| Sum of quantified items | USD 814 | USD 724 | USD 1,282 | USD 486 |
Machu Picchu ticket: PEN 152 for foreign adults on the main circuits per the Ministry of Culture, 2025 – check the current price on tuboleto.cultura.pe. Consettur bus about USD 12 each way. Train Hidroeléctrica–Aguas Calientes about USD 35, Aguas Calientes–Ollantaytambo Expedition class USD 60–80 plus transfer. Base price plus known mandatory costs. Items marked “?” are not quantified but still real.
The Machu Picchu ticket: circuits, time slots, who buys it
Entry tickets for Machu Picchu are sold by the Peruvian state on the platform tuboleto.cultura.pe. Each ticket is personal (passport checked at the gate), valid for a time slot and for a set route through the site, the “circuit”. Circuit 1 leads to the upper terraces and viewpoints, circuit 2 is the classic loop with the panoramic view and the core of the site, circuit 3 the lower loop. Within the circuits there are sub-routes; the mountain tickets (Huayna Picchu, Machu Picchu Mountain, Huchuy Picchu) are separate, tightly limited variants.
Salkantay Trekking buys the ticket for you and puts it honestly: circuit 2 when booked five months ahead, otherwise circuit 3, then circuit 1. Machu Picchu Expeditions excludes “ticket to MP” but lists a guided visit on circuit 2 – either you buy the ticket yourself and the guide takes you round, or the operator obtains it for a surcharge. Settle that question in writing before booking; without a ticket you will not get in on day five.
Price: the adult ticket for foreign visitors on the main circuits cost PEN 152 (about USD 40) in 2025 per the Ministry of Culture, combinations with a mountain PEN 200. We have not confirmed the price through a booking of our own.
What you need in cash on the trail
There are no ATMs on the trek; there are in Aguas Calientes. You need cash for: the return bus (about USD 12), the train from Hidroeléctrica if you take it (about USD 35), the rental fee for sleeping bag and poles if paid at the briefing, a horse to Humantay Lake or the pass (paid on site to local horsemen, guide figure USD 20–30 per leg), Cocalmayo hot springs (small entry fee, included with Premium), drinks at the camps, the last lunch and dinner, and tips. Tips are explicitly “optional” with all four products and at the same time part of the income of cook, horsemen and guide; the operators give no guide figures, and neither do we.
Questions about costs and inclusions
Is Premium worth USD 510 more?
By our count it buys about USD 80–100 of services the classic version charges on site (return bus, train from Hidroeléctrica, rental gear, hot springs), plus the Vistadome train, a 10 kg instead of 5 kg duffel, a superior hotel and the Sacred Jungle Lodge. The rest is comfort. If you want to pay nothing on site, that is exactly what you get; if you watch the budget, classic is the better deal.
Why is Machu Picchu Expeditions not cheaper in the end?
Because the ticket (≈ USD 40), return train with transfer (≈ USD 90), buses (≈ USD 24 both ways), rental gear (≈ USD 25) and a meal (≈ USD 17) come on top – about USD 195 that you organise yourself. That puts it at about USD 486 against USD 814 for the classic version with everything. It remains cheaper, but with much more self-organisation and an unresolved contradiction on the ticket.
Are prices per person or per group?
Per person. All four products are priced “PER_PERSON” per the platform.
Sources and check status
Show 6 sources
- docs.viator.com/partner-api/ – Viator Partner API, availability/schedules: list prices per option, accessed 23 September 2026 (accessed 23 September 2026)
- www.gob.pe/70649 – Ministry of Culture: buying tickets on tuboleto.cultura.pe, choosing circuit, route, date and time slot (accessed 23 September 2026)
- tuboleto.cultura.pe/ – State ticket platform for Machu Picchu (prices and availability) (accessed 23 September 2026)
- www.viator.com/tours/Cusco/Classic-5-Day-Salkantay-Trek-to-Machu-Picch – Salkantay Trekking, classic: inclusions and exclusions (return bus, train, sleeping bag, meals day 5) (accessed 22 September 2026)
- www.viator.com/tours/Cusco/5-Day-Salkantay-Trek-to-Machu-Picchu-Classi – Machu Picchu Expeditions: exclusions ticket, return train, bus, sleeping bag, poles, water (accessed 22 September 2026)
- www.viator.com/tours/Cusco/5-Day-Salkantay-Trek-Glamping-and-Machu-Pic – Salkantay Trekking, premium: included shuttles, rental gear, hot springs (accessed 22 September 2026)