Salkantay trek route: five days, one pass, and what the short version leaves out

The profile: up on day two, down on all the others

Day one is a warm-up with altitude: three hours from Challacancha to Soraypampa along an Inca irrigation canal, almost flat, then the afternoon side trip to Humantay Lake at 4,200 m – about 300 m up and back down. Skipping the lake loses nothing of the route, but it is the first test of how your body handles the altitude.

Day two is the key stage: from Soraypampa (3,900 m) via the “path of the seven snakes” to Abra Salkantay (4,630 m), three hours and seven kilometres per the operators, then about 1,700 m of descent to Collpapampa. Machu Picchu Expeditions puts the camp at 2,950 m. All operators offer a horse for the climb – included as an “emergency horse” with Premium, otherwise paid on site.

From day three it is downhill or flat, but warm and humid: Santa Teresa valley, La Playa, coffee farm, Lucmabamba. Day four has the only climb of the second half: two hours up to Llactapata (2,700 m) on an original Inca trail, with the first view of Machu Picchu from across the valley. Then down to Hidroeléctrica and three hours along the tracks to Aguas Calientes – or the train.

Itineraries of the four products

From the operators' Viator product data, edited for length. Altitudes are the operators'; where they differ by a few metres we used the more common figure.

Day 1 · Challacancha → Soraypampa · 7 km · 3 h

Along an Inca canal, almost flat, then the lake.

Pickup at five in Cusco, breakfast in Mollepata. Day one is the warm-up with altitude – and Humantay Lake in the afternoon is the first test of how your body handles 4,200 m.

3,900mSoraypampa

What differs here✓Humantay entry included by all✕Horse to the lake paid on site everywhere

Day 1 · Laguna Humantay · 300 Hm · 3 h

Turquoise, cold, and the glacier right above.

Three hours up and back. If you have a headache or nausea here, tell the guide in the evening, not the next morning.

4,200mLaguna Humantay

What differs here?Emergency kit: Short and Premium list no oxygen

Day 2 · Abra Salkantay · 22 km · 6–7 h

The one hard day. Then 1,700 m downhill.

Up the “path of the seven snakes” to the pass, three hours. In the afternoon the world changes: from glacier to cloud forest down to Collpapampa.

4,630mAbra Salkantay

What differs here✓Premium: emergency horse to the pass included✕Classic, MPE: poles and sleeping bag are rental gear?Short: sleeping bag/poles not mentioned

Day 3 · Santa-Teresa-Tal → Lucmabamba · 4–5 h

Warm, humid, coffee. The altitude is behind you.

Gently downhill between banana and coffee plantations, coffee farm at La Playa. The 4-day version drives from Granadilla and ends today in Aguas Calientes.

2,000mLucmabamba

What differs here✓Premium: Cocalmayo hot springs included✕MPE: hot springs and zipline extra

Day 4 · Llactapata → Hidroeléctrica → Aguas Calientes · 2 h ↑ · 1,5 h ↓ · 3 h Gleise

The first view of Machu Picchu – from across the valley.

Two hours up an original Inca trail to Llactapata, down to Hidroeléctrica. Then train or three hours along the tracks. Night in a hotel.

2,700mAguas Calientes

What differs here✓Premium: Hidroeléctrica train included✕Classic: train on site ≈ USD 35 or on foot✓Hotel night with all four

Day 5 · Machu Picchu → Cusco · 2 h Führung

Arriving like everyone else – after four days no one else had.

First buses up, two-hour guided visit, back to Aguas Calientes, train to Ollantaytambo, transfer to Cusco in the evening.

2,430mCusco

What differs here✓Salkantay Trekking: ticket, bus up, return train included✕MPE: ticket, bus and return organised by you✕Bus down: Premium only

The route in stages: altitudes and itineraries from the operator data, photos illustrate the places. The boxes show where the four compared offers differ at the same spot.

Stops and walking times from the operator's Viator product data, edited for length. Maps and figures illustrate the route and are not for navigation.

4 or 5 days: the same pass, a different third day

Salkantay Trekking's short version does not cut the altitude but the cloud-forest climb. On day three you walk five hours through the Santa Teresa valley to Granadilla, a vehicle takes you to the coffee farm at La Playa, and from there you walk along the tracks to Aguas Calientes. Llactapata with the first view of Machu Picchu, the night in Lucmabamba and the descent to Hidroeléctrica are dropped.

What stays the same: pickup at 5 am, Humantay Lake, the pass, Sky Camp and Mountain Sky View, the hotel night in Aguas Calientes, bus up, two-hour guided visit, train to Ollantaytambo and transfer to Cusco. The list price is USD 65 below the classic version.

With five days you get the more complete trek in the classic version. With four days the short version costs you the day many describe as the best of the second half – a question of time, not fitness: day four with Llactapata is easier than day two with the pass.

Getting back from Aguas Calientes

On the last day you take one of the first buses (from about 5:30 am, roughly 25 minutes) from Aguas Calientes up to the Machu Picchu gate. After the tour you return to town – on foot down the steps (about an hour) or by bus, which only Premium includes. The train to Ollantaytambo (about ninety minutes) and the transfer to Cusco (about two hours) are included in the three Salkantay Trekking variants; not with Machu Picchu Expeditions. Expect to reach Cusco in the evening.

When to go: dry season, rainy season, cloud forest

Cusco and the highlands have a dry season from May to September with clear days and cold nights – at Sky Camp at 3,900 m the temperature regularly drops below freezing. The rainy season runs from November to March, with January and February the wettest; the cloud forest from day three is humid all year. Unlike the Inca Trail, which closes in February for maintenance, the Salkantay route is not closed. The operators run year-round; none of the four names seasonal prices or closure months in the product data.

The UK Foreign Office notes that strikes and protests in the Cusco region occasionally disrupt train services to Machu Picchu. Salkantay Trekking reserves the right to change the itinerary for safety reasons; a buffer day in Cusco after the trek is not a luxury.

Questions about the route

Sources and check status