Salkantay vs Inca Trail: the differences that carry the decision

Permits and lead time: why many end up on the Salkantay

The classic Inca Trail is the only route to Machu Picchu for which the Peruvian state issues a daily quota of permits – for hikers and crew together. Permits are personal, bought with your passport number and non-transferable. In the high season from May to September they are often gone four to six months ahead. If you want to hike in February you have no choice: the Inca Trail is closed that month for maintenance.

The Salkantay has no such quota. The only scarce item is entry to Machu Picchu itself – and both routes need that. Salkantay Trekking puts it honestly: circuit 2 only when booked about five months ahead, otherwise circuit 3, then 1. So if you are late, the Salkantay still has a place for you; the Machu Picchu ticket then only decides your route through the site, not your access.

Altitude, scenery and demands

The Inca Trail climbs to Dead Woman's Pass at 4,215 m on day two, then drops past ruins and stairways and reaches the Sun Gate Inti Punku on the fourth morning, from where you see Machu Picchu for the first time. The path is original paving for long stretches; the stairs are the challenge, not the altitude.

The Salkantay climbs to 4,630 m on day two – a good 400 m higher than the Inca Trail – and drops 1,700 m the same day. Instead of ruins it offers the Salkantay glacier, Humantay Lake, the transition from highland to cloud forest with coffee and banana plantations and, on day four, Llactapata with the view of Machu Picchu from across the valley. Ruins en route: only Llactapata. Altitude: more. Variety of scenery: more. Historic substance of the path: less.

How you arrive at Machu Picchu

This is the difference many underestimate. On the Inca Trail you enter Machu Picchu on foot through the Sun Gate, usually early on the morning of day four, with the group you have walked with for three days. On the Salkantay the walking ends in Aguas Calientes; you sleep in a hotel, shower, eat in a restaurant and take the bus up the next morning – like every other day visitor. The guided tour is the same, the arrival is not.

Both routes end with the train to Ollantaytambo and the transfer to Cusco; the compared Inca Trail products include the bus down and the train (TreXperience: Vistadome or 360°; Alpaca: Expedition, with Vistadome for bookings from March 2026 per the operator data – a statement that contradicts itself in the data and needs clarifying before booking).

Comfort: tents versus fixed camps

On the Inca Trail you sleep in tents that porters pitch at the state-designated campsites; toilets are the campsite toilets or the company's own chemical toilet (Alpaca lists a “portable chemical toilet only for our groups”). Porters carry tent, kitchen and up to 7 kg of your things.

On the Salkantay the camps are the operators' fixed installations: glass-roofed huts at Sky Camp, domes in the jungle, permanent dining rooms, in part electricity and hot showers (Machu Picchu Expeditions excludes “hot shower”, Salkantay Trekking does not mention them). Horses carry 5 to 10 kg of your things. The last night is a hotel with all four Salkantay products.

Budget: close together once everything is in

The two Inca Trail products from our Inca Trail comparison are listed at USD 840 (TreXperience, 4 days) and USD 835 (Alpaca Expeditions, 4 days); both include Machu Picchu entry, porters up to 7 kg, a private toilet and the train back – only TreXperience expressly lists the permit. Sleeping bag, mat and poles are rental gear with both. Salkantay Trekking's classic versions at USD 695 and 760 sit at a similar level and include ticket, hotel night and return train. The difference in total budget is under USD 100; what decides is permit availability, month of travel and how you want to arrive – not the price.

The Inca Trail products are candidates here, not recommendations: with TreXperience a general exclusion of “entrance fees” contradicts the included tickets, with Alpaca the train class is stated twice. We resolve both before this becomes a separate Inca Trail page.

Both routes side by side

Questions about the comparison

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