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Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu: 5-Day Cusco Hike & Glamping

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Duration5d

GroupUp to 16

LanguagesEN · ES

PickupAt your hotel

The Route Nobody Talks About: Salkantay to Machu Picchu in Five Days

You hike five days from Cusco over Salkantay Pass to Machu Picchu with a professional guide, sleeping in mountain camps and a hotel in Aguas Calientes. The trek includes all meals, transport, gear carrying, and a guided tour of the citadel, with far fewer hikers than the Inca Trail. Book early if you want to climb Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain on the final day — those tickets sell out.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Travel to Soraypampa and Humantay Lake

Pick up at 4 am in Cusco
Drive 2 hours to Mollepata
Optional breakfast stop in Mollepata
Continue to Challacancha
Start hike to Soraypampa
Settle at Private Camp in Soraypampa
Lunch at camp
Hike to Humantay Lake
Dinner and sunset at camp

Day 2 — Hike Salkantay Pass to Collpapampa

Wake up at dawn with coca tea
Breakfast at camp
Trek 7 km to Salkantay Pass
Enjoy views of Salkantay Mountain
Descend to Collpapampa campsite
Dinner and overnight at Sky Huts Camp

Day 3 — Santa Teresa Valley and Hot Springs

Wake up at 6 am for tea and breakfast
Hike from Collpapampa to La Playa
Lunch at La Playa camp
Optional visit to Cocalmayo Hot Springs
Return to camp for tea and dinner
Group bonfire and overnight at Jungle Domes Camp

Day 4 — Inca Trail to Aguas Calientes

Breakfast at camp
Hike Inca Trail to Llactapata ruins
Enjoy views of Machu Picchu
Walk downhill to Hidroelectrica
Lunch at Hidroelectrica
Walk to Aguas Calientes town
Check in to 3 Star Hotel
Dinner at local restaurant

Day 5 — Visit Machu Picchu

Breakfast at hotel
Guided tour of Machu Picchu
Free time to explore site
Optional climb Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain
Optional visit to Sun Gate or Inca Bridge

The Experience

You wake up at 4 am in Cusco, blanket wrapped around you in a van that's already moving. It's dark, the city is still asleep, and you're already on your way to a mountain pass most people have never heard of. That's the Salkantay Trek — the alternative to the Inca Trail that fewer hikers take, which means fewer crowds and a lot more space to breathe. The pickup from your hotel in the historic center happens early because the drive to Challacancha takes two hours, and you'll want daylight when you start walking. After a brief stop in Mollepata for optional breakfast, you're on the trail.

Day one ends at Soraypampa, where you sleep in a cabin with a glass roof and wake to Humantay Lake at 4,200 meters — the kind of blue that doesn't photograph right. Day two is the hardest: a 7-kilometer climb over three hours up the "Trail of the 7 Snakes" to Salkantay Pass at 4,630 meters, where Salkantay Mountain (6,271 masl) sits next to you like a second-highest god in the Cusco region. Your legs know it. You sleep that night at Collpapampa in a Sky Huts camp, and the next morning you drop into the Santa Teresa Valley, where the air gets warmer and the jungle starts to show. There's a coffee tour, a zipline, and Cocalmayo hot springs if you want them — all optional, because sometimes after two days of climbing you just want to sit by a fire and listen to the forest. You sleep in a Jungle Domes camp, where you can see stars through the dome above your bed.

On day four, you walk a section of the actual Inca Trail itself, past Llactapata ruins and down to Hidroeléctrica, where you catch your first real glimpse of Machu Picchu across the valley. Then it's two more hours to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base, where you get a hot shower, a private bathroom, and a 3-star hotel room with wifi. Dinner is at 7 pm at a local restaurant, and you're organized for the final morning. Day five is the citadel itself: a 1.5-hour guided tour with your English or Spanish-speaking guide covering temples, terraces, the sundial, the industrial sector. After that, the site is yours — you can climb Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain if you've booked those tickets in advance, or just walk the Sun Gate and the Inca Bridge at your own pace.

What makes this work is what's included: hotel pickup in Cusco, all meals at camp (with vegetarian and vegan options available), coca tea every morning, a professional chef, horses carrying up to 6 kg of your gear so you don't have to, three nights in glamping camps with electricity to charge your phone, snacks and tea time every afternoon, and the guided tour at Machu Picchu. You get a duffle bag for your belongings, a personal pad and pillow, first-aid equipment, and a pre-trek briefing the night before you leave. It's the kind of detail that means you show up with a backpack and leave with a memory instead of a list of things you forgot to arrange.

What’s included

Hotel pickup from Cusco historic center, private transportation to the trailhead, English or Spanish-speaking professional guide, three nights in glamping accommodation (cabin with glass roof, sky huts, jungle domes with electricity), one night in a 3-star hotel in Aguas Calientes with private bathroom and hot shower, all meals prepared by a professional chef, coca tea every morning, afternoon tea and snacks daily, vegetarian and vegan options available, a duffle bag and horses to carry up to 6 kg of your personal gear, a personal pad and pillow, boiled water for coffee and tea, first-aid equipment and oxygen for emergencies, free luggage storage in Cusco, a 1.5-hour guided tour of Machu Picchu (Circuit 2, departure at 6:00 or 7:00 am), and a pre-trek briefing the evening before departure at the Machu Picchu Expeditions office.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by Machu Picchu Expeditions

Is this one for you?Right for hikers who want Machu Picchu without the Inca Trail crowds and prefer sleeping in mountain camps over hotels — the five-day pace and included meals and gear carrying mean you focus on walking and views instead of logistics.