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Salkantay Trek Cusco: 5 Days Machu Picchu & Glass Cabins

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Duration5d

GroupUp to 14

LanguagesEN · ES

PickupAt your hotel

Five days hiking the Andes to Machu Picchu, sleeping in glass domes and a hobbit house

You hike five days from Cusco through the Andes to Machu Picchu, sleeping in glass cabins, glass domes, and a hobbit house built into the jungle. The trek includes all meals, an English-speaking guide, a personal porter, entry fees to three sites, and the train ride back. You need moderate fitness — the highest point is 4,630 meters and the longest day is eight hours of hiking — but the pace is built around acclimatization and the accommodations between days are genuinely comfortable.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Cusco to Soraypampa and Humantay Lake

Hotel pickup in Cusco early morning
Drive to Mollepata, stop for breakfast
Continue to Challacancha, organize gear
Hike uphill to Soraypampa
Lunch at Glass Cabañas
Afternoon hike to Humantay Lagoon
Return to Soraypampa
Peruvian cooking class and dinner
Overnight at Glass Cabañas

Day 2 — Salkantay Pass Trek and Wayracmachay

Breakfast at Glass Cabañas
Hike to Salkantay Pampa
Climb to Soyrococha, lunch served
Reach Salkantay Pass, honor Pachamama
Descend to Wayracmachay camp
Dinner and overnight in Glass Domes

Day 3 — Wayracmachay to Loreta Hobbit House

Breakfast with tea in room
Hike downhill to Rayanpata
Short break, continue to Colpapampa
Jungle-inspired lunch at Colpapampa
Hike through jungle to Loreta
Rest at Hobbit House eco-lodge

Day 4 — Lucmabamba to Aguas Calientes

Breakfast at Hobbit House
Drive to Lucmabamba
Hike uphill on Inca Trail to Llactapata
Tour archaeological site at Llactapata
Descend to Hidroelectrica, lunch
Walk along railway to Aguas Calientes
Check-in and rest at hotel

Day 5 — Machu Picchu Tour and Return

Early wake-up with hot drink
Breakfast prepared by trekking chef
Hike downhill to Hidroelectrica Station
Visit Intiwatana sun-dial rock
Walk along train tracks to Aguas Calientes
Hot shower and rest at hotel
Final dinner with trekking chef

The Experience

You wake up at 4 AM in Cusco and think, "This is actually happening." The pickup comes early, and after two hours driving through Anta and Limatambo toward Mollepata, you stop for breakfast at a local restaurant before the real work starts. The first day is gentler than you expect — a 1.5-hour uphill walk to Soraypampa, where the Glass Cabañas sit at 4,100 meters with views that make the early start make sense. After lunch you hike another 1.5 hours to Humantay Lagoon, a turquoise lake fed by glaciers at 5,960 meters, and then you're back at the cabins by 4 PM. That evening there's a Peruvian cooking class, which feels less like a tourist activity and more like the guides actually want you to understand what you're eating.

Day two is the hardest — the Salkantay Trek's main event. You start at 5:30 AM with a hot breakfast, then climb for two hours to Salkantay Pampa to rest and see the glacier, then another hour of steep zigzags to Soyrococha where the chef serves lunch right there on the mountain. The pass itself sits at 4,630 meters, and there's a moment where you stop and just look at the snow-capped peaks and the whole Andes spread out, and your guide does a small ceremony honoring Pachamama. After that you descend for 2.5 hours into a green valley and sleep in the Glass Domes at Wayracmachay — you're still high, still cold, but the stars are so bright you don't care.

Day three changes everything. You leave the high Andes and drop into the jungle, and the air gets warm and thick with tropical sounds. The trail is mostly downhill, which your legs appreciate. After two hours you reach Rayanpata where the jungle actually begins, and then another two hours to Colpapampa for a jungle lunch. The last four hours are narrow paths through orchids and coffee fields and waterfalls until you arrive at the Hobbit House in Loreta — an actual eco-lodge built into the forest with hot showers and soft beds. It feels like a different country from where you started.

On day four you hike the original Inca paths. A 30-minute drive gets you to Lucmabamba, then four hours uphill through coffee and banana plantations on ancient stonework to Llactapata, an archaeological site where you can see Machu Picchu in the distance for the first time. After that you descend to Hidroelectrica for lunch with your trekking crew — this is where you tip the porters and say goodbye. Then a three-hour walk along the railway tracks through the Machu Picchu canyon, where you might see orchids, butterflies, Andean cock-of-the-rock birds, or if you're lucky, spectacled bears. You arrive in Aguas Calientes in the late afternoon, shower, and rest.

Your final day is the Machu Picchu visit itself. A two-hour downhill hike from your hotel brings you to Hidroelectrica, where you pass a 300-meter waterfall that powers electricity to Cusco. You visit the Intiwatana stone — the sun-dial rock that aligned with Machu Picchu's own during winter solstice — then walk along the train tracks into the site. The train ticket back to Cusco is included, so you don't have to think about logistics. All meals during the trek are covered except the last lunch, and the operator handles dietary restrictions without fuss.

What’s included

Your five days include hotel pickup and drop-off in Cusco, all meals during the trek except the final lunch, accommodations at the Glass Cabañas, Glass Domes, Hobbit House, and a 3-star hotel in Aguas Calientes, an English-speaking guide, a personal porter, entry fees to Sacred Valley, Salkantay, and Machu Picchu, the train ticket back to Cusco, all private transportation during the trek, drinkable water along the trail, a first aid kit and oxygen tank for safety, and professional chefs and porters. Dietary restrictions are accommodated with advance notice.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelPets welcomePublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by Alpaca Expeditions

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to reach Machu Picchu without arranging your own transport, permits, or guides — the five-day structure and small-group format mean you hike at a sustainable pace and sleep in real beds between days, which is what makes high altitude feel manageable rather than punishing.