Peru » Cusco

Salkantay Trek Cusco: 5 Days Machu Picchu & Mountain Camping

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Duration5d

GroupUp to 15

LanguagesEN · ES

PickupAt your hotel

Five days crossing Peru's highest pass to reach Machu Picchu on foot

You walk 73 kilometers over five days from Cusco, crossing the Salkantay Pass at 4,650 meters and descending into subtropical jungle before reaching Machu Picchu. The trek includes all camping equipment, meals prepared by a chef, a professional guide, train tickets, and entry to the citadel. You sleep in tents four nights and a hostel one night, and return to Cusco by train and bus on the final evening.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Cusco to Soraypampa via Mollepata

Leave Cusco at 04:30 by bus
Arrive Mollepata and have breakfast
Hike uphill to Cruzpata
Lunch in Cruzpata
Relax at Soraypampa campsite
Optional hike to Humantay Lake
Descend to Soraypampa campsite
Tea time and dinner
Overnight in tents

Day 2 — Hike from Soraypampa to Chaullay

Early breakfast at Soraypampa
Resume hike at 06:30
Enjoy views of Salkantay and surrounding peaks
Lunch in Huayracmachay
Downhill hike to Chaullay campsite
Dinner and overnight camping

Day 3 — Chaullay to Santa Teresa (La Playa)

Wake up and drink coca tea
Start hike at 07:00
Hike through Peruvian Jungle border
Observe subtropical plants and wildlife
See banana and coffee plantations
Meet local people along the way
Arrive at La Playa campsite
Dinner and overnight camping

Day 4 — Santa Teresa to Aguas Calientes

Breakfast in Santa Teresa
Hike uphill through plantations
Walk along Vilcanota river banks
Visit Oroya canopy bridge
View Machu Picchu and Wayna Picchu mountains
Take train from Hydroelectric to Aguas Calientes
Dinner and overnight in hostel

Day 5 — Machu Picchu tour and return to Cusco

Hike up to Machu Picchu
Guided tour of Machu Picchu
Free time in Aguas Calientes
Optional visit to hot springs
Train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo
Transfer from Ollantaytambo to Cusco

The Experience

The bus leaves Cusco at 4:30 in the dark. By the time you reach Mollepata two and a half hours later, the sun is up and the real walk begins—a steady climb toward Cruzpata at 3,100 meters, where the air thins and the Apurímac canyon opens below you, one of the deepest gorges in Peru. The Salkantay Trek covers 73 kilometers over five days, and it's not the shortest way to Machu Picchu, but it's the one that takes you through the mountains instead of around them. You'll camp four nights, eat what the trek's chef cooks in a tent kitchen, and on the first evening you have a choice: hike up to the turquoise waters of Lake Humantay at 4,220 meters, or rest at the Soraypampa campsite and recover before the harder days ahead.

Day two is the spine of the trek. You leave camp at 6:30 in the morning and climb toward the Salkantay Pass itself—6,264 meters, snow-capped, the second-highest peak in Cusco's region—visible for hours as you walk the Peruvian highlands. The views don't stop: Humantay and Huayanay mountains, small glacial lakes, white rivers cutting through moraines. After five hours you eat lunch at Huayracmachay, then descend another two to three hours to Chaullay at 2,920 meters. That's roughly 20 kilometers in a single day, and you feel it. The campsite is quiet. Dinner comes hot.

On day three the landscape shifts. The hike starts at 7 a.m. and for the first three hours you're still in the high country, but then the jungle begins—the western edge of it, subtropical and dense. Banana trees, coffee plantations, passion fruit fields. You'll meet local people who live along the trail, and the whole day is nine kilometers of walking through a world that looks nothing like the mountains you left behind. By evening you're at La Playa in Santa Teresa, at 2,400 meters, and the air is warm.

Day four takes you down the Vilcanota river valley toward the hydroelectric station. Around mid-morning, from Sahuayaco, you get your first real glimpse of Machu Picchu itself—the mountain rising above the jungle. You hike about 10 kilometers, then board a train from the hydroelectric to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of the citadel. You sleep in a hostel with hot water and wifi. If you want, the town's hot springs are there to soak in.

The last morning you hike up to Machu Picchu before the crowds arrive. A professional bilingual guide takes you through the citadel for about two hours, pointing out the stonework, the terraces, the way the Inca built it into the ridge. Then you have the afternoon free in Aguas Calientes. At 6:45 p.m. you board the train back to Ollantaytambo, and from there a bus carries you back to Cusco, arriving around 10:30 p.m. The trek is done. Your legs know it.

What’s included

Your five days include hotel pickup in Cusco, a briefing the day before, transport to Mollepata, all meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day except the last), high-quality camping equipment with a two-person tent, an eating tent with table and chairs, a professional bilingual guide in Spanish and English, a first-aid kit, the train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo, a bus transfer back to Cusco, and full entry to Machu Picchu with a guided tour on the final morning.

Good to know

Moderate physical levelInfant seats availableNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problemsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by inca machu picchu tours

Is this one for you?This trek suits travelers who want to reach Machu Picchu on foot and don't mind sleeping in tents—the five-day walk is what makes the high pass and the jungle descent possible in one journey, and the camping is what keeps the cost accessible compared to lodge-based treks.