Salkantay Expedition
Lima, Cusco at 11,150 ft, the Sacred Valley, and then five days walking to Machu Picchu the open way: past Humantay Lake, over a 15,190 ft pass under Salkantay's glacier, and down through cloud forest and coffee country until the citadel first shows itself across the valley at Llactapata. The nights along the trail are glass cabins, domes, and a jungle eco-lodge, not tents, and the route needs no trail permit, so it can be planned around your dates.
The trip
Day by day
Day 1 · Lima
Arrive in Lima
A late-afternoon landing and a straight run into Miraflores, the district Lima built along the cliff edge above the Pacific. The clifftop is a chain of parks the length of the neighborhood, with paragliders working the updraft off the face. The evening is open on purpose: two nights at sea level make Cusco, two miles higher, much easier.
Overnight in Lima
Day 2 · Lima
Lima City Exploration, Larco Museum, and Water Circuit
A guided day through Lima's historic center, laid out by Pizarro in 1535 and run as the capital of Spanish South America for the next two hundred years. Then the Larco Museum and its five thousand years of Peruvian gold, ceramics and textiles. The evening is the Magic Water Circuit, where the fountains in the old city park run to music after dark.
Overnight in Lima (Breakfast)
Day 3 · Lima to Cusco
Cusco City Tour and Sacsayhuaman Ruins Discovery
Cusco sits at 11,150 feet, so the first few hours are yours to settle in and the sightseeing waits until afternoon. It starts at Qoricancha, where the Spanish built a church straight onto the Temple of the Sun, then climbs to Sacsayhuaman, the fortress above the old capital, with the whole city open below. Last is the little lookout fort at Puka Pukara, out where the road turns down toward the Sacred Valley.
Flight: Lima (LIM) to Cusco (CUZ)
Overnight in Cusco (Breakfast)
Day 4 · Cusco
Sacred Valley: Pisac Market and Ollantaytambo
A full day down into the Sacred Valley, which runs lower and warmer than Cusco. The morning is Pisac, market stalls filling the square and Inca terraces curving around the hillside above it. Then the stone stairs at Ollantaytambo, the one place the Inca turned back Spanish cavalry, by flooding the plain below the fortress. Back in Cusco by evening.
Overnight in Cusco (Breakfast, Lunch)
Day 5 · Cusco to Salkantay Trek
Cusco to Soraypampa and Humantay Lake
The van leaves Cusco before first light, and breakfast comes in a village along the way. The walking starts gently across the Soraypampa plain, then climbs to Humantay Lake, glacier-fed and improbably turquoise under the ice wall that feeds it. Back down at camp (12,467 ft) the afternoon ends with dinner under Salkantay itself, and the night in a glass-roofed cabin built for exactly this sky.
Overnight: Trail camp (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Day 6 · Salkantay Trek
Over the Salkantay Pass
The highest ground of the whole trip comes before lunch. Three hours of steady climbing end at the Salkantay Pass, 15,190 ft, with the glacier hanging close enough to hear it crack. Everything after is downhill: out of the rock and ice and into the first green of the cloud forest, to a domed camp at Wayracmachay.
Overnight: Trail camp (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Day 7 · Salkantay Trek
Down into the cloud forest
The longest walking day, and all of it descending into warmth. The trail follows the river down through orchids and waterfalls into coffee country around Collpapampa (9,678 ft), where the fruit trees start. It ends at a small eco-lodge at Loreta, with hot showers and a jungle evening a vertical mile below where the day began.
Overnight: Trail camp (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Day 8 · Salkantay Trek
Llactapata to Machu Picchu Town
A morning's climb through coffee farms ends at Llactapata (8,861 ft), the ruined outpost the Incas placed exactly where Machu Picchu first shows itself across the valley. That first sighting is the day's summit. The trail drops to the river at Hidroelectrica, and the last stretch runs flat beside the rails into Machu Picchu Town, where a hotel bed and a hot shower stand in for the tent.
Overnight: Machu Picchu Town (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Day 9 · Salkantay Trek to Cusco
Machu Picchu and the train back to Cusco
One of the first buses up the switchbacks, and the citadel opens below the morning mist with the mountain you crossed four days ago on the horizon behind it. Your guide walks you from the upper terraces, where the whole city is laid out at once, down through the temples and plazas. After your visit to the Machu Picchu sanctuary, the train follows the Urubamba out of the canyon and a private van has you back in Cusco by early evening.
Overnight in Cusco (Breakfast)
Day 10 · Cusco
Departure
If the flight out is late enough, there is a last morning in Cusco: the steep lanes of San Blas, the artisan workshops, the market stalls off the main square. Then the transfer to the airport and your onward connection.
Meals: Breakfast
End of the adventure. Until the next one, bon voyage!
On the ground
Where you stay
- Lima (2 nights)
- Cusco (3 nights)
- Salkantay Trek · Trail camp (3 nights)
- Machu Picchu Town (1 night)
4-star and 5-star hotel upgrades available on request.
The package
What's included
- 9 nights accommodation
- Meals: 9 breakfasts, 5 lunches and 4 dinners
- All ground transfers
- Guided tours and excursions
- Entrance tickets and permits
Not included
- Flights into Lima (LIM) and home from Cusco (CUZ)
- Domestic flights
- Day 3: Lima (LIM) to Cusco (CUZ)
- Meals not noted on the itinerary
- Travel insurance
- Tips and personal expenses
- International flights
Pricing
What moves the price
Season, hotel standard, and train class move the price most. Peak dates (Inti Raymi, Fiestas Patrias, Christmas and New Year) carry supplements.
Prices shown are for 2026. Inquire to check rates for future years.
Next step
Check my dates
Tell us your dates and who is travelling, and a trip specialist replies personally to confirm your dates and put the plan in writing.
- 1.A specialist checks your dates against the current access rules and what is still open: entry, train seats, and rooms.
- 2.You receive a written proposal with confirmed availability, your price, and payment timing.
- 3.A deposit reserves the trip and confirms your entry.