Best Treks and Tours in Peru
5day Cheap/Budge Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu
5 Days | 18+ | Starts with 2 people, 15 people max. | Adventure | Available all year |
Tour Overview
Tour Itinerary
DAY 1: CUSCO – MOLLEPATA – SORAYPAMPA
We start the day picking you up from your hotel at 4:30 am. Then we will travel in a tour bus, passing through the towns of Izcuchaca and Limatambo and arriving at Mollepata (2900 meters/ 9500 feet) around 7:30 am. Here we will have to pay the s/ 20.00 soles entrance for humantay lagoon and our first breakfast, we can leave our 5 kilos for our riders. After, we will take a 1 hour shuttle ride to Challacancha (3380 meters/ 11,090 feet). From this point, we will begin our 3 hour hike, arriving at Soraypampa (3900 meters /12,800 feet) around 1:30 pm. There we will eat our first lunch and set up our first campsite. After lunch, we will go to the beautiful Lake Humantay.
LAKE HUMANTAY: After a 1 and ½ hour ascent, we will arrive at the impressive Lake Humantay (4220 meters/13,850 feet) where we can enjoy the turquoise color of the lake and the snowy Humantay Mountain peak. Then we will make our 40 minute descent to our campsite in Soraypampa for tea time, which is at approximately 6:00 pm and after we will eat a delicious dinner prepared for us by our chef. Finally, we will spend the night in our tents.
Walking Distance: (12 km/ 7.4 miles) – 5 hours
DAY 2: SORAYPAMPA – SALKANTAY PASS – COLPAPAMPA
At 5:00 am we will eat a nutritious breakfast so that later we can continue our hike. We will leave from Soraypampa at 5:30 am and hike for 3 hours to the highest point at Abra Salkantay, where we can enjoy views of the snowcapped mountains of Salkantay, Humantay, Tucarhuay, and Pumasillo (4650 meters/ 15,250 feet). As we pass through Salkantaypampa and Soyrococha, we stop to see a small lake, then we will begin the descent towards Huarachmachhay (3 hours) (3800 meters/ 12,470 feet). Here we will eat lunch and then we will continue the hike, taking note of the drastic change in landscape. After, we will continue our descent towards Collpapampa (3 hours) (2900 meters/ 9500 feet) where our second campsite will be.
Walking Distance: (22 km/ 13.7 miles) -10 hours
DAY 3: COLPAPAMPA – PLAYA SAHUAYACO
We will have breakfast at 6.00 a.m. and shortly after begin hiking for 5 ½ hours through the jungle over many ascents and descents. In this area we will pass by many coffee and orchid plantations as well as many other plants used for medicinal purposes. We will arrive at our lunch spot in Playa Sahuayaco as well our campsite at 6.00 pm we have tea and later dinner.
Walking Distance: (14 km/ 8.7 miles)- 5 hours
DAY 4: LUCMABAMBA - LLACTAPATA – HIDROELECTRICA – AGUAS CALIENTES:
After breakfast we start walk about 20 minutes until Lucmabamba before we continue where we will walk 3 hours up to Llactapata and if the day is clear we will be able to observe from the distance part of Machupicchu after 2 hours downhill until Hidroelectrica where we will have lunch in a restaurant. After lunch we will continue our hike for 3 more hours towards Aguas Calientes where we will stay in a hostel and have dinner at 6.30 pm.
Walking Distance: (22 km/ 13.7 miles) – 6 hours
DAY 5: AGUAS CALIENTES – MACHU PICCHU – CUSCO
The grand finale! We will wake up very early this morning for our visit to Machu Picchu, where we will have a guided tour of the citadel to see and learn about temples, terraces, and all of the incredible stone structures that make Machu Picchu a Wonder of the World. For those who have previously selected to climb *Huaynapicchu Mountain or *Machu Picchu Mountain, you will do so at your designated time (1st group: 6am to 8am, 2nd group: 9am to 11am)
After your tour in the park you will return to Aguas Calientes where you will wait for your return train to Ollantaytambo at 14:55 or 21:50. From Ollantaytambo we will take our final return bus back to Cusco.
*Note: ask in advance for availability. 20 USD per person and Take into account if you choose one of the options Huaynapicchu or Machu picchu mountain you will not have guided in the citadel of machupicchu since there is no time for you or another option you can reserved two tickets, one for the visit to the citadel and the other to climb the mountain