Rainbow Mountain, Humantay, Sacred Valley, city tour. From US$27.
All 15 packages
Lima, Nazca, Cusco, Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca, 6 to 15 days.
All 6 packages
Machu Picchu, both shores of Lake Titicaca, La Paz and Uyuni. 10 to 15 days.
All 8 packages
Cusco, Machu Picchu, a lake ceremony at Llachón and a night on Amantaní, 5 to 12 days.
All 4 packages
Uros, Taquile and the Aymara shore from Puno, or as part of a longer trip.
All 15 packages
Where do you want to go?
The Inca citadel at 2,430 m (7,970 ft) above the Urubamba River, 3.5 hours from Cusco by road and train, visited on a timed ticket with a guide.
29 packages include itExplore Machu PicchuThe Inca capital at 3,400 m (11,150 ft), 1 hour 20 minutes by air from Lima, where every Machu Picchu trip and every trek starts.
24 packages include itExplore CuscoThe Urubamba River valley between Pisac and Ollantaytambo, about 2,870 m (9,416 ft), one hour north of Cusco and on the train line to Machu Picchu.
25 packages include itExplore Sacred ValleyThe lake on the Peru and Bolivia border at 3,812 m (12,507 ft): the Uros reed islands, Taquile and the Aymara shore, reached from Puno.
15 packages include itExplore Lake Titicaca and PunoVinicunca, a striped mineral ridge at 5,036 m (16,522 ft) south of Cusco, reached by a 3-hour drive and a 90-minute to 2-hour uphill walk.
3 packages include itExplore Rainbow MountainA turquoise glacier lake at 4,200 m (13,780 ft) under the Humantay peak, three hours from Cusco by road plus a 90-minute uphill walk from Soraypampa.
3 packages include itExplore Humantay LakeThe Inca stone road into Machu Picchu: 43 km (26 mi) in 4 days from km 82, over Dead Woman's Pass at 4,215 m (13,829 ft), on a permit limited to 500 people a day.
1 package includes itExplore Inca TrailPeru's capital at sea level, where every trip lands, plus the desert coast to the south: Pachacamac, Paracas, Huacachina and the Nazca Lines.
13 packages include itExplore Lima and the coastThe Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca (Copacabana, Isla del Sol), La Paz and the Uyuni salt flats, reached by road from Puno in our Peru and Bolivia tours.
7 packages include itExplore BoliviaPhotos: Hike.in.peru, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (source); McKay Savage from London, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (source); McKay Savage from London, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (source); Mike W., CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (source)
The Lares trek is for travelers who care as much about the people of the Andes as about the mountains. You walk between Quechua farming villages where families still herd alpacas and weave their own cloth, you cross one high pass, and you finish at Machu Picchu by train. It needs no Inca Trail permit. If you want the biggest glacier views and a longer walk into Machu Picchu, the Salkantay trek 5 days fits better.
Day 1 is mostly road, with a soak in the Lares hot springs and a short walk to camp at Sondor, around 12,800 ft (3,900 m), where a local family hosts the group. Day 2 is the trekking day: about two hours up to the Huacahuasi Pass at 15,420 ft (4,700 m), lunch by the lakes of Auroray Cocha and Yurac Cocha, then a long descent through a queuña forest. Day 3 brings you down to Ollantaytambo and the train. Day 4 is Machu Picchu.
You walk less than on the other multi-day treks, with roughly one and a half real hiking days. The single pass is higher than Dead Woman's Pass on the Inca Trail, and you reach it on your second morning, so acclimatize in Cusco for two or three nights first. In return you get the quietest trail of our treks and real time with the families who live along it. To see all the routes side by side, compare the treks.
One service level, priced per person on shared service: Full trekking service from US$787. It covers the crew, the camps, the hotel night in Aguas Calientes, the train and the Machu Picchu ticket. Your Cusco hotel is separate. Single travelers and quotes for your own group go through the free quote form.
Pick the day you leave Cusco. The trek runs all year with no trail permit, as long as Machu Picchu tickets and train seats are left for day 4.
Send the free quote form with your date and every hiker's passport data exactly as printed. For June to August, ask two to three months ahead. We confirm ticket, train and hotel before you pay.
Open a day to see the hours, the altitude and where you sleep. Times are the ones our guides actually keep.
Camp at Sondor, about 12,800 ft (3,900 m)
Shared van over the hills to the Sacred Valley at about 9,190 ft (2,800 m), with a stop for breakfast at your own cost.
The town of Lares sits at about 10,660 ft (3,250 m). The pools run 82 to 93°F (28 to 34°C). Bring a swimsuit and a quick-dry towel in your daypack.
The hike starts at the village of Cuncani, about 12,140 ft (3,700 m), and climbs gently to Sondor at about 12,800 ft (3,900 m). Llamas and alpacas graze along the way.
The family that hosts the camp shows how they spin and dye alpaca wool and weave on a backstrap loom. Ask before taking photos of people. If you like a piece, buying it here pays the weaver directly.
Camp at Pucara, about 9,840 ft (3,000 m), high point 15,420 ft (4,700 m)
About two hours of steady climbing to 15,420 ft (4,700 m). The trail is a dirt path, not stone steps, and the pace is yours. The snow peaks of the Urubamba range show up around the last bend.
Two glacier lakes below the pass. Lunch is here, and the cook brings it up with the mules.
A stand of queuña (Polylepis), the twisted red-barked trees that grow higher than almost any other tree on earth. Watch for Andean birds.
More than 5,500 ft (about 1,700 m) of descent from the pass, with views over the Sacred Valley at the end. Your knees will feel it. Use your poles.
Hotel night in Aguas Calientes, 6,690 ft (2,040 m), high point about 9,840 ft (3,000 m)
The last stretch takes you down to Ollantaytambo, about 9,350 ft (2,850 m), an Inca town where people still live in houses built on Inca walls.
A walk through the old town and up to the Inca storehouses of Pinkuylluna on the hill facing the main ruins.
About 1 hour 40 minutes along the Urubamba River. Free evening in Aguas Calientes, dinner on your own.
Back in Cusco at night (hotel not included), Machu Picchu at 7,970 ft (2,430 m)
Consettur bus up the switchbacks, about 25 minutes. The ride down is paid separately.
Your guide walks you through the temples, terraces and viewpoints on the circuit booked for your date. Then you have some free time inside the rules of your ticket.
About 1 hour 40 minutes on the train and about two hours by road. You reach Cusco at night.
The route leaves the Sacred Valley for the Lares valley, crosses the Huacahuasi Pass and comes back down to Ollantaytambo for the train to Machu Picchu.
Sacred Lake Titikaka is new; these are public Tripadvisor reviews of Viajes Cusco Perú, the family agency that operates every package on this site.
Reviews shown: Viajes Cusco Perú travelers (sample of public Tripadvisor reviews, read Sep 30, 2026).
"Incredible experience!! Beautiful landscape and beautiful people. We were lucky to be guided by Vladimir, who with his lovely personality and amazing knowledge made this trip a great learning experience."
"All the tours I did (Machu, Humantay Lake, Rainbow Mountain, Sacred Valley) were spectacular!!! From picking me up at the hotel (always punctual and attentive, notifying about everything!) to the guides I had who were also excellent."
"I came to this agency by recommendation and, after traveling with them on two occasions, I can say that it was an excellent decision. I must highlight the professionalism of the guides, who made every tour very interesting and safe."
Everything we get asked about this package before people book.
Moderate walking with one demanding climb. Day 2 goes up about two hours to the Huacahuasi Pass at 15,420 ft (4,700 m) and then descends for most of the afternoon. The other days carry little hiking. Altitude, not distance, is what decides how you feel, so acclimatize first.
Yes. On night 1 at Sondor a Quechua family hosts the camp and shows how they spin, dye and weave alpaca wool. On day 2 you pass herders and small farms. Buying a textile from the weaver is the most direct way to support them.
Lares if you want village life, hot springs and fewer hikers, with one high pass. Salkantay if you want glacier views, more days of hiking and the walk into Aguas Calientes on foot. Both end at Machu Picchu and neither needs an Inca Trail permit.
No Inca Trail permit is needed. You do need a Machu Picchu ticket in your name and train seats, and both sell out from May to August. Send us your passport data with the booking so we can buy them.
By train. On day 3 you come down to Ollantaytambo and ride the train to Aguas Calientes, about 1 hour 40 minutes. On day 4 the bus takes you up to the citadel for the guided visit.
Two nights in tents, at Sondor near the host family and at Pucara below the pass, and one night in a hotel in Aguas Calientes before Machu Picchu. Bring or rent a warm sleeping bag for the camps.
Shorter, longer, or a different route.
Bike down from the Abra Málaga pass, hike through coffee country to the Cocalmayo hot springs, walk the railway to Aguas Calientes and tour Machu Picchu on day 4. No camping above 7,000 ft.
Four days down into the Apurímac canyon and up to Choquequirao, a large Inca site with no road to it, then back out the same way. Guide, cook, pack animals and camping included.
Four days and about 26 miles on the Inca road from KM 82 over Dead Woman's Pass (13,830 ft) to the Sun Gate and Machu Picchu. Permit, guide, cook, porters and camping included.
