Best Treks from Cusco, Compared Side by Side

Short answer: The Classic Inca Trail is the trek to book if you can get a permit and you want to walk into Machu Picchu through the Sun Gate past five Inca sites. Salkantay is the pick for mountain scenery with no permit, Lares for Quechua villages and hot springs, Inca Jungle for a warm, varied four days with a bike ride, and Choquequirao for an Inca city you share with a handful of people. That is our ranking, built on what you see and how you arrive, and the table below lets you rank them your own way by days, altitude, comfort and price.

The treks compared

Every multi-day trek we run from Cusco is in the table, with the numbers that decide most choices: how many days, how high you go, whether a permit is needed, where you sleep and the price per person in a shared group. Altitudes are the high point of the route. Prices are the from price in the catalog, per person, and the Short Inca Trail is a new product without a published price yet.

Three patterns jump out. Only the Inca Trail routes need a permit, and they sell out months ahead. Only Choquequirao fails to end at Machu Picchu. And the highest trek, Lares at 15,420 ft (4,700 m), is not the hardest: Choquequirao, which never goes above 10,010 ft (3,050 m), has the two hardest climbs of all of them because of its canyon.

Each trek, explained

Classic Inca Trail, 4 days

About 26 mi (43 km) of Inca road from KM 82 over Dead Woman's Pass at 13,829 ft (4,215 m) to the Sun Gate, with 3 nights in tents. It is the only route with Inca sites you cannot reach any other way, Llactapata, Runkurakay, Sayacmarca, Phuyupatamarca and Wiñay Wayna, and the only one that enters Machu Picchu on foot from above. The price of that is the permit, 500 a day including staff and gone months ahead in the dry season, and the stairs on days 2 and 3, which punish knees. Book it if you can plan early and climb 3,000 ft of steps with a daypack. Our Classic Inca Trail 4 days costs US$797 with the permit, guide, cook, porters and camping. The permits guide explains when to book, and the day-by-day Inca Trail guide has the map.

Short Inca Trail, 2 days

The last 7.5 mi (12 km) of the same road, from KM 104 past Wiñay Wayna to the Sun Gate in one long day, then a hotel in Aguas Calientes and a guided Machu Picchu visit the next morning. No tent, no pass above 8,920 ft (2,720 m), and the same arrival through the gate. It needs its own permit, 250 a day on that route. Pick it if you have two days or you want the Inca Trail without camping. Our Short Inca Trail 2 days is a new departure, priced on request.

Salkantay trek, 5 days

Five days and about 45 mi (72 km) from Soraypampa past Humantay Lake over the Salkantay Pass at 15,190 ft (4,630 m), down through cloud forest and coffee farms to Aguas Calientes, then Machu Picchu by bus with a guide. Higher than the Inca Trail, mostly on dirt instead of stone steps, no permit, and glaciers close enough to hear them crack. Nights at Soraypampa drop below freezing. Pick it if the Inca Trail is sold out, if your knees hate stairs, or if mountains matter more to you than ruins on the way. Our Salkantay trek 5 days costs US$707. Read the Salkantay trek guide for the day-by-day and the Salkantay vs Inca Trail comparison if you are torn between the two.

Lares trek, 4 days

One real trekking day across the Huacahuasi Pass at 15,420 ft (4,700 m) between glacier lakes, framed by a soak in the Lares hot springs on day 1 and a night at a weaving family's farm, then the train to Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu on day 4. The walking is on dirt paths past alpaca herds and villages where people still weave their own cloth. Pick it if you want the people of the Andes as much as the mountains, and a gentler trek with one big day. No permit. Our Lares trek 4 days costs US$787.

Inca Jungle trail, 4 days

The active, warm way in: a mountain bike descent of about 34 mi (55 km) from the Abra Málaga pass at 14,160 ft (4,316 m), two days of walking through coffee and cacao country with the Cocalmayo hot springs on the way, a flat walk along the railway to Aguas Calientes, and Machu Picchu on day 4. After day 1 you never sleep above 6,560 ft (2,000 m). Pick it if you are in your twenties to fifties, want variety over one big climb, and like warm nights. You need to be able to brake and hold a line on a paved road with traffic. Our Inca Jungle trail 4 days costs US$607.

Choquequirao trek, 4 days

Four days from Cachora down into the Apurímac canyon and up to Choquequirao, an Inca city at about 10,010 ft (3,050 m) with no road to it, then back out the same way. The site is large, mostly unexcavated and almost empty of visitors. The trek is the hardest we run: a descent of about 4,640 ft (1,415 m) on day 1, a climb of more than 5,000 ft (1,550 m) in canyon heat on day 2, and the climb back out on day 4. It does not reach Machu Picchu. Pick it if you hike big days at home and want an Inca site to yourself. Our Choquequirao trek 4 days costs US$767, and our Choquequirao guide describes the site.

Huchuy Qosqo trek, 2 days

Our shortest overnight: a climb of about 2,300 ft (710 m) from Lamay in the Sacred Valley to the Inca estate of Huchuy Qosqo at 11,980 ft (3,650 m), a night beside the ruins, sunrise over the valley, and the walk down. About 12 mi (20 km) in total. Pick it as a first night out in the Andes, or as a warm-up before Salkantay or the Inca Trail later in the week. Our Huchuy Qosqo trek 2 days costs from US$267.

How to choose

By days: two days, the Short Inca Trail or Huchuy Qosqo. Four days, Inca Trail, Lares or Inca Jungle. Five, Salkantay. By effort: Inca Jungle and Lares are the gentlest multi-day routes, the Inca Trail and Salkantay are demanding, Choquequirao is very demanding. By what you want to see: ruins on the trail, Inca Trail. Glaciers, Salkantay. Villages, Lares. An empty Inca city, Choquequirao. By flexibility: you book everything except the Inca Trail routes a few weeks ahead, but Machu Picchu tickets and trains sell out from May to August. Whatever you pick, sleep two or three nights in Cusco first. Our Cusco altitude guide explains why. You can browse all our treks on one page.

Day hikes when you have one day only

If you have a single free day, the hikes from Cusco go higher than the treks and get you back to a hotel bed. Humantay Lake at 13,780 ft (4,200 m) is a steep 1.5-hour climb to a turquoise glacier lake under Salkantay, our first pick for most people, at US$137. Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca) at 16,522 ft (5,036 m) is the famous striped ridge, a 90-minute to 2-hour climb in thin air, at US$137. Palccoyo at about 16,076 ft (4,900 m) shows three striped hills from a near-flat 20-minute walk, the gentle option at US$137. Pallay Punchu, the striped fins above Lake Langui Layo at about 15,420 ft (4,700 m), is the quiet one with the longest drive, at US$147.

For hikers who want a real day: the Ausangate 7 Lakes loop climbs to 15,940 ft (4,860 m) past seven glacial lakes, the hardest day hike we run, at US$147. Waqrapukara, an Inca site on a two-horned rock above the Apurímac canyon at about 14,110 ft (4,300 m), costs US$147. The Huchuy Qosqo day hike walks down from the plateau at about 13,780 ft (4,200 m) to the ruins and the valley, from US$137. All of them need two nights in Cusco first, and all of them are listed under our day trips from Cusco.

Sources

• Reglamento de Uso Turístico Sostenible de la Red de Caminos Inka (SERNANP and Ministerio de Cultura): permits, capacity, routes
• Dirección Desconcentrada de Cultura Cusco, Inca Trail spaces per day
• Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, Wikipedia
• Choquequirao, Wikipedia
• MINCETUR, Inventario de Recursos Turísticos, Montaña Winikunka
• CDC Yellow Book, High Altitude Travel and Altitude Illness