In shortThe Salkantay trek is the main Inca Trail alternative: about 70 km of highland and Amazonian trail, high point 4,650 m at the pass, lowest point near 2,000 m at Aguas Calientes, April to November advised. It sits outside the Inca Trail network, so the 500-user daily cap and the February closure do not apply, but the citadel ticket must be bought in your name separately.
4,650 mSalkantay pass high point
about 70 kmSalkantay route length
from $480Salkantay 5-day trek
500 users a dayInca Trail routes 01-04 cap
Why most people end up on the Salkantay trek
Permit arithmetic is the first reason. Daily carrying capacity on the classic Inca Trail routes 01 to 04 is fixed at 500 users, and that figure counts guides, porters and cooks, so the walking places are a fraction of it. Route 05 from km 104 takes 250 a day and uses its own paperwork, Annex B-1, for a group of four tourists with official guides, while the Ministry's route 06 is set at 100 users with no opening date announced. No individual can hold a permit: an authorised agency has to buy it, and the 2026 batches opened one month at a time across 27 October to 4 November 2025, each at 9:00 a.m. local time, roughly a year ahead of when most Salkantay walkers start planning.
February removes the question altogether. The Inca Trail network shuts for the whole month for rain-season maintenance, and no reservations exist for February dates, so a walk in that month has to be one of the routes on this page. Nothing has been published yet about when the 2027 permits go on sale.
High season squeezes the rest of the year. Walkers chasing those dates are chasing the citadel's fullest calendar too: 5,600 admissions a day on 1 January, 2 to 5 April, 19 June to 2 November and 30 and 31 December 2026, against 4,500 on all other dates. Those are the same weeks in which permit batches empty first, which is why a June or August traveller who started planning after the release almost always walks Salkantay instead.
Inca Trail alternatives compared
Permit, altitude and nights are the three things that separate these routes. Peru's official gazette describes Salkantay as a crossing of about 70 km of highland and Amazonian trails over four days, climbing to 4,650 m at the pass and ending near 2,000 m at Aguas Calientes. The daily distances published there run roughly 7 km up to the Soraypampa camp at 3,500 m, then 7 km to the pass followed by about 15 km of descent, and about 16 km down to Santa Teresa. The packaged five-day version spreads that same ground over an extra day, which is the one to take if 4,650 m is the highest you have ever walked.
Two rows below are deliberately blank in places. Official Peruvian sources publish a day-by-day profile for Salkantay and the carrying capacities for the Inca Trail network, but they publish no comparable days, high points or sleeping altitudes for the Lares route, and none for the walking sections of the Inca Jungle route. Ask the operator for those numbers in writing before you pay, and treat figures quoted elsewhere as unverified.
| Route | Days | Highest point | Where you sleep | Capped permit | Calendar and conditions |
|---|
| Classic Salkantay Trek, 5 days (tour on this site) | 5 days; the route itself is described officially as a four-day crossing of about 70 km | 4,650 m at the Salkantay pass, lowest point around 2,000 m at Aguas Calientes | Sky domes on three nights, then a hotel room with private bathroom in Aguas Calientes | No, the Inca Trail network capacities do not cover it | April to November is the officially advised window, with temperatures from -5 °C to 26 °C |
|---|
| Inca Trail 4-day trek, routes 01 to 04 (tour on this site) | 4 days | Not published in the official sources used for this page | Camping in 4-man tents used by two people | Yes, 500 users a day including guides, porters and cooks | Network closed every February; 2026 permits released 27 October to 4 November 2025 at 9:00 a.m. |
|---|
| Inca Jungle route | 4 days | Crosses the Málaga pass on the drive in; walking altitudes not published officially | Santa María, Santa Teresa and Aguas Calientes | No | Includes a downhill mountain-bike leg with full protective kit, then the train from Machu Picchu to Ollantaytambo |
|---|
| Lares route | Not published in the official sources used for this page | Not published in the official sources used for this page | Not published in the official sources used for this page | Not one of the Inca Trail network routes 01 to 06 | Get the day-by-day profile and the sleeping altitudes from the operator before booking |
|---|
Salkantay in five days
The 5-day Salkantay trek covers the 4,650 m pass over an extra day, includes the Machu Picchu entrance and puts you in a hotel room in Aguas Calientes the night before the citadel, which is what makes an early entry hour realistic.
★ 4.9/5 · 250 reviews
How these routes join the Sacred Valley and the train
Salkantay reaches the Hidroeléctrica station on day four and continues from there to Aguas Calientes, with the Collcapampa hot springs as a stop on day three. The way in from Hidroeléctrica is flat: 10 km along the railway, 2 to 3 hours on foot, with landslides a wet-season hazard on that stretch. On the five-day tour the train from Hidroeléctrica is not included, and the Lucmabamba to Hidroeléctrica transfer carries the equipment and everyone's bag rather than people.
The Inca Jungle route reaches the same town from the other side, driving out of Cusco over the Málaga pass to Santa María, then sleeping in Santa María, Santa Teresa and Aguas Calientes before the citadel visit. Both routes converge on the same shuttle road, and both return by tourist train to Ollantaytambo with road transport on to Cusco.
From Aguas Calientes the gate is 8 km up a road with roughly 13 hairpin bends, 20 to 25 minutes, first departure 5:30 a.m., at a government-regulated round-trip fare of about US$24 for foreign visitors on a single-operator route. Trekkers have an afternoon in town, which is when to buy the bus: the round trip is sold at the Consettur booth on Avenida Hermanos Ayar, and tickets are not sold in the morning boarding queue. On the Salkantay tour the bus from the citadel back down to Aguas Calientes is listed as an extra at $12.00.
The night in town decides your entry hour. A bed in Aguas Calientes is the only reliable way to hold a 06:00 or 07:00 slot, and both trek routes put you there the evening before, so book the earliest hour your band allows.
The entry ticket still has to be arranged separately
Walkers who arrive by Salkantay, the Inca Jungle or any other non-permit route enter the citadel on an ordinary ticket with a circuit and route printed on it. Route 3-B, Realeza Diseñada, is reserved for arrivals on the Inca Trail network under a daily quota booked and paid through authorised agencies, so it is not an option here. Book 2-A, the most complete of the classic walks, which gives up to 2 hours 30 minutes inside and covers the urban sector and the viewpoint everyone photographs; take 2-B if 2-A has gone. The Circuit 1 routes stay on the panoramic side and give no access to the urban zone, which is thin reward after four days of walking.
The ticket is nominal. Your full name and ID document number are printed on it, neither the name nor the date can be altered later, and a ticket you do not use expires with no refund and no new date except in documented force majeure. Reservations no longer exist: under Ministerial Resolutions 333 and 334-2026-MC, signed 11 September 2026, the slot you select is not held while you pay, and payment has to clear inside 15 minutes or it goes back on sale. That window is itself provisional, since a 30-day trial that opened 22 September 2026 and closes about 22 October 2026 lets the Ministry shorten or extend the 15 minutes, so confirm it on the day you pay. Three channels are lawful and no others: the visitor buying for themselves, an authorised counter, or an agency on the register kept by the Ministry of Culture's Cusco office, which is worth checking before a trekking operator buys your entrance. If your trek package includes the entrance, as the two trekking tours on this site do, send your passport details exactly as printed.
Timing is unforgiving in a way that matters more after four days of walking. Tickets are sold in bands, 06:00 to 12:00 in the morning, 12:00 to 18:00 in the afternoon or 06:00 to 18:00 for the full day, and within the band the gate expects you at the exact hour printed on your ticket; lateness buys you 30 minutes in low season and 45 minutes in high season, and nothing after that. Online sales take 3,500 of the daily places in regular season and 4,600 in high season, with a further 1,000 a day sold over the counter at the Centro Cultural in Machu Picchu Pueblo, reported open 15:00 to 22:00, which is within reach of anyone already sleeping in town.
Two further constraints decide whether a climb is even on the menu. The mountain routes drop out of the calendar for long stretches: 1-B, 1-D, 3-A and 3-C are closed from 16 October to 29 December, 1-C, 3-C and 3-D go on sale in high season only, and RM 000317-2025-MC pulled Waynapicchu for all of June 2026, with 3-C and 3-D out from 19 to 30 June. Price and age come next: a foreign visitor pays S/152 general on the standard circuits and S/200 on 3-A or 3-C, and 1-A, 1-D, 3-C and 3-D take nobody under 18. The separate SERNANP sanctuary amount, S/11 for a foreign adult, applies on top: the exemption covers only visitors who reach the citadel on foot via the Inca Trail network, and these routes fall outside it.
Fitness, acclimatisation and what to pack
Get the order of altitudes right. Cusco is the thin-air part of the trip at 3,399 m, the citadel is much lower at 2,340 m, and the pass at 4,650 m is more than a kilometre above the city you arrive in. Spend your first days in Cusco doing little before the transfer to Mollepata; landing and starting the crossing the next morning is how people turn a five-day walk into two days on a horse. The Salkantay tour includes an emergency horse between Soraypampa and Chaullay, a first aid kit and an oxygen bottle with the group, and a briefing at 17 pm in the operator's office two days before departure.
Pack for both ends of the gradient. Official advice puts the crossing between April and November with temperatures running from -5 °C to 26 °C, which means a cold camp at 3,500 m and humid forest walking on the lower days. Mules and a horseman carry up to 7 kg of personal equipment, so a day pack is all you walk with; a sleeping bag is an extra at $20.00 if you do not bring one, and three nights are spent in sky domes.
Train rules and gate rules cut your luggage twice. PeruRail's allowance is one backpack of up to 8 kg and 100 cm in total dimensions, or one carry-on of up to 12 kg and 115 cm, and anything over that is charged on the Machu Picchu route at $15 for a carry-on and $25 for a checked bag. Storage is available at Machu Picchu station from 05:00 to 22:00 and at Ollantaytambo from 04:15 to 21:00, which is where the duffel you trekked with belongs while you walk the circuit. At the citadel, bags larger than 40 x 35 x 20 cm stay outside, along with food and tableware, umbrellas, and poles or canes with metal or hard tips. Leave the trekking poles in your hotel and wear soft or rubber-soled shoes, since high heels and hard soles are not admitted.
Picking a trek length
Five days is the right answer for most people arriving without a permit. The Classic Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu 5 Days runs from $480, rated 4.9 ★ (250 reviews), with private transport from Cusco to Mollepata, sky domes on three nights, a hotel room with private bathroom in Aguas Calientes, all meals with vegetarian options, mules for up to 7 kg, the Salkantay and Machu Picchu entrance tickets, and the tourist train to Ollantaytambo with a bus on to central Cusco.
Four days only makes sense if a permit actually exists for your month. The Inca Trail 4-Day Trek to Machu Picchu returning by Vistadome train is 4 days from $835, rated 5.0 ★ (11551 reviews), including a personal porter up to 7 kg, camping in four-man tents used by two, all meals, drinking water on the trail, an oxygen tank and satellite phone, the Machu Picchu entrance fee, and a briefing the night before at 6pm; the Vistadome train applies to departures through January 2027 and the Expedition train from March 2027, with an upgrade at +$20 per person.
Two days works if you decide the walking is not the point after all. The 2-Day Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu Tour from Cusco by Train, 2 days from $449 and rated 4.8 ★ (1294 reviews), trades the pass for a private room in Aguas Calientes the night before the citadel and a priority allocation for Circuit 2, subject to Ministry availability. Fix the number of days first, then check availability for the month you have in mind.
Questions people ask
Which trek gets me into the citadel earliest in the morning?
Any route that puts you in Aguas Calientes the night before, which both the Salkantay and the Inca Jungle itineraries do. The first shuttle leaves town at 5:30 a.m. and the ride covers 8 km in 20 to 25 minutes, which puts a printed hour of 06:00 or 07:00 within reach. Buy the bus round trip at the Hermanos Ayar booth the afternoon before.
Can I book an Inca Trail permit myself if I change my mind?
No. Permits are not sold to individuals and must be booked through an authorised agency, which submits nominal lists of tourists, guides and support staff at entry and exit. A registered guide can be changed up to 24 hours before entry through the official ticket system, and groups cannot be consolidated once they are inside the network. For 2026, releases ran from 27 October to 4 November 2025, with each monthly batch opening at 9:00 a.m.
Can children do these treks and enter the citadel?
Children from 3 to 17 need an adult with them at the gate, and under-3s pass without a ticket. The minor tariff on the standard circuits is S/70 for foreign visitors, with S/77 for students, who need a valid higher-education card. Routes 1-A, 1-D, 3-C and 3-D admit only visitors over 18, so a family booking means the classic walks or an unrestricted Circuit 3 route.
What happens if the train or the walk in runs late and I miss my entry hour?
Your printed hour is what the staff check against your document, with a tolerance of 30 minutes in low season and 45 minutes in high season. Once that passes you are not admitted, and since neither the date nor the name can be changed, the ticket expires with no refund and no rescheduling unless you can document force majeure. That is the strongest argument for sleeping in Aguas Calientes rather than travelling in on the morning of your slot.
Is a guide compulsory inside the citadel after the trek?
The Ministry of Culture recommends a guide without making one compulsory. If you take one, the regulation holds the group to sixteen visitors at most, keeps the guide with it from entrance to exit, requires a valid guide card on display, and adds a flag or banner from five visitors upward. Once you are inside, nobody can be transferred to another group and nobody can be added to the one registered at the entrance.
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