LARES TREK TO MACHU PICCHU 6 DAYS

What Is Included?

Permits & Entrance Tickets

Boleto Turistico or Cusco Tourist Ticket

This ticket is required to access many of the most popular attractions in Cusco and the Sacred Valley, including archaeological sites and museums.

Day 1: Cusco’s Cathedral Entrance Ticket

Day 1: Qorikancha Entrance Ticket

Entrance Ticket for Lares Hot Springs

Machu Picchu Circuit 2 offers the most complete and popular route through the citadel, making it the most requested. Although included in this experience, availability is limited, so we strongly recommend booking at least three months in advance.

If Circuit 2 is unavailable, we will arrange Circuit 3-B, which explores the lower area of the citadel, including the urban sector and key ceremonial sites. If this is also sold out, Circuit 1-B will be arranged, covering mainly the upper panoramic area with the iconic postcard viewpoint.

High Quality Service & Safety

Pre-departure Briefing

All Tours and Activities according to the itinerary

Experienced Tour Guide Our official tour guides speak English and Spanish and are professionally trained and certified. We choose them for their experience, responsibility, unbridled passion for exploring, and pride in sharing our culture and history. In every experience, they will keep you safe and comfortable so you can enjoy your time worry-free!

Private Camping Equipment

You’ll have spacious dining and kitchen tents to enjoy your meals worry-free. Additionally, tables, chairs, and cooking supplies (all carried by our horses).

Portable Travel Toilet

Sleeping pad

One Duffle Bag

For the trek, you’ll receive a duffle bag (25L) to pack your personal belongings up to a maximum weight of 5 kg / 11 lb (this weight includes your sleeping bag). The horses will carry it on the route.

Medical Kit or First AID Kit

All Salkantay Trekking guides have specialized first aid training and attend mandatory training sessions every February. Your guide will always carry a first aid kit and oxygen to handle basic emergencies (altitude sickness, diarrhea, cuts, scrapes, etc.). If needed, we will evacuate you from the trail as quickly as possible and ensure you arrive at a clinic for treatment.

Extras Included in our Service

We believe that attention to small details is what sets us apart from other local companies. You’ll receive a cover to protect your backpack on the trail.

Professional long-range walkie-talkies

Walkie-talkies optimize communication, ensuring quick response and coordination in key situations and locations.

Accommodation

Lodging in Campsites (2 nights)

We have a series of campsites that offer you true comfort. Besides that, just like our ancestors, we have a deep bond of affection and respect for Mother Earth. For this reason, we strive to ensure our campsites don’t cause negative environmental impacts.

Accommodations are double/twin occupancy and shared.

Hotel in Cusco (3 nights)

3 nights in a hotel in Cusco (2 nights before the hike and 1 night after the hike).

Hotel in Ollantaytambo (1 night)

Best Sleeping

Tents Salkantay Trekking uses the best equipment to ensure your safety and comfort. Every 2 people will share a Eureka Timberline or Mountain Hardwear tent with a capacity of 4 people.

Meals

Meals in Cusco

• Day 2: Buffet Lunch in the Sacred Valley Tour
• Day 5: Dinner in Ollantaytambo
• Day 6: Breakfast in Ollantaytambo

Meals in the Lares Trek

3 Breakfasts, 3 Lunches, and 2 Dinners

Our chef prepares the best dishes in the middle of the mountain. Our passengers love our food! We respect all diets (vegetarian, vegan, or special menus are available at no extra cost), so let us know if you have any particular allergies or restrictions on your reservation form and remind your guide during the briefing. You’ll enjoy breakfast, lunch, and dinner, in addition to hot drinks and snacks.

Water on the trail

We’ll provide boiled, filtered, and cooled water during your hike, from your first lunch to your last breakfast. For this, you need to bring a camel bag or an empty bottle which you can refill during each meal (we recommend a capacity of 2 liters).

Wake up tea during the Salkantay Trek

You’ll wake up every morning at the camp with a cup of hot coca tea! It’ll be brought to your tent so you can warm up before you start the day.

Tea Time or Happy Hour

Every afternoon before dinner, the cooks will provide you with popcorn, cookies, coffee, hot chocolate, tea, hot water, etc. After a long day of hiking, you won’t have to wait until dinner to relax, warm up, and enjoy a bite!

Daily snacks on the trail

Before starting your trekking, your tour guide will provide you a cloth bag with local fruits, cookies, chocolate, caramels, etc. Every morning, we’ll refill it so that you can enjoy your snacks during the walk.

One cloth snack bag per person

We’ll provide you with a cloth bag for your snacks—perfect for storing wrappers and keeping the environment clean. Feel free to use it throughout your trek!

Hygiene Products

We’ll provide you with a small towel and soap to clean your hands before each meal.

Transportation

Transfers

• Day 1: A representative of Salkantay Trekking will be waiting for you at the Cusco Airport or Bus Station to take you directly to your hotel.
• Day 1: Private transport for Cusco City Tour (after lunch).
• Day 2: Private transport for the Sacred Valley Tour.
• Day 3: You’ll be picked up from your hotel in the morning and travel by private transportation to Huaran, the trek’s starting point.
• Day 6: Private transport from Ollantaytambo train station to your hotel in Cusco.

Train Tickets

• Day 5: From Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes.
• Day 6: From Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo.

One-Way Bus Ticket from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu (Day 6)

Personal Belongings Transportation

On days 3,4, and 5, cargo mules will carry all the camping equipment and your baggage allowance (7 kg / 15.4 lb). Muleteers will be responsible for your duffle bag and personal items.

WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED?

Extras and important equipment

You will need a sleeping bag to camp. Walking sticks (with rubber tips) are optional but highly recommended. If you don’t have them, don’t worry, you can rent them with Salkantay Trekking.

• Sleeping bag: US$ 20.00
• Walking poles (pair): US$ 20.00

Huayna Picchu Mountain

If you’re up for a challenge, you can climb the famous mountain seen in photos behind the site of Machu Picchu. It’s 45 minutes uphill and can be scary if you fear heights, but the top views are totally worth it! You can take this excursion after your guided tour in Machu Picchu, but be sure to plan ahead. Due to high demand, admission must be issued at least two to three months in advance. Consider there might be changes to protect your integrity, mainly due to weather conditions.

• The ticket for Huayna Picchu Mountain has an extra cost of US$ 60.00 per person.

Machu Picchu Mountain

Machu Picchu Mountain is another of the mountains that surround the archaeological site of Machu Picchu. It offers less steep, wider, and visually less frightening trails than Huayna Picchu, and it takes 1.5 hours to reach the top. This walk requires an entrance ticket, which we can secure for you if you request it in advance.

• The ticket for Machu Picchu Mountain has an extra cost of US$ 60.00 per person.

Lunch in Aguas Calientes and Dinner in Cusco (Day 6)

Personal Hiking Clothes and Gear

Travel Insurance

Tips for our staff

Tipping is usual on any excursion to Machu Picchu. Although we pay good salaries to our entire team, something extra is always welcome, especially considering their hard work. Typically, group participants collect their tips to hand out to the horsemen and chefs together.

Additional costs or delays beyond our control

Landslides, bad weather conditions, itinerary modifications due to a safety concern, illness, pandemic, government policy changes, political instability, strikes, acts of God, etc.

We want to make your trip to Peru as memorable and as carefree as possible. In this section, you’ll find the answers to all the questions you have about traveling with Salkantay Trekking in one place. Please read the following information carefully – it will help you with any questions about our services. Have another question that we haven’t answered here? Drop us a line and we will get back to you asap!

How many days do I need to acclimate in Cusco before the Trek?

It’s very important to be well acclimated to the altitude before exerting yourself on a trek. We recommend that you arrive in Cusco at least 2 or 3 days before the trek starts to help you adjust and avoid possible problems with altitude sickness while on the trek.

You might have already been in another area of Peru at a high altitude before arriving in Cusco. In that case, we still recommend you have a whole day in Cusco to rest, recover from your travel, and enjoy the sights and sounds of Cusco before departing for the trek.

Here some suggestions for activities to do in the Cusco vicinity before starting your adventure trek:

• City Tour
• Sacred Valley
• Maras Moray

Briefing or Informative Meeting

All information meetings and briefings are held in our main office in Cusco (or your hotel) at 5:00 pm, one night before the tour begins. These meetings last approximately 30 to 45 minutes. If you’re unable to attend, you must coordinate another time by email, by phone or at the Salkantay Trekking office.

Trek Balance Payment (in Cusco)

If you still have a pending balance, you must pay it 2 days before your hike/tour. Otherwise, your trip reservation will not be confirmed.

If possible, it would be greatly appreciated if you could settle the remaining balance for the trek/tour in cash, either in US dollars or the local currency, at our office in Cusco. You can withdraw funds from various ATMs located along Avenida Sol, offering both US dollars and Peruvian Soles. Alternatively, you have the option to pay using a credit/debit card or PAYPAL, either online or in person, but please note that a 5% service charge will be applied by our payment gateway (Niubiz) and PAYPAL. We regret to inform you that we are unable to accept bank checks or traveler’s checks as forms of payment for the balance.

Duffel Bag or Canvas Case

You’ll receive a canvas case or duffel bag during your briefing. Our horses will carry them, and the horsemen will hand them to you when you get to each camp. They measure 60 x 24 x 22 cm (23.6 x 9.45 x 8.66 in).

A maximum of 7 kg / 15.4 lb is allowed for each duffel bag, including the weight of your sleeping bag, sleeping mat, clothes, and other personal items.

Can I store my luggage at your office?

Of course! During the trip, your main luggage can be stored at our office (you can organize it with us on the briefing day or by email) or at your hotel, both free of charge.

Any equipment that you won’t need on the trek can be stored safely in your hotel. Nearly every hotel will provide this service. Don’t leave items of value with your bags; put them in the hotel safe and obtain an itemized receipt (in the unlikely case of theft, many insurance companies require that you have a copy of the receipt itemizing everything). It’s best to put items such as credit cards inside a sealed, signed envelope for extra peace of mind.

Pick up of guests

Salkantay Trekking can pick you up from your hotel, as long as it’s in the Historical Center of Cusco. Your guide will coordinate the pickup time in the briefing session, but please keep in mind that the time may vary between 30 and 45 minutes due to traffic.

Cusco is an old city, meaning it has many narrow cobbled streets. Some hotels and Airbnbs may be located on streets without access to cars or on long, steep slopes, making it difficult to transport luggage. We strongly recommend that you book accommodation with good access.

Return to Cusco

Returning from Machu Picchu requires quite a bit of logistics, but don’t worry. Everything is included in your tour!

• In Machu Picchu, you’ll board a bus that’ll take you for 25 minutes to the small city of Aguas Calientes. The buses are boarded according to arrival.
• In Aguas Calientes, you’ll board a train to Ollantaytambo. Your guide will give you the train tickets where the boarding time will be shown. Make sure you’re on the platform 30 minutes early. The train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo takes 1:45 hours.
• Once you arrive at the station, our representative, identified with the Salkantay Trekking clothing, will be waiting to transfer you to Cusco or directly to your hotel. The trip from Ollantaytambo to Cusco takes 1:30 hours.
• In Cusco, depending on your hotel’s location, we’ll take you to a smaller car from our company (Hyundai H1) to transfer you faster to your hotel.

Note: Your tour includes a One-Way Consettur Bus Ticket Aguas Calientes - Machu Picchu, so you can choose to use it from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu or from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes. If you want a round-trip bus ticket, you’ll need to pay an extra of US$ 12.00.

Group Tours

Group tours are made up of different types of people, then physical conditions and ages can vary. By agreeing to be part of a group tour, you also accept that some people may be faster or slower than you. Therefore, each person can go at their own pace on the route.

It may be the case that a group wishes to modify the tour; however, the guide will be the one who decides, after consulting with all the participants, if such modifications are possible.

Strikes and demonstrations

Strikes and demonstrations are common in Peru, and this may interrupt some of our tours. Roads can be blocked, and train tracks can be taken over. However, we will try to keep your trip as originally planned, even if it means leaving the night before the scheduled date.

Under these circumstances, tours may also be canceled. In case of changes or cancellations, everything will be coordinated with you by our operations department. Your safety is our highest priority, and our decisions will be made to protect it.

Lost objects

Please pay attention to where you leave your things and remember to take everything once you leave our transport, tents or restaurants. You’re the only one responsible for your objects during the tour.

• Valid Passport
• Extra money (recommended soles)
• Personal medication
• Water bottle or CamelBak – (optional water purifying pills)aa
• Sunblock: factor 70 or more
• Insect repellent
• Personal Care Products
• Hiking boots or shoes (preferably waterproof)
• Light footwear or sandals
• Trekking pants (*)
• Trekking socks
• Shorts
• Long sleeve t-shirts
• Warm jacket
• Waterproof jacket
• Raincoat or rain poncho
• Sun hat to protect neck and face
• Neck gaiter or buff
• Sunglasses with UV protection
• Sleeping bag (-15°C)
• Trekking poles
• Medium trekking backpack (15 - 25 liter)
• Camera and charger
• Power bank
• Snacks: Energy bars, chocolate, candies, dried fruits, etc.
• Bathing suit
• Towel
• Flashlight