Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu

Salkantay is the alternative when the Inca Trail is sold out, and for many it is the finest trek in the region in its own right. It needs no permit booked months ahead. The route crosses the Salkantay pass at 4,630 metres, below the peak of the same name — a 6,271-metre mountain the Incas held as a protective apu of Cusco. From there the descent is brutal in the best sense: in under two days you go from glacial terrain to cloud forest, with coffee plantations, orchids and humid heat. The final stretches follow the railway through Hidroeléctrica to Aguas Calientes, and on day five you enter Machu Picchu. It demands good fitness and prior acclimatisation: the night before the pass is spent above 3,800 metres.