• Difficulty: Strenuous
• Distance: Approx. 60km (37m)
• Duration: Four to five days
• Max elevation: 4,630 metres
• Accommodation: Camping or lodges
• Start/end point: Challacancha - Santa Teresa

The Salkantay Trek is the most popular alternative to the Inca Trail, described by National Geographic as one of the best treks in the world. While there are no ruins along the way unless you do the lodge-to-lodge version, the opportunity for gorgeous landscapes is even greater than on the Inca Trail, leading it to be known as the “Nature Trek.”

From snow-capped mountains down to high jungle, this trek is known for its varied ecosystems and landscapes. You’ll pass high mountain glaciers, walk along rolling fields and pastures, and end up in the high jungle that surrounds Machu Picchu.

The length of this hike can vary, both in mileage as well as in the number of days. The traditional version is four days of hiking, covering a distance of about 37 miles. If you choose the much more comfort-oriented lodge-to-lodge version of the trek, you will hike for six days, covering a bit more distance but with less hiking time per day.

Expert insight, by Miles Buesst of PeruNorth, a specialist in Peru trekking tours: "The last time I did the Salkantay Trek, despite being tired from the first day’s hiking, I made the effort to climb up the lateral moraine left by Salkantay Glacier. Boy, it was worth it! I was rewarded with a vast lunar landscape of rocks and craters, left by the retreating ice sheet. I could hear the occasional sound of the glacier calving a kilometre above me, and falling rocks and ice. It was easy to see why locals - past and present - have worshipped these mountains as gods, called apus."