Inca Trail permits are limited to 500 people a day, guides, porters and cooks included, and the dry months sell out first. If none are left for your dates, the Salkantay Trek is the usual alternative: it needs no trail permit, runs all year and still ends at Machu Picchu.
The two treks are not interchangeable, though. The Classic Inca Trail is the shorter, historic route: 42 km in four days on original Inca paths, past a chain of ruins, ending at the Sun Gate. The Salkantay Trek is longer, higher and wilder: 74 km in five days over a 4,630 m pass beneath a glaciated peak, ending in Aguas Calientes. We run both, and this is how they compare.
Salkantay Trek vs Inca Trail at a glance
| Classic Inca Trail | Salkantay Trek | |
|---|---|---|
| Trail permit | Required, 500 a day including staff | Not required |
| Length | 4 days, 42 km | 5 days, 74 km |
| Highest pass | Dead Woman’s Pass, 4,215 m | Salkantay Pass, 4,630 m |
| Inca ruins on the way | Many, from Runkurakay to Wiñay Wayna | Few; Llactapata viewpoint |
| Nights | 3 nights camping | 3 nights camping, 1 in Aguas Calientes |
| Group size (our tours) | 16 hikers | 12 hikers |
| February | Closed for maintenance | Open |
| Arrival at Machu Picchu | On foot through the Sun Gate | Bus up from Aguas Calientes |
| Machu Picchu ticket | Included in our tour | Included in our tour |
Why Inca Trail permits run out
The daily limit dates from the early 2000s, when Peru regulated the trail after years of overcrowding, and has been part of its official regulation since 2005. Of the 500 daily places, about 200 go to trekkers and the rest to guides, porters and cooks. Only licensed operators can book permits, each one is issued in the hiker’s name and cannot be transferred, and the trail closes every February for maintenance. For May to September, book about six months ahead.
Difficulty and altitude
Both are real mountain treks at altitude. On the Inca Trail the hard part is Day 2, the long climb to Dead Woman’s Pass at 4,215 m; the last two days are mostly downhill on stone steps, which is hard on the knees. The Salkantay Trek is a step up: nearly twice the distance, and on Day 2 you walk about 22 km, climbing 730 m to the pass at 4,630 m and then descending 1,730 m toward the cloud forest.
Whichever you choose, spend at least two days in Cusco (3,400 m) before you start. Our guides carry emergency oxygen on both treks, but acclimatizing properly matters more than anything they carry. If you want a plan to prepare, read how to get fit for the Inca Trail.
Scenery: Inca ruins or glaciers
The Inca Trail is an archaeological route. You walk on original stone paths from a dry valley into cloud forest full of orchids and bromeliads, past Runkurakay, Sayacmarca, Phuyupatamarca and the terraces of Wiñay Wayna, sites you can only reach on foot. If the Inca story is the reason you are coming to Peru, this is the trek.
The Salkantay Trek is a landscape route. The glaciated peak of Salkantay (6,271 m) fills the first two days, with the turquoise Humantay Lake as a side trip on the first afternoon. After the pass the trail drops through cloud forest into the warm Santa Teresa valley, where coffee and bananas grow.
How each trek ends at Machu Picchu
Only the Inca Trail arrives on foot. On the last morning you set off before dawn and reach the Sun Gate (Inti Punku), where the citadel comes into view below you, then walk down into it. On the Salkantay Trek the fourth day ends in Aguas Calientes, where you spend the night in a hotel, and on the fifth morning you take the bus up and enter through the main gate. Both of our tours include the Machu Picchu entrance ticket and a 2-hour guided tour of the citadel.
How far ahead to book
For the Inca Trail, book about six months ahead for May to September; each permit carries the hiker’s passport details, and you show the same passport at the checkpoints. You can check Inca Trail permit availability by month.
With no permit quota, you can book the Salkantay Trek much closer to your dates: two to three months ahead is enough for the dry season, and in the low season bookings within two weeks of departure are usually possible. Our 5-day Salkantay Trek tour includes camping gear, meals, a night in Aguas Calientes, the Machu Picchu entrance ticket and a 2-hour guided tour of the citadel.
Which trek should you choose?
Choose the Inca Trail if you:
- want to walk through Inca ruins and enter Machu Picchu through the Sun Gate
- can book about six months ahead, or have found open dates
- prefer four days of walking to five
- are not traveling in February
Choose the Salkantay Trek if you:
- missed the Inca Trail permits or are booking weeks, not months, ahead
- prefer glaciers and high mountain scenery to archaeology
- are traveling in February, when the Inca Trail is closed
- are fit and acclimatized for a 4,630 m pass
Some travelers do both: the Salkantay Trek first, a rest day in Cusco, then the Inca Trail. That is nine days of trekking with one day off in between, so plan it only if you are fit and well acclimatized.
For the full route, difficulty and packing list, read our Salkantay Trek guide. The Salkantay trail page has the distance and elevation profile, and our Inca Trail guide covers the Inca Trail day by day.
