Peru Treks - Alternatives to The Classic Inca Trail

You’ve probably heard about The Inca Trail – beautiful and varied, but….at times crowded with permit issues due to the limited numbers of walkers allowed each day, and some conservation issues. There are many great alternatives for Peru treks and Peru hikes, some of which are considered superior to the Inca Trail, so why not consider alternatives for your Peru tour?

Here are 4 suggestions for alternative treks to the Inca Trail to include in your Peru vacation.

1) Salkantay
To take the longer way round to Machu Picchu, this trek is a fine option. You won’t be wanting for a permit to hike this route, named among the 25 best treks in the world by National Geographic’s Adventure Travel Magazine.

Starting from the town of Mollepata and finishing at the train line to Machu Picchu, visitors will follow a path that passes through impressive mountain scenery, past the snow capped peak of Salkantay (6,271m) and through rainforest. The name Salkantay is translated from Quechua to mean "Savage Mountain", and commands respect from climbers and trekkers alike.

Salkantay is a challenging 4 day route with the highest pass at 4,600m. Trekkers tend to spend the night in Aguas Calientes at the end of the trek before visiting Machu Picchu of the fifth day.

2) Lares
The Lares area is still much less visited than the busy Sacred Valley and Inca Trail. The most popular route starts in Lares town, and goes over the mountains to Patacancha and then down to Ollantaytambo to catch the train to Machu Picchu.

For a more authentic experience, you could take the route up to Cancha Cancha and finish in the town of Lares. On the Cancha Cancha route you can easily spend 4 days seeing only a few locals. The Cancha Cancha trek starts in greenery and gradually ascends to the high Andes, past turquoise lakes, snow capped peaks and large open valleys.

For any Lares trek you will have to cross passes of around 4,000m that offer spectacular views of mountains such as the snow covered Pumahuanja at 5,318m.

Despite its proximity to the busy city of Cusco and the tourist Mecca of Machu Picchu, the Lares area still features a very traditional way of life. People speak the local language of Quechua, many make their living through textiles, and women wear a distinctive kind of round red hat. Houses are as they would have been 100 years ago; stone built with a thatch on top. If you want to really see how people live in the Andes then one of the treks to Lares is an excellent choice.

You can also finish your trek at the hot springs of Lares, a series of pools of different temperatures; they are not so easy to get to, but even harder to leave.

3) Choquequirao
If you have missed out on permits for the Classic Inca Trail, here’s another option. There’s even a site rarely visited by tourists that shares the same structure and architecture as Machu Picchu, accessible only by a 4 day trek round trip out of Cusco; Choquequirao.

The road to Choquequirao starts at Cachora at 2,300m, a small town in the Apurímac department. After traveling four hours on the mostly paved road from Cusco trekkers set off on foot for the two day journey to the site.

At an altitude of 3,050m on the border with the department of Apurímac, access to Choquequirao is not as punishing in terms of altitude, but is still a very demanding trek. Hikers will face a tough downhill followed by an even tougher climb up to the site, but will be compensated by the beauty of the landscape, a wide range of flora and fauna and, on a good day, relative solitude. A far cry from the crowds at Machu Picchu...

An even longer and more challenging option is to continue from Choquequirao on to Machu Picchu making an amazing 7 day trek.


4) Ausangate
How does this sound? Spectacular mountain scenery, herds of llamas and alpacas, snow-capped peaks, turquoise lakes, hot springs, glaciers, picturesque villages and traditionally dressed Indians.

If that seems attractive, a trip through the Cordillera Vilcanota and past the Nevado de Ausangate (6,385m) could be a good option. It is a high, tough and cold route, but nothing a pair of strong legs and good thermals can’t handle.

The most common seven day circular trek starts and finishes at the Andean village of Tinqui and takes you over three high passes, skirting the Ausangate range. Two of the passes are over 5,000m, so it is essential to acclimatize before setting off.

What Peru treks have you done? Do you have any other alternative suggestions to the Inca Trail?