4-Day / 3-Night Salkantay Trek Itinerary (Super Detailed + Ultra Informative) 🏔️🌿➡️🏛️

This is the most popular Salkantay Trek format: 4 days / 3 nights, finishing at Machu Picchu. It’s challenging but unforgettable, with a clear landscape transition: high Andes (cold, snowy peaks) → cloud forest (warm, lush) → Machu Picchu.

📌 Important: times, distances, and camps can vary by operator and weather, but this guide is a realistic “model itinerary” to help you plan and understand what each day feels like.

🧭 Before You Start: How This Itinerary Works

✅ What a tour usually includes

• Transport Cusco → trek start
• Guide
• Meals during the trek (varies)
• Camping gear (tents or domes depending on package)
• Muleteers/horses for part of your luggage (common in many tours)
• 1 night in Aguas Calientes

⚠️ What is NOT always included

Machu Picchu entry ticket (sometimes yes, sometimes no)

Bus Aguas Calientes ↔ Machu Picchu

Return train

Tips, extra snacks, drinks

If you go independently, you organize everything: transport, lodging, food, entry ticket, and train.

⛰️ Key Facts for the 4D/3N Salkantay

• Highest point: Abra Salkantay (~4,600–4,650 m / 15,000+ ft) 🥶
• Difficulty: Moderate to high (altitude + long hiking days)
• Weather: can change a lot in one day (strong sun + wind + rain) 🌦️
• Best strategy: acclimatize first, walk slow, layer up, use trekking poles ✅

✅ Day 1: Cusco → Mollepata → Soraypampa + Humantay Lake (Optional) 🏕️💙

🎯 Goal

Start the trek, find your rhythm, and (optionally) do the famous detour: Humantay Lake.

🚐 Typical transfer

• Early departure from Cusco
• Drive to Mollepata (registration + breakfast)
• Continue to Soraypampa (trailhead)

🥾 Hiking (approx.)

• Distance: 7–12 km (depends if you hike to Humantay)
• Hiking time: 3–5 hours total (not counting transfers)
• Camp altitude: Soraypampa ~3,900 m

💙 Humantay Lake (optional but highly recommended)

• Extra hike from Soraypampa:

• Steep climb (slope + altitude)
• 1.5–2.5 hours round trip (approx.)
  If you feel dizzy or low-energy, skipping it is totally fine 🙂

🌙 Night 1 (camp)

• Traditional camping (tent) or glamping domes (depending on tour)
• Nights are cold: hat + gloves help a lot 🧤

✅ Day 1 Tips

• Don’t “play hero” today — take it easy.
• Save one dry set of clothes for sleeping.
• Hydrate constantly even if you don’t feel thirsty.

✅ Day 2: Soraypampa → Abra Salkantay → Down to Chaullay/Collpapampa 🏔️🥾
(The hardest day)

🎯 Goal

Cross Abra Salkantay, the highest and most demanding point.

🥾 Hiking (approx.)

• Distance: 18–24 km
• Duration: 7–10 hours (pace + weather + breaks)
• Highest point: ~4,600–4,650 m
• End-of-day camp: much lower, around ~2,800–3,000 m

🧊 What this day feels like

• Start early in the cold (sometimes before sunrise)
• The climb isn’t technical — it’s the altitude that hits
• At the pass:

• strong wind
• intense cold
• epic views of the snowy peak 🏔️📸

Then a long descent (watch knees + ankles)

⚠️ Common risks today

• fatigue + mild altitude symptoms
• getting cold from sweat + wind
• slips if there’s frost/mud

✅ Day 2 Tips (key!)

• “Short steps, steady pace” wins 🐢✅
• Trekking poles help a LOT (up and down).
• Layers: base layer + fleece + windproof/waterproof shell.
• Eat snacks even if you don’t feel hungry.

✅ Day 3: Chaullay/Collpapampa → La Playa → Santa Teresa → Hydroelectric → Aguas Calientes 🌿🚶‍♂️🚆

🎯 Goal

Enter the cloud forest/jungle zone, warmer and greener, and end the day sleeping in Aguas Calientes.

🥾 Hiking (approx.)

• Distance: 14–20 km (varies a lot by logistics)
• Duration: 5–8 hours (some walking + possible transfers)
• Altitude drops, breathing feels easier.

🌿 What you’ll see

• rivers, lush vegetation, coffee farms
• warmer climate
• small villages

⚡ Hydroelectric → Aguas Calientes section

• Many itineraries include:
• Transfer to Hydroelectric
• Walk along the train tracks to Aguas Calientes

• 2–3 hours approx.
• Flat-ish but feels long if you’re tired.

🛏️ Night 3: Aguas Calientes

• Hotel/hostel (depends on tour level). Great time to:
• shower properly

• charge devices
• organize your bag for Machu Picchu
• sleep early 😴

✅ Day 3 Tips

• The danger today is getting overconfident — it’s warmer, you still need hydration.
• Replace salts/electrolytes if you sweat a lot.
• Have your Machu Picchu ticket + ID ready.

✅ Day 4: Machu Picchu + Return 🏛️✨🚆

🎯 Goal

Visit Machu Picchu calmly and return to Cusco.

⬆️ Getting up: bus or hike

• Bus: easier (recommended if you’re tired) 🚌
• Hike: demanding (stairs + heat) 🥵

⏰ Timing strategy

This day must match:

• your entry time
• your circuit
• your return train

Safe plan:

1. go up with extra buffer time
2. visit Machu Picchu
3. go back down to Aguas Calientes
4. eat + grab luggage
5. arrive early for the train ✅

🚆 Typical return

• Train Aguas Calientes → Ollantaytambo
• Then van/bus to Cusco

✅ Day 4 Tips

• Don’t book the train “too tight.”
• Save tickets on your phone and offline (screenshot/PDF).

📊 Full Summary Table (4D/3N)