10 Days / 9 Nights
130 km approx.
Sehr anspruchsvoll
4,630m / 15,190 ft (Salkantay Pass)
Cachora, Cusco
Aguas Calientes / Cusco
Camping and Hotel
2 to 10 people
14 Jahre
April to October (dry season)
Most people who visit Peru see one great Inca site. This trek gives you two.
Choquequirao sits at 3,000 meters on a ridge above the Apurímac canyon, surrounded by mountains on every side and accessible only on foot. There are no roads, no trains, and no shortcuts. The only way in is a steep two-day trek from the valley floor and the only way out is back the same way or onward to the Salkantay route. That difficulty is exactly why Choquequirao sees a fraction of the visitors that Machu Picchu receives each day. On most mornings you will have the entire site to yourself.
The combined route starts at Choquequirao, crosses the Apurímac canyon and the high Andean passes that connect the two circuits, then joins the Salkantay route and finishes at Machu Picchu. It is one of the most complete trekking experiences in South America, covering deep canyon terrain, remote Inca archaeology, glacial passes, cloud forest, and subtropical jungle in ten consecutive days.
This is not a trek for everyone. The distances are long, the elevation changes are extreme, and there are days when the trail asks everything you have. But the people who finish it come back with something that is genuinely difficult to describe. Two ancient cities, reached entirely on foot, through some of the most spectacular mountain scenery on the planet.
An early departure from Cusco and a three-hour drive brings you to Cachora, the small village that serves as the gateway to Choquequirao. The afternoon walk is a warm-up by the standards of what follows, descending gently through open farmland with the first views of the Apurímac canyon beginning to reveal itself below. Camp is set at Capuliyoc, a viewpoint overlooking the canyon. The scale of what you are looking at takes a moment to register.
The descent into the Apurímac canyon is steep and relentless. You drop nearly 1,500 meters over the course of the morning, following a trail that switchbacks down through cactus and dry scrubland into one of the deepest canyons in the world. The temperature rises dramatically as you descend. At the bottom, the Apurímac River runs fast and turquoise through the valley floor. Camp at Playa Rosalina sits right beside it. After the descent your legs will know they have been used.
The climb out of the canyon is the hardest single ascent of the entire trek. You gain 1,500 meters of altitude in a relatively short horizontal distance, with the trail climbing steadily through increasingly lush vegetation as you rise above the canyon floor. Choquequirao appears gradually rather than all at once, the terraces first, then the ceremonial platforms, then the full complex spread across the ridge. Camp is set beside the ruins. In the afternoon your guide walks you through the site while the light is still good. In the evening, with the other visitors gone and the canyon dropping away on both sides, the place feels completely different from anything you have seen before.
A full morning to explore the site properly. Choquequirao covers a significantly larger area than most people expect and many of the outlying terraces and platforms require a walk to reach. Your guide covers sections of the complex that the previous afternoon did not allow time for, including the famous llama terraces decorated with stone inlays that remain one of the most unusual features of any Inca site in Peru. The afternoon is yours to spend in the ruins at your own pace.
The route onward from Choquequirao heads north through remote territory that very few trekkers ever reach. The trail crosses high passes above the treeline with sweeping views of the surrounding ranges before dropping into the farming community of Maizal, a handful of houses and terraced fields that have been working the same land for generations. Camp here feels genuinely remote. The sky at night is extraordinary.
A long traverse through cloud forest and high pasture connects the Choquequirao circuit to the Salkantay route. The trail is less traveled than anything you have walked so far and the vegetation is dense and varied. By afternoon the route begins to feel familiar to anyone who knows the Salkantay, following river valleys down toward the lower elevations of the Santa Teresa basin.
The ascent back to altitude begins. The trail climbs steadily from the valley floor through changing vegetation zones, rejoining the classic Salkantay route as it approaches Soraypampa. Camp at the foot of the Salkantay glacier sits at 3,900 meters and the temperature drops sharply after sunset. The mountain you have been walking toward for two days is now directly above you. Tomorrow you cross it.
The crossing of the Salkantay Pass at 4,630 meters is the highest point of the entire combined route and one of its defining moments. You leave before sunrise in the cold and dark, reach the pass as the light begins to come up, and then spend the rest of the day descending through a complete transformation of landscape from glacial terrain to subtropical jungle. By the time you reach Santa Teresa the altitude is behind you for good. The hot springs are waiting and you have absolutely earned them.
The final morning of actual trekking follows the Urubamba River along the railway line into Aguas Calientes. It is a gentle walk by the standards of the previous nine days and there is time to let everything sink in. Eight days of remote Andean terrain, two ancient cities, one glacial pass, and a canyon that drops nearly 3,000 meters from rim to river. Aguas Calientes is small, loud, and entirely built around what sits on the mountain above it. Tonight you sleep in a proper hotel room. Dinner is on your own.
The first bus to the citadel leaves at 5:30am and you will want to be on it. After ten days of walking through some of the most remote terrain in the Andes, arriving at Machu Picchu feels earned in a way that most visitors never experience. Your guide leads a full tour of the site covering the history, the architecture, and the connection between this citadel and the wider Inca network you have spent the last week walking between. After the guided visit you have free time to explore at your own pace. The afternoon train back to Cusco runs through the Sacred Valley, arriving in the evening.
“The best value for money in Cusco!”
– Mike, UK.
Lokales Trekkingunternehmen mit Sitz in Cusco, Spezialisierung in kleinen Gruppen, nachhaltig Salkantay- und Inka-Trail-Expeditionen.
Salkantay Horizons – Teil von My Peru Destinations Group © 2026 Alle Rechte vorbehalten
