Peru Trekking Holiday Comparison

Written by: Sam Travel | 30 June, 2016

PERU TREK COMPARISON

Trek Name Difficulty Level Highlights Highest point Longest day Km/hours to walk Temperature (coldest camp at night) Acclimatisation **
4 day classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu Moderately difficult* Inca sites, flora and fauna, beautiful scenery. 4,200 m (day 2) Day 2 – about 16 kms. This can take up to 10 hours walking. – 2 to -4°C

Cold season June til August

Recommended
5 day classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu Moderately difficult* The 4 day Inca Trail at an easy pace 4,200 m (day 3) Day 3 – 14 kms more or less. This can take up to 8 – 10 hours walking.. -2 to -4°C at the 2nd and 3rd camp

Cold season June til August

Recommended
7 day Inca Trail and Salkantay to Machu Picchu Very Difficult* Trek away from the crowds and after enjoy the Inca Trail. Beautiful views of Salkantay! 5,100m (day 3) Day 3 and 5 16kms or more

This can take up to 10 hours walking.

Days:1,2,3, 5  -2 to – 6°C May til September Recommended.
5 day Salkantay (alternative) trek to Machu Picchu Challenging* Trek away from the crowds. Diverse flora and fauna beautiful scenery. 4,680m (Day 2) Day 2- 16kms

Day 3- 20kms

This can take up to 9 hours

1st night: -5°C 2nd night -2°C

June til August

Recommended.
4 day Salkantay (alternative) trek to MP Challenging * Salkantay trek for those who do not have the time for 5 days. 4,680m (Day 1) Day 1 about 18 kms. This can take up to 10 hours walk time. Day 1: 0°C to -2°C

June til August

Recommended.
4 day Lares (alternative) trek Fairly difficult* Trek away from the crowds and experience Andean culture. 4,800m (Day 2) Day 2 about 12 kms. This can take up to 8 hours walk time. Day 1 and 2; -2 to -4°C

June til September

Recommended.
5 day Vilcabamba trek to Machu Picchu Challenging* A diverse trek, from jungle to high Andes Inca sites. Very diverse flora and fauna. With stunning scenery. 4,700m (Day 3). Day 3 and 4 About 15kms.

This can take up to 10 hours walk time.

Day 3: -2 to -4°C

June til September

Recommended.
3 day Huchuy Qosqo trek to Machu Picchu Fairly easy* A relaxed trek visiting a Pre Inca site with amazing views of the Sacred Valley. 3,900m. Day 1 Day 1

About 10kms. This can take up to 8 hours walking.

Day 1: 0°C to -2°C

June til August

 If you have the time.
5 day Ausangate Very Difficult* A trek for the love of trekking. Stunning views the whole way. 5,000m On day 2 and 3. Day 1,2,3 and 4 -5 to – 8°C

May til September

Strongly Recommended.
7 day Ausangate Very Difficult* A trek for the love of trekking. Stunning views the whole way, visit the largest lake in the Cusco region. Days 2, 3,4 and 5

Approx 5000m.

Day 3

9 and a half hours

Every day: -5 to – 8°C

May til September

Strongly Recommended.
4 Day Choquequirao Challenging* Perfect for those who want the full Inca experience, visit an untouched Inca site. 3100 meters Every day is more or less the same distance. 5°C May til September Recommended

Join the thousands of satisfied customers who rate us #1 on TripAdvisor

Bernie s 2023/03/02

Had a great trip with our guide Ray Herrera and driver Alfredo. Lots of good experiences in a short period of time 4 days. Learnt a lot not just about the main tourist destinations but Peru in general by Ray. Ray has a passion for Inca history and local produce. Ray knows all the good photo spots and we managed the sun out every day .. Good culture and if you want to get on a tour ask for Ray at Sams Travel = amazing

Tanya H 2023/03/02

Ray was our Tour Guide and Alfredo was our driver for a 4 day tour we did with SAM Travel Peru. Ray's knowledge of the history of Cusco and Machu Picchu was outstanding. Ray was very accommodating with all our needs. He stayed alongside us when trekking and helped where he could. His sense of humour was pleasant to be around. Ray spoke very good English. He is such a nice guy. I would strongly recommend Ray to be your tour guide to visit Machu Picchu. Ray explained everyday what the plans were for the next day, which was reassuring what we needed to take etc

Captanjack 2023/01/012

Our 1 day tour thru the Sacred Vally with Danny was wonderful. He was very knowledgeable and able to answer all our questions in detail. I would recommend asking for him personally if you are able.

Sherry 2022/12/26

We booked the Classic Cusco to Machu Picchu tour with SAM travel which we really had a good experience. SAM travel is very responsive during the communication and cater to our changes needed. Our guide is Ray who is also an very awesome guide. He is knowledgeable, patient, humorous as well reliable, he help us take many good photos and also go extra mile to help with our request. Thanks Ray! Thanks SAM travel that gave us good memories in Peru! Highly recommend if you consider booking any tour in Cusco.

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5.0 4,204 opiniones
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C Clark 2023/01/20

Wow. We had such an incredible experience in Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. Our guide, Dayvit, is the most knowledgeable guide we have ever had. He has such an extensive knowledge of the history and is very friendly and helpful. If you are planning a trip to Peru, I highly recommend SAM travel and be sure to request Dayvit!

Emma Dinzebach Clark 2023/01/10

2 day tour sacred valley / Machu Picchu highly recommend! David was the best tour guide. He knows an incredible amount about Incan culture and is personable and funny. He also kept us up to date on a political situation happening when we were there and was informative. Overall, this tour checks all the boxes. Thank you!

Nupur Joshi 2023/01/02

We used SAM Travel for a 2D/1N trip from Cusco to Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu on Dec 25-26, 2022. The team was good with communication from the start - both Saul and Junior were very helpful and professional with answering any questions and clearing up any misunderstandings. Our guide, Miguel, was prompt, pleasant, and quite knowledgeable. We enjoyed his company and insight over the 2 day trip and recommend him to anyone booking with SAM Travel.

Xueying Chen 2022/12/20

We booked the Classic Cusco to Machu Picchu tour with SAM travel which we really had a good experience. SAM travel is very responsive during the communication and cater to our changes needed. Our guide is Ray who is also an very awesome guide. He is knowledgeable, patient, humorous as well reliable, he help us take many good photos and also go extra mile to help with our request. Thanks Ray! Thanks SAM travel that gave us good memories in Peru! Highly recommend if you consider booking any tour in Cusco.

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5.0 329 opinions
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Brandon Slater 2022/09/30

My wife and I just completed two excursions with SAM Travel Peru and we absolutely loved them. We did the 4 Day Salkantay Wilderness + Machu Picchu and then the 2-Day Rainbow Mountain + 7 Lakes trek with guide Carlos Estrada, chefs Nerio & Lucio, and horseman Unarato. Over the last 6 days we have learned so much about the Inca culture, discovered some of the most incredible sights, and ate delicious food every step of the way. We would definitely recommend SAM Travel (especially with Carlos!) to anyone that wants an incredible Peruvian adventure. The Wilderness trek is a much quieter trail than the standard Salkantay and goes a bit higher elevation, but camping at the base of Salkantay was incredible. Carlos's guided tour through Machu Picchu was so informative. We would have missed so much without him taking the time to share his knowledge.

Kellie Taylor 2022/04/06

Big thanks to David he was an amazing tour guide who really cared for our group. He allowed us to go at our own pace and was a brilliant photographer He was really funny and is full of interesting information & his passion for his inca ancestors is very obvious and warming. He also brought us to great restaurants! This company are very good and from what I can recall were cheaper than most. Thank you!

Mike Geelhoed 2021/06/10

They took care of everything! Saul the owner is very responsive and helpful. Johnny our guide was fantastic, as were our chef, assistant chef and horsemen. I can’t recommend them highly enough and will definitely use them again if we return to Peru!

Janice-Kaneki Chen 2020/01/28

Three of us decided to choose Sam Travel Peru, reason being is it is a local travel company that help indegenious communities. We picked Lares Trek 4D3N to have cultural experience while hiking. Good foods provided by talented Mario Chef! Johnny is our tour guide, very helpful tour guide. He even helped me to carry my daypack as I was too exhausted to carry it on day 1 hiking. Strongly recommend to those like to have local experience while hiking.

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5.0 60 opinions
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Why you should travel with SAM Travel?

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