When the Inca Trail is sold out or if you’re looking for a more adventurous challenge than the Inca Trail, then Salcantay is a worthy option. Located to the north of Cuzco, Salcantay is a snow-capped mountain at an elevation of 6,624 m but you won’t be going to the top, just a pass at 4,700 m, which is 15,420 ft. So, acclimatizing to prevent altitude sickness is a major preparation.

Like the Inca Trail, Salcantay can also get you to Machu Picchu. The hike can be done on foot or horseback. Burros and a guide can also be hired if you don’t prefer. The trail usually starts at Mollepata, which is 3-4 hours by bus from Cuzco. It also may be possible to travel by truck to Soraypampa instead, which reduces the trip by 8-10 hours of hiking.

• An excellent overview of the Salcantay to Machu Picchu trail includes sample cost information from 2004. This is a must-see site for anyone planning to do the Salcantay to Machu Picchu trail. From this same site, Rick McCharles also has 60 annotated photos from an October 2004 hike of Salcantay to Machu Picchu. (Thanks Rick for sharing this great resource with everyone!)

Several tour companies on the Web offer details about their excursions on the Salcantay trail; however, these trips are often priced exorbitantly high.

Salcantay to Machu Picchu is usually done in 5 nights and 6 days or 6 nights and 7 days, which includes 1 or 2 nights in Aguas Calientes at the end of the trail.

While there are no Inca ruins on the Salcantay trail, the elevation is higher and more mountainous. However, that also means that it is more difficult than the Inca Trail.

Be warned that many tour operators provide the Salcantay trail only in a package that is combined with the Inca Trail. In these cases, the Salcantay trail meets up with the Inca Trail on about the 4th day and you take the Inca Trail into Machu Picchu. However, these Salcantay/Inca Trail combinations are also subject to the same limits of the Inca Trail. So, if the Inca Trail is sold out, then this combination trail will not work.

The preferable option for the Salcantay Trail is to meet up with the train and take it for the final hour into Aguas Calientes for access to Machu Picchu. Or, you can walk the tracks about 8 km into Aguas Calientes.