5-Day Lares Trek with Short Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

We will start at 6:00 a.m., where we will pick you up directly from your hotel and drive 2 hours to the town of Huaran ( Punta carretera 3250 m) located in the Sacred Valley between Pisac and Urubamba. Before starting your walk, you will meet your horses and horsemen (arrieros). Following you will prepare to start the hike through the beautiful Huaran valley toward the lares Andes. The first 4.5 hours will be gradually uphill until lunch. After lunch, we will continue leaving the Sacred Valley behind us, heading north following a path that climbs gently alongside the small river for 2 hours to reach our destination (Accopata 4125 m) in the small village of Cancha Cancha where we spend the night. Cancha Cancha doesn’t have modern technology and people still practice real Inca traditions. In this Inca town, 85 percent of the houses are still made up of original, old buildings, made of stone, with thatched roofs. Unlike any other town in the Lares Valley, this town has no electricity or cars. Your porters will set up your tents while you have time to meet with local children.

In the evening you will enjoy hot drinks and dinner and an early night to be ready for the next day. If conditions allow, enjoy an unforgettable stargazing experience beneath the crystal-clear Andean sky and the brilliance of the Milky Way.

Leaving Cancha Cancha, we continue northeast along the valley, passing traditional stone houses with thatched roofs. After approximately one hour on relatively gentle terrain, we begin a steady three-hour ascent to the highest point of the trek, Pachacutec Pass (4,685 m).

From the pass, you will be rewarded with spectacular views of Lake Pachacutec and the snow-capped peaks of Pitusiray. After taking time to fully appreciate the scenery, we descend for approximately two and a half hours to our campsite at Qoyalay Lake (4,100 m), where we will enjoy lunch.

Along the way, we pass several glacial lakes and may encounter herds of alpacas, llamas, and sheep. After lunch, you will have time to relax, enjoy a peaceful siesta, or explore the stunning surroundings of the lake and interact with locals.

As part of our True Impact Experience, your guide will take you to a local family home, where you’ll connect with the living culture of the Andes.

Learn how families raise guinea pigs, discover the traditions behind handwoven textiles made from llama and alpaca wool, and enjoy a genuine cultural exchange.

Through our True Impact Project, we support educational initiatives for local children. Read more.

This is not a performance—it’s a real connection that creates a positive impact.

Without a doubt, one of the most meaningful highlights of your journey.

Our porters will wake you up with a hot drink and you will have some time to pack your bags and enjoy breakfast. Once you are ready, you’ll start the last leg of your Lares trek. It will be 3 hours of walking downhill along a lovely path, where you will pass stunning waterfalls and more llamas and alpacas. We’ll pass by farms where they cultivate potatoes, mountain fava beans, and many other traditional tubers in the traditional Incan style.
Then we will catch our van for 2o minutes drive along the valley to the Lares Hot Springs where you will have time to enjoy the natural pools which range from hot to cold. They are all composed of pure volcanic water, which is medicinal in nature and considered to be good for your joints, muscles, stress and headaches. We will have our last outdoor lunch here accompanied by amazing views of the Andes Mountains.

After lunch in Lares we take our private transport to Ollantaytambo where we will check in to our hotel.

You will be picked up from the hotel at 5:30 a.m. and we will go to the train station to leave on the 6:10 a.m. train from Ollantaytambo. The train follows the Urubamba River until we reach Km 104, where we’ll begin our trek. Once you have everything you need, we’ll take a group photo before visiting our first Inca site. After the orientation and visit of the Inka site, we will begin hiking upwards as we head for the Day 4 section of the Classic Inka Trail. If the weather is clear, we’ll have tremendous views of Machu Picchu mountain, the Urubamba River and other surrounding Incan Sites.

After hiking for 3-hours, we will reach some stunning Inka ruins on the Inca Trail called Wiñay Huayna (Forever Young) at 8,500 ft (2600m). Most people do not get the opportunity to see the elaborate water fountain, temples and agricultural terraces, which provide a perfect opportunity to learn about the history of the Incas. The site is bordered by steep drops, allowing you to see the stunning mountains surrounding the area. From Wiñay Huayna, we’ll walk to the Sun Gate, from where we’ll see the picturesque landscape of Machu Picchu. After taking in the once-in-a-lifetime views, we will begin our descent to Machu Picchu itself.

A big advantage of this hike is that, by the time we reach Machu Picchu, most of the day travelers will have returned home, so you will have the area nearly to yourself. After taking photos in Machu Picchu Circuit 1, you can either take a bus, or walk, down to Aguas Calientes for dinner (not included). We then recommend going to bed early to make the most of the next day!

We will wake up early in the morning in order to catch the sunrise at Machu Picchu (weather permitting). You will have a two-hour guided tour by your private English-speaking guide. After that, you will have time to explore Machu Picchu by your own. Those who have tickets to Huayna Picchu will have time to climb the mountain, which takes approximately an hour and a half, round-trip. When you are done exploring, you can either take a bus, or walk, down to Aguas Calientes for lunch (not included). Following this, you will take the train back to Ollantaytambo, and then transfer to Cusco, where you will be brought back to your hotel.