Lares Trek Peru: A Complete Guide to Machu Picchu's Quiet Route
One of if not the biggest attraction in Peru is Machu Picchu, an impressive Incan site and one of the new seven wonders of the world. Every year thousands of people descend on the town of Aguas Calientes, the town that sits at the base of Machu Picchu and where you can catch a bus to take you up to view it. For the willing and able some people prefer to trek up to Machu Picchu, the most common route for this is the Inca Trail, a 4 day trek through the Andes. Starting at the trailhead 82km away from Cuzco and ending at the Sun Gate, the old entrance to Machu Picchu, the trek combines stunning mountain scenery with ancient Inca ruins. Because of this it’s very popular.
The Inca trails popularity grew and tourists wanted an alternative from the crowds, and so the Salkantay Trek became the thing to do. More physically demanding but more visually stunning, there aren’t ancient ruins on this trek, instead it focuses more on the raw beauty and dramatic scenery of Peru. The time has come again, with a growing post pandemic tourism boom both treks are still worth doing, just very crowded. The next trek in line to escape the crowds is the Lares Trek.
Introducing the Lares Trek
The Lares Trek is almost a best of both worlds, it has the stunning beauty of the high mountains like the Salkantay Trek, and while it doesn’t have Inca ruins you’ll walk through villages where the descendants of the Inca’s live and get to interact with them and their way of life. Best of all right now it’s not popular, over the course of 3 days trekking we saw zero other tourists just local Peruvians. I’ll walk through everything in this guide, the itinerary, the cost, advice and what I’d do differently. Come hike the hidden gem that is Lares Trek before it blows up like the others.
Protip: The trek goes up to 4700m and the nights get very cold, I would recommend acclimatizing in Cusco for a few days before and bring warm clothes. It doesn’t feel like you’ll need any during the day in the hot Peru sun but trust me you will.
Table of Contents
What is the Lares Trek?
The Lares Trek is a cultural alternative to the Inca and Salkantay treks, it doesn’t have the same history as the Inca Trail, or as many stunning views as the Salkantay Trek. The trek focuses more on the trade routes that the Inca and pre-Inca people used. These roads connected remote villages, allowing them to communicate and build economies, today trekkers use them to get a glimpse into the daily life of the people that live there. It’s a cultural adventure as much as it is trekking challenge. It’s important to note that this trek does not take you directly to Machu Picchu; it ends near Ollantaytambo, from where you must take a car to reach town. After that it’s a train ride to Aguas Calientes and then a bus to Machu Picchu. People looking to make the full pilgrimage to Machu Picchu will need to trek the Inca Trail.
While it’s possible to do the Lares Trek alone, we opted to do it as a tour. I can’t imagine doing it self supported as we had mules carry our bigger supplies like tents and a chef that handled all of our food. Even if we had managed to take care of all that ourselves, we would not even be able to communicate with any of the locals as up in the high communities Spanish is limited and the local language Quechua is used. We booked our Trek through Aliperutreks a 100% Peruvian owned and operated company. I will give an honest review of what we experienced during our Lares Trek to hopefully inspire you to try something different when you decide to visit Peru and Machu Picchu.
Lares Trek Day 1, Getting Warmed up
We sat outside our hostel and watched as a tan colored van came to a stop in front of us, out quickly jumped our guide for the Lares Trek, Mesias. With our bags loaded up we were off, I could tell right away the Mesias didn’t like wasting time. You could almost see the energy radiating off him; he was eager to start the trek and clearly loved his job. Our chef for the trek Balero was also riding with us, however he did not speak English. We stopped at a local market and picked up some snacks for the road, before starting the trek we would stop at the Lares Hot Springs, a 3 hour drive away.
The Long Winding Road
The drive to Lares was a great way to start the day, a long winding single road through the Andes with views of beautiful valleys and stunning mountaintops, Faye and I both agreed it reminded us of Northern Vietnam. After many twists and turns, conservations with Mesias about what to expect in the coming days, and getting temporarily stopped by a roadblock of alpacas, we made it to the Lares Hot Springs.
Lares Hot Springs
The Lares Hot Springs are natural thermal pools with mineral rich water, they are always a stop on the Lares Trek. It was nice to treat our muscles before putting them to work for 4 days, I definitely missed them after full days of trekking. As with all of the Lares Trek we didn’t see any tourists, it was only locals soaking in the pools. Our time in Lares lined up with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a religious celebration honoring the Virgin Mary’s conception without sin. As such school was out so the usual quiet springs were full of families from all over, Mesias said it wasn’t usually this busy. I suppose busy is relative, compared to hot springs I’ve been to in Canada there was hardly anyone there at all.
Arriving at the Lares Trek Trailhead
After soaking in the water for an hour it was time for breakfast, Balero made us a meal right there at the hot springs. I’m going to say this way too many times in this post but the food we had on this trek was absolutely f@$king phenomenal, seriously in 4 days we didn’t eat a bad meal. Balero has been a professional trekking chef for 20 years and it definitely shows, every meal was a fantastic mix of North American and Peruvian cuisine. With full stomachs it was time to start trekking, a perfect mix. A 20 minute drive from the hot springs just outside the town of Lares we strapped on our backpacks and started the Lares Trek.
Lares Trek Day 1, Starting The Climb
The first day of the Lares Trek is a gradual climb upward but it’s not steep or difficult, you also won’t run into any Sulfuric gas on the hike. It’s a nice walk through the valley past cows, mules, and alpacas. The houses become more scarce the further you go and seeing other people becomes rare. After just under 2 hours of taking in the views we arrived at the community of Quiswarani where we had lunch. While Balero was whipping up our banger of a meal we got a tour of a local home, the houses up in the remote communities are modest but have everything that the locals need. The home featured a small kitchen for preparing food, a dining room where we would soon eat, a bedroom, and a shed where they raised guinea pigs. The family also had some goats that lived in the backyard and a garden in the front filled with rows of potatoes.
It’s a very simple way of life, time is mostly spent tending to the potato garden and looking after animals. Mesias told us that at the end of everyday, as long as it was a good day everyone in the communities gets together and dances for a few songs. After another fantastic meal from Balero that’s what we did too, Mesias played a traditional song and we danced with our hosts. I felt bad for the woman dancing with me, the goat we met earlier probably would have been a better dance partner than me. After filling our stomachs and making sure that everyone knew I would never be a professional dancer, we continued onward and upward.
The First Camp of Our Lares Trek
We continued our Lares Trek up the valley, walking past herds of sheep and alpacas grazing the fields while Mesias told us about the history of the area. The guy is in incredible shape, he can keep a conversation going and trek uphill just as easy as he would do while sitting on a chair. Just past Quiswarani, a waterfall called Siete Cascadas, or the Seven Waterfalls, pours down the mountainside. It reminded me of similar waterfalls in Asia. The name comes from the seven streams that usually form it, but when we visited during the rainy season, ten streams flowed instead. This was the only time we saw other people who didn’t live in this valley, they were just visiting the waterfall. A short climb around the waterfall and we walked to a stunning alpine lake, this is where we would camp for the night.
The campsite looked picture-perfect, with tents set up along the lake’s shore and mules grazing on the nearby grass. We sat by the lake and tried to take in the nature, unfortunately the lake was far too cold to swim in but still nice to admire. As the sun dipped early behind the towering mountains, our team gathered in the kitchen tent for tea and dinner. Coca tea is a staple across Peru, helping with altitude sickness and fatigue. It’s also a comforting drink as it gets pretty cold when the sun goes down. After eating, drinking, and listening to Mesias talk about his life and life in the high communities in general, it was time for bed. Balero had one more surprise for us, heated water bladders to put in our sleeping bags, what an absolute beauty.
Lares Trek Day 2, The Steep Part
We awoke at 5:30 to the sound of tapping on our tent, Mesias had brought of cups of hot coca tea to start the morning, a solid way to start the day. We slept pretty well despite the cold, we had multiple layers and the hot water bladders made a world of difference. After getting ready for the day we met up with Mesias in the breakfast tent, he had mentioned once or twice the day before but all breakfast he stressed that today would be the hardest trekking day. We were at the top of the valley, the goal today was to continue to climb and walk over the Pachakutec Pass at 4700m and walk down the valley on the other side and go to a new community. Full of breakfast, potatoes, and coffee we set off and continued to climb.
The climb today was not as nice as day 1 simply because of the weather. It was cloudy, rainy, and at some points snowy at the top of the pass. Weather at that altitude is strange, it can literally change in a matter of seconds. Instantly the clouds can clear for a nice view but by the time you pull your phone out they’re back. For the first half of the day the views just weren’t there and hence I don’t have photos, that’s just the gamble you take visiting Peru in the rainy season. Mesias told us to come back in the summer, we’ll try our best my friend. Also pretty obvious but it was snowing so it was cold, layers and gloves are a must.
Reaching The Peak
After about 3 hours on the Lares Trek we reached the top of the pass, we started to descend, the clouds parted, and views got substantially better. It turned out that llamas had surrounded us for most of the day—we just couldn’t see them through the clouds. Now we got to fully admire them, pretty resilient animal to live up at this altitude with this weather. Mesais told us that if we were lucky we would see a puma, a sacred animal here in Peru. We didn’t spot any pumas, but honestly, I was just glad we saw llamas. He would also tell more information about the history of the valley and the people that lived there.
Today he made it a personal mission to make sure I knew that aliens didn’t build any Inca sites, I had never told him I thought that one way or another. It was very evident he was proud of his heritage and what his ancestors accomplished, he did not want aliens taking the credit. We continued trekking down the valley feeling it get gradually warmer as we went, we eventually found ourselves lower than the clouds and the rain/snow mixture was done for good. It was cool to look back up the trail and see the wall of clouds we had just walked through. Another 2 hours down the valley and it was time to stop for lunch in the village of Accopata.
Lares Trek Day 2, The Descent
We reached the village of Accopata on our Lares Trek and had another phenomenal lunch made by Balero, seriously the guy never missed. This time, we skipped lunch at a local family’s home and instead planned to visit a school in the nearby village of Cancha Cancha. Ideally, we would have toured the school, sat in with students as they learned Peruvian history, and handed out chocolate to the kids at the end—we had stocked up before the trek. However due to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception religious celebration still going on the kids were not in school. That was very unfortunate timing and the one thing I regret from the Lares Trek, no one’s fault except ours.
After lunch we continued down the valley and made it to Cancha Cancha. Instead of spending time at the school we simply spent time soaking in the views of the valley, doing some short hikes to view points, and hanging out with the local dogs. Our favorite was Teodoro, a dog Mesias clearly knew well. I got the sense that Teodoro received plenty of love whenever trekkers passed through on the Lares Trek. He was incredibly friendly, followed us around Cancha Cancha, and even slept outside our tent that night. Faye and I both wanted to bring him home but he seemed to enjoy his simple life in the valley.
Finishing The Trek
As mentioned with the closed school the Cancha Cancha stop on our Lares Trek was very chill, Mesias gave us more Peruvian history and told us about his life in the community where he was from over dinner. He was the only one of his siblings to leave the village and work in tourism, a huge accomplishment and well deserved. After peppering him with questions about his life and answering the questions he had about Canada we were off to bed. We said goodnight to an excited Teodoro, wagging his tail from the bed he made outside our tent. Not only are the people on the Lares Trek friendly and eager to interact with trekkers but the animals are too.
We awoke to our usual knock on our tent and brought our hot mugs of coca tea, after breakfast today we would continue down the valley and finish the trekking portion of the Lares Trek. As mentioned earlier this trek does not take you directly to Machu Picchu, instead you trek the same routes Incas and Pre-Incas used to connect to the high communities and get a more cultural experience. After completing the trek down the valley transportation would only consist of trains and cars. We greeted Mesias in the breakfast tent and got a rundown on the day, and after breakfast started our final descent to the village of Huaran.
Lares Trek Day 3, From Trails to Tracks
After a delicious breakfast, we strapped on our back packs for the last time on the Lares Trek and headed down to the bottom of the valley, however Teodoro was no where to be seen. I felt bummed that the trekking portion had almost ended and just as disappointed that we didn’t get to see Teodoro again. I caught myself wondering when the last time was that I’d thought so much about a random dog, I am a dog lover after all. We were already quite low in the valley, it didn’t take long for us to pass the tree line, now instead of open fields with views it was forests with streams, still beautiful. We stopped to sit and enjoy an opening by a stream and have a quick snack, across the opening the bushes rattled drawing all of our attention.
Then like something out of a Disney movie, Teodoro came bursting through the brush and ran across the opening to us, Faye and I were probably more excited than he was. We said our proper goodbyes and gave him a banana for the road, who knows how far down the valley he went the night before, but now he was heading back up to his home. He didn’t follow us down at all, I hope that dog is alright these days. With Teodoro and the high communites behind us it was a 2 hour walk to Huaran, we arrived here and had our last meal provided by Balero, of course it was excellent. We did our best to thank him in broken Spanish, and judging by the huge smile he gave us, I think he understood. The walk was officially over and the rides had now begun.
A Quick Detour
Our vehicle picked us up just outside Huaran on the Lares Trek, under an hour away from our next stop Ollantaytambo. Before going to Ollantaytambo to catch the train to Aguas Callentes, we were off to visit a local attraction in the area the Salineras de Maras or Maras Salt Mine. Located outside the village of Maras, the area features hundreds of terraced pools fed by a natural salt spring. As water flows from pool to pool, it eventually evaporates and leaves behind crystallized salt ready for harvest. The Inca and Pre-Inca took advantage of this area making it an ancient tradition. This was already on Faye’s list of things to see, making it a perfect stop for us.
We arrived at the mine and looked down from the top of the hill, hundreds of pools all a slightly different shade of white. It looked very out of place against the dry hills the surround it, however that made the view that much more unique. As we descended the hill to explore the mine, Mesias voiced his disdain for it. He explained that a Chilean company now owns the site, and his national pride shone through as he insisted the mine should be entirely Peruvian. We got to the entrance of the mine, viewpoints were still accessible for the perfect photo shoot, however apparently before you could walk among the salt pools. Mass tourism has ruined this, among other things, with too many people leaving behind excessive garbage.
Train Travel is The Best Travel
We got our pictures at the salt mine and continued our Lares Trek to Ollantaytambo, where we would catch a train to the town of Aguas Calientes or “Hot Water” in Spanish. Once known for the hot springs near by (hence the name of the town) it is now synonymous with Machu Picchu, almost everything here is related to the famous Inca site in one way or another. Our stop in Ollantaytambo wasn’t very long we immediately went to the train station and quickly boarded our train. The train ride was beautiful, the cars have windows on the roof allowing you to see the mountaintops from the bottom of the valley. The ride is about 2 hours, no need to rush it though, I loved taking in the landscapes of the valley.
Our train arrived at Aguas Calientes, immediately after leaving the train station you find yourself lost in a maze of souvenir shops. Mesias led the way through as vendors tried to stop us to look at their stores, as usual there was no wasting time with him. We checked into one of the many hotels with “Machu Picchu” in its name, the absolute best part of the town, again referencing the name, was the hot shower we finally got to take after days of Trekking. I personally wouldn’t recommend spending more then a day here, everyone knows why you are in the town, hence they raise the price on everything appropriately and aside from the hot springs there really isn’t much else to see. After a short walk around town we went to bed early, taking advantage of a hotel bed after days of sleeping on the ground.
Lares Trek Day 4, Machu Picchu
The day had finally come for us to visit Machu Picchu on our Lares Trek. We awoke early again, buses up to Machu Picchu start at 6:00am which is the one we were taking. I recommend the first bus of the day, there was almost no one at Machu Picchu when we arrived. The bus is just a bunch of switchbacks going up the mountain, there isn’t much to see. At the top the bus will drop you off right in front of the Belmond Sanctuary lodge, a luxury hotel built on the doorstep of Machu Picchu, I didn’t bother looking at the price it was more than my backpacker budget. Mesias brought us our tickets to enter, we were on circuit 2. Peru implemented “circuits” in Machu Picchu because it receives so many visitors a year, they help with visitor flow and prevent bottle necks while protecting the site.
In Circuit 1, you stay mostly above the site, where you take all the iconic pictures you see. The 3rd circuit you get to explore lower inside the site, walk through interior buildings and learn what each was used for. Finally circuit 2 is a mix of both, perfect for if you only have one day. With our tickets in hand we walked through the gates and up the stairs, after a short climb we came to a small clearing overlooking a beautiful wonder of the world, Machu Picchu. A lot of things don’t live up to the hype they receive online, I can confidently say that Machu Picchu isn’t one of them, we were both at a loss for words trying to take it all in.
Exploring The Site
After a long time spent admiring the site and final stop on our Lares Trek, Mesias took some time and told us the history of Machu Picchu, who lived there, and what it was used for. As he talked llamas walked around, completely fine with the fact that tourists were around and had cameras in their face, they were simply looking for their next meal. We walked down from where everyone takes their pictures and started talking through the ancient ruins, Mesias happily explaining what everything was and reminding me that aliens definitely weren’t involved. The circuit follows a continues path that you cannot go back on so for the next couple hours we walked a circle around Machu Picchu.
An optional trek you can take during your day visiting Machu Picchu is Huayna Picchu, this is the tall mountain in the background of the famous photos, Mesias and I opted to climb it while Faye stayed and enjoyed the ruins. They limit tickets to 400 people a day. The roundtrip trek takes about 2 hours, climbs steeply, and can get strenuous at times, and the path narrows significantly in spots.The trek isn’t the easiest in the world, but it rewards hikers with a unique view of Machu Picchu that makes the effort worthwhile. After grabbing our photos we started the descent down, Mesias literally live streamed the entire trek while I was using both hands to not fall off the path, clearly he had done this before, he said it was his 5th time this month alone.
Finishing The Lares Trek
After admiring the views, wondering the ruins, and completing our lap of Machu Picchu it was time to say goodbye. We took one last look at the ruins trying to savior the moment, and got our last picture with Mesias, our all star guide on the Lares Trek. We walked away and didn’t say much, all of us lost in our thoughts and processing what we had seen. The Lares Trek ends with you leaving Machu Picchu, returning to Ollantaytambo by train, and a vehicle ride back to your hostel or hotel in Cusco. After a long day of travel we arrived back in Cusco, said our goodbyes to Mesias and thanked him for everything, got one last picture and he was gone. He was off to start another trek the very next day, he is literally on a trek almost everyday of the year.
Lares Trek Breakdown, Cost and Advice
I would recommend anyone to do the Lares Trek, you will learn so much and in my opinion come away with much more as opposed to the other treks. This is the breakdown of our trek and some things I learned that I would do differently next time, these tips will help you have the best experience on the Lares Trek.
The Lares Trek is a 4 day 3 night trek and cost $640 USD. That includes your team (guide, chef, porters), direct transport from and back to your accommodation in Cusco, all food during the trek and one meal in Aguas Calientes, accommodation in Aguas Calientes, all transport tickets between towns and entry tickets to Machu Picchu, access to oxygen and emergency transport if needed. Honestly a steal if you ask me, you might save a few hundred doing it yourself but you’d have a much harder time.
These costs didn’t include trekking poles, sleeping bags, since we didn’t have any, and tips for the team. We tipped our team 10 USD per member per day, they absolutely earned every penny.
My Advice for the Lares Trek
- Bring layers! I could have used one more layer for the chilly nights, thank god for the heated water bladder
- Bring water proof pants and a jacket, as well as a waterproof cover for your backpack
- Acclimatize in Cusco for a few days before starting the trek, I’m glad we did this, the highest point in the trek is 4700m a huge shock to your body if you aren’t prepared and you’ll almost certainly get altitude sickness
- Getting safe drinking water is no problem as the chef will boil water with every meal for tea, bring a water bottle and some electrolytes
- Bring cash, locals in the high villages will sell you small souvenirs, buy one a couple dollars makes a world of difference from them
- Stock up on candy or chocolate to hand out on the trek, also bring energizing snacks for yourself
- If you have an option take the earliest train and bus you can, try and get the earliest access to Machu Picchu, it’s an entirely different experience with less crowds
- If you’re doing the optional Huayna Picchu trek you need proper footwear, seriously some parts are so steep it feels like a ladder and the steps (rocks) are only half a meter wide in some spots, rain will also make these steps slick
- Soak in the sights and sounds of the Lares Trek, it’s not everyday you find yourself trekking alongside llamas in the Andes, enjoy being present where you are
Final Thoughts on The Lares Trek
I am grateful we decided to do the Lares Trek over the other ones, not to take away from them but the cultural experience and peace away from swarms of crowds in unmatched. I hope I’ve convinced you to add the Lares Trek to your itinerary the next time you are in Peru, experience the mountain villages, admire the wild animals, and savour all the fantastic food (shoutout Balero). You won’t regret it. My last piece of advice is for when you’re at Machu Picchu, try to take in what your seeing and where you are, live the moment in real life, not through the screen of your phone.
