Most travelers have to choose. You either take the Salkantay Trek for raw mountain wilderness, or you take the Inca Trail for history and the Sun Gate entry to Machu Picchu. The Legendary Fusion 6 Day gives you both, in the correct order.
You start in the high Vilcabamba Range. For three days you walk far from any road, under Salkantay Glacier, across Inca Chiriasca Pass at 4,650 meters, and down through valleys where only horse caravans pass. You sleep in our private Sky Domes at Soraypampa at 3,900 meters, with a glass roof over your bed and the glacier in front of you. This is the wilderness half.
On the third day you enter the Inca Trail National Park at Wayllabamba. Your Inca Trail permit is checked, your passport stamped, and you step onto original Inca stonework. For three days you follow the path the Incas built. You climb to Dead Woman’s Pass at 4,215 meters, cross cloud forest ruins at Runkurakay and Sayacmarca, sleep at Phuyupatamarca above the clouds, and descend the thousands of steps to Winay Wayna.
On the fifth day you finish where every trekker wants to finish, at Inti Punku Sun Gate. You see Machu Picchu for the first time from above, in afternoon light when the citadel is almost empty. This is something standard Salkantay treks cannot offer. They arrive by bus from below. You arrive on foot, through the gate.
On your final day you return for a full guided tour of Machu Picchu with time to walk the citadel properly.
This is our most complete trek. Harder than either trail alone, but designed with shorter daily distances than the classic routes and with our best camps in between. For travelers who want to do it once and do it right.
Your expedition begins with a 4:30 AM pickup from your hotel in Cusco. We drive through the lush Limatambo valley toward the trailhead at Challacancha. After a hearty breakfast in Mollepata, we begin a moderate 3 hour trek along an ancient Inca water channel toward our first basecamp at Soraypampa. The path is mostly flat and open, a good way to find your pace at altitude and see the first views of Salkantay.
We wake you with a hot coca tea served to your dome. Today is the most physically demanding day of the Salkantay phase. We tackle the Path of the 7 Snakes, a series of tight switchbacks leading to the highest point of the entire trek.
Today, the scenery changes from Wild Andes to Inca History. After exploring the Paucarcancha ruins, a rarely visited administrative site, we descend to Wayllabamba, where we officially enter the Inca Trail National Park.
Today features the most famous challenge of the Inca Trail: Warmiwañusqa, or Dead Woman’s Pass.
This is the Reward Day. The trail becomes remarkably beautiful, following a flat Inca highway along the mountain ridges with valleys on both sides.
The final fulfillment of the journey. After an early hotel breakfast, we return to the citadel for our official guided tour. Your duffel is stored at the hotel and brought to the restaurant for lunch.
Transportation & Logistics
Access & Discoveries
Accommodations & Mountain Dining
Porterage & Support
Pack light, keeping your main luggage in storage and carrying only essentials in your daypack for two days.
This is a challenging 6 day trek. You cross two high passes, Salkantay or Inca Chiriasca Pass at 4,650 meters and Dead Woman’s Pass at 4,215 meters. You hike 6 to 9 hours most days on rocky trail and original Inca stone steps.
Good fitness and some hiking experience are strongly recommended. No technical climbing. If you can hike 6 hours uphill with a daypack and you have 2 days in Cusco before, you can finish this trek. It is harder than the 4 day Inca Trail alone but more rewarding.
You have two climates in one bag. Freezing at 4,650 meters and warm cloud forest at 2,700 meters.
Maximum 10 travelers, average 6. Small group is required on the Inca Trail section for permit control and better pace. Your guide can help each person on the passes.
Essential. You sleep at 3,900 meters on Night 1 and cross 4,650 meters on Day 2. Arrive in Cusco at least 2 to 3 days before Day 1. No heavy tours before. Just water, light meals and rest. Do not come from Lima the day before and start trekking. Cusco City and Sacred Valley at 2,800 meters are perfect to adjust.
Yes. Your duffel up to 7kg is already carried by horses on Salkantay and by porters on Inca Trail. If you want to carry almost nothing, hire a private porter for your daypack on the Inca Trail. For Salkantay Pass you can hire a private horse to ride if you feel unwell on Day 2, cost around 80 to 120 US dollars payable on trail. Ask your guide.
Sky Dome Camps is owned and operated by Sam Travel Corporation, a licensed Peruvian operator based in Cusco. We hold full permits for Salkantay Route and Inca Trail. Our Inca Trail permit is checked at Km 82, Winay Wayna checkpoint and Machu Picchu. Our Sky Domes in Soraypampa are private to us, not rented. All guides, porters and horse drivers are licensed and insured.
Standard Salkantay ends with a bus up to Machu Picchu from the valley. You never walk through the Sun Gate. Standard Inca Trail never goes to Humantay Lake or Salkantay Pass and you miss the wildest Andes. Fusion gives you both. You get wilderness and history, two high passes, four major Inca sites including Paucarcancha and Winay Wayna, and you finish with the classic Sun Gate entry that only Inca Trail permits allow.
For 2026 and 2027 your Inca Trail permit includes Circuit 1 upper terraces for classic photos and Circuit 3 Royalty Route. This is enough for first visit. If you want Circuit 2 lower citadel you need extra ticket 55 US dollars. If you want Huayna Picchu mountain extra 75 US dollars. Tell us at booking, they sell out 3 months ahead.
Best time May to September dry season. Inca Trail permits for Fusion are limited to 500 per day including porters for all companies. For 2027 book 7 to 8 months ahead for June to August. For April, September, October book 4 to 5 months ahead. Inca Trail closed every February. We need your full name and passport number exactly as passport to secure permits. Permits are 100 percent non refundable by Peruvian law.
All meals from lunch Day 1 to breakfast Day 6 except lunch Day 6 in Aguas Calientes are included. Hot breakfast, hot lunch, hot dinner plus snacks. Chef cooks in dining tents and domes even at 3,900m. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten free available, tell us at booking. Boiled water to refill your bottle provided at every meal. Bring 1.5L bottle on Day 1.
After your Machu Picchu tour you take bus down to Aguas Calientes, then Expedition or Vistadome train to Ollantaytambo, then private transport to your hotel in Cusco. Arrival around 7:00 pm. If you want to stay extra night in Aguas Calientes or return by private car, we can arrange it.
YOUR ADVENTURE. OUR EXPERTISE.
Guest Reviews
Real experiences from travelers who slept under the Andean sky
I never thought I could sleep in a luxury bed while staring at the Milky Way through a transparent dome. The Salkantay glacier right in front of you at sunrise — absolutely unreal. Worth every penny.
SkyDomeCamps - Sky DomeWe did the full Salkantay Trek and stayed at the dome on night two. After a hard day of hiking, coming back to a real bed, hot shower and that view of the mountain? Nothing compares to that.
SkyDomeCamps - Salkantay TrekI have camped across Patagonia and Nepal but nothing matched this. The dome is warm, beautifully designed and the silence at 4,600m is something else entirely. I woke up at 3am just to stare at the stars.
SkyDomeCamps - Sky Dome
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