You’ve just completed a gruelling 3 day Inca Trail hike, it’s early morning, you’ve just finished taking a bunch of selfies at the Machu Picchu look out and now you have to do another stair-climb hike? While the idea of it sounded great when you booked your trip to Peru but in the moment, you’re second guessing yourself and wondering “is the Huayna Picchu hike worth it?”
Read more about the Inca Trail
Where to stay in Cusco?
- Cusco is going to be your staging site for Machu Picchu and critical for acclimatization. I recommend Yanantin Guest House Review for a budget stay or Palacio del Inka for something more luxurious.
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What is Huayna Picchu?
Maybe we need to step back a little first. What and where exactly is Huayna Picchu?
You’ve most likely heard about Huayna Picchu planning your Machu Picchu portion of your trip to Peru whether you’ve decided to hike the Inca Trail, do one of the alternative treks such as Salkantay, or taking the bus up.
One of the options that is given to you is whether you’d like to do this add-on this hike. It’s certainly lesser known than it’s giant brother, the Inca Trail, but Huayna Picchu is something that you should definitely consider for a number of reasons I’ll get into a little later on.
First, let’s start with some of the basics about this mountain.
About the mountain
Huayna Picchu translates to Young Mountain in Quechua. It’s 2,667m/8,750ft above sea level and part of the chain of Andean mountains in Peru.
The mountain is also known by the names of Wayna Picchu and Wayna Pikchu.
While the city of Machu Picchu gets all the glory, what you see in all the classic photos of the citadel is in fact Huayna Picchu in the back.
Where is Huayna Picchu?
Visually, it all becomes clear with the above image of how things are laid out. The above photo was taken from Machu Picchu Mountain which is a completely other add-on hike that you can do which I cover in my piece on how to choose what Machu Picchu hike to do.
As you can tell, Huayna Picchu is the mountain that has become synonymous with Machu Picchu. It’s that spine of the mountain that takes you to the top – one that looks a little scary when you make you descent from the Sun Gate but really isn’t that bad.
What can you expect hiking Huayna Picchu?
Here’s a glimpse of what it’s like to hike Huayna Picchu.
Ticketing
If you’re doing the Inca Trail like we did, your will first start your morning with a tour of the ancient city before it’s the 10AM – 11AM time slot.
The entrance and warden’s hut to Huayna Picchu is on the backside of the complex and seems like a rather makeshift guard house with blocked entryway to the trail.
Your guide will sort out the tickets with the guard while you sign in what seemed almost like a guestbook. You’ll need your passport number.
After that, you’re pretty much on your own. Your guide will give you some instructions that he’ll be expecting you at right at the trail exit and off you go. The guide does not come with you.
The stair climb up
Like the Inca Trail, things start off flat and easy as you cut through to near the base of the mountain. This is where the road splits.
For most of you, you’ll follow the wooden sign post to go up to the peak of Huayna Picchu. The other direction in the fork takes you to the lower trail that wraps around to the Great Cavern and Moon Temple.
10 minutes or so later, you’ll reach the base of the mountain and this is where the climb begins.
This part is challenging because you’re faced with switchback stairs and potentially slippery rocks from morning dew or rain.
Under normal circumstances, the climb up honestly isn’t too bad but when you factor in that you might’ve just completed 2 days of trekking, and there’s still altitude to deal with, it’ll be a test of endurance and determination.
TIP: Pace yourself and shed as much of your gear as possible. All you honestly need is water and your camera. Everything else you can get your guide to watch.
Since I didn’t have anything other than my camera and a bottle of water, I felt re-energized to power through the switchback section. This part takes roughly 20-30 minutes.
You’ll know you made it near the top when you start seeing Inca ruins and ancient terraces.
It’s around this time that the climb up gets pretty steep to the point where it actually makes more sense to get down on your hand and knees to climb up the rock stairs.
HEADS UP: Some call it the stair climb of death. Yes, it’s incredibly steep and you have to get down on all fours to climb up but it’s do-able. Just take your time. It will trigger some vertigo though.
The peak
At any point, you can use one of the terraces of viewpoints as a break and photo stop.
If you keep going along the trail, you’ll reach a small store house and additional agricultural terraces.
Take a quick break if you need it and take in the views surrounding you. Let it sink in that this was all part of an astronomical observatory and ancient guardian tower so-to-speak of the citadel.
The descent
From here there’s another set of narrow and steep steps down that descend until you end up reaching the original trail you’ll recognize near the terraces.
After this point, you’re going to go back down the same way you came up. Depending on how congested the trail is, you’ll be slowed down by squeezing through hikers coming up and waiting around switchback corners to let people through.
For some, going down is going to be more challenging as it puts more strain on your knees and quads.
It takes roughly 60 minutes to get all the way back down.
Extension to Great Cavern and Moon Temple
Remember that fork in the road that you saw on the way up? If you have time, this is a worthwhile detour that you can add before or after climbing up to Huayna Picchu.
Another thing you could do is the full loop trail where you don’t need to double back. There is away to do the hike so that you climb up to the peak of Huayna Picchu and come down the back side of it which drops you to Moon Temple.
Note that the trailhead to go down towards Moon Temple isn’t well marked so make sure to ask the warden/guard that should be near the peak to point you in the right direction. Along the way, there’s also a wooden ladder that you’ll need to navigate.
Difficulty
If you’re doing the standard hike from the entrance to the top of Huayna Picchu, I would grade this hike as moderate.
For those planning on doing the entire loop including Moon Temple and the Great Cavern, I’d say this is challenging.
Time limitations
When we did our Huayna Picchu hike, we did feel like there was pressure to complete this as fast as possible because we didn’t know how long we would take and knew that our guide was waiting for us at the bottom. This is why we didn’t really linger around once we made it to the top. Expect to snap a few quick photos and start making your way back down.
Your guide will let you know how much time you have to work with so gauge how quickly you tackle the hike.
It is also worth noting that once you enter Machu Picchu, you are allowed to be on-site for a total of 4 hours and this includes your time hiking Huayna Picchu.
Is Huayna Picchu worth it?
In one word, yes.
FOMO aside, you’ve already invested all of your time, energy, and money to get out there, it would be a shame to not see this incredible city from a different vantage point and have one of your final close encounters with remarkable archeological remnants of a time long forgotten (but luckily not lost).
It’s worth it because:
- Incredible alternative perspective of Machu Picchu that you don’t normally get to see.
- The hike itself is quite beautiful and the scenery and view up the ridge of the mountain is awe-inspiring.
- Incan ruins of ancient astronomical observatory.
- You need additional steps for your Fitbit (lol jk).
When we did our Huayna Picchu hike, we did feel like there was pressure to complete this as fast as possible because we didn’t know how long we would take and knew that our guide was waiting for us at the bottom. This is why we didn’t really linger around once we made it to the top. Expect to snap a few quick photos and start making your way back down.
Why you wouldn’t want to do Huayna Picchu
With all the above said, I know the realities of travel and there are certainly a few valid cases where you wouldn’t want to hike Huayna Picchu.
Here’s why you might not want to do the Huayna Picchu hike:
- This hike is physically challenging because of the switchbacks and steep climb and descent.
- Factoring in additional hiking you will have done or will be doing, so if you feel like you won’t have the energy or stamina to do this, you might not want to do it.
- If you are limited in time, it may not make sense to take away from time to explore the site to do this hike.
- Find out from your tour/trek operator such as Alpaca Expeditions, what the time limitation will be for Huayna Picchu. You will likely only have 1.5-2 hours.
- Some tours don’t even offer this as an option or extension so find out what’s available.
- If you are serious vertigo (afraid of heights), a word of warning that the part where you have to get on your hands and knees to climb by the terraces can be a bit scary. As reference, I have mild vertigo and certainly felt it but was able to power through it.
TIP: If you’re unsure and can afford it, purchase the Huayna Picchu permit and make a decision on the day whether you want to do it or not.
Important details about Huayna Picchu
Here are a list of commonly asked questions about Huayna Picchu that will clarify how it works if you want to tack it onto your Machu Picchu experience.
Yes.
At least 2-3 months in advance.
Yes, only 400 hikers are allowed daily. 200 is allocated to the first time slot and 200 to the second time slot.
First slot: 7 – 8 AM
Second slot: 10 – 11:30 AM (extended from 11AM in 2019)
They are pretty strict so don’t be late or you might be denied entry.
The morning 7 – 8 AM time slot is cooler but there is a chance that you’ll encounter foggy conditions. The later 10 – 11 AM time slot has better visibility but temperatures will quickly rise as there is not much cover from the sun.
$75 USD regardless of whether you’re hiking through from the Inca Trail, entering Machu Picchu by bus with a tour, or doing one of the alternative treks that ends up with a bus ride up to Machu Picchu.
As a guideline, it should take 2 hours to complete the round trip hike up to the Huayna Picchu peak and back down. If you really push it, you could complete it 1hour and 20 minutes.
It took me 1 hour and 40 minutes with some haste in some portions.
Traditionally no. The guide will wait for you at the exit or assign a meeting location. There are some companies that offer guide services on the hike for an extra fee.
15-20 minutes depending on how many tour groups you need to duck through.
At the very top, it’s 2,693 meters (8,835 feet).
353 meters (1,158 feet).
Children under the age of 12 are not allowed to climb Huayna Picchu.
What to pack when hiking Huayna Picchu
As mentioned earlier, when it comes to the Huayna Picchu packing list, you want to shed as much weight as you can to make the hike as easy as possible.
Here’s a list of what you need to pack:
- 1 to 1.5 liters of water (roughly 2-3 bottles of water)
- Hat (I recommend the Tilley Airflo)
- Sunscreen
- Sunglasses (I’m currently rocking the Maui Jim Chee Hoo)
- Insect repellent
- Rain jacket or poncho
- Walking stick if preferred
- Change of top if you end up soaking your shirt
- Snacks
- Passport
- Camera (Check out my toolbox for all the gear I use)
Who to book your Machu Picchu experience with?
When it comes to planning your trip to Machu Picchu, finding the right tour operator will make or break your experience.
My personal experience is with Alpaca Expeditions as we booked a private 4 day and 3 night Inca Trail hike with them and were blown away by the experience.
Alpaca Expeditions is by far one of the best experiences I’ve had with a trekking company. We were well-taken of, guided expertly by Juan Carlos, served amazing food, and are reasonably priced.
For Huayna Picchu, they offer the add-ons for any of their treks they offer and also the basic Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu Train 2 day 1 night trip.
To make things better, we’ve negotiated a special promotion for Going Awesome Places readers.
David Clement says
It was interesting to read how much the protocol at the site has changed. I went in 2008, decided to do Huayna Picchu at the last minute for no extra cost, and spent the whole day at Machu Picchu!
Will Tang says
It sure has! They’ve definitely taken advantage of the massive influx of tourists to the area and I’ve seen the prices only go up since we went in 2015.