Choquequirao and Machu Picchu are the two great Inca citadels of Cusco, but while one receives thousands of visitors a day, the other remains almost inaccessible to most travelers. Between them there is a high-mountain route that few people know about and that, in the future, could become one of the most important archaeological corridors in South America.
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What is the Choquequirao – Machu Picchu route?
The Choquequirao – Machu Picchu route is a high-demand trekking corridor that connects two of the most significant archaeological sites of the Inca world. It crosses the Vilcabamba mountain range, goes through the Apurímac canyon, and advances along ravines, cloud forests, and mountain passes above 4,000 meters of altitude before descending toward Aguas Calientes and the citadel of Machu Picchu.
Today this route exists, and each year some hundreds of experienced trekkers travel it in search of an alternative to the classic Inca Trail. However, its true potential is linked to an infrastructure project that would take Choquequirao from the condition of a remote site to that of an accessible destination: the Choquequirao cable car, whose construction has been debated for more than a decade without being completed to date.
Choquequirao, the forgotten citadel of the Incas
To understand why this route generates so much interest, you first have to know the site that gives it its name. Choquequirao
whose meaning in Quechua is “cradle of gold” is an Inca archaeological complex built between the 15th and 16th centuries, possibly during the reign of Túpac Inca Yupanqui and expanded under Huayna Cápac. It is estimated that only 30% of the site has been excavated, which makes Choquequirao one of the largest and least explored archaeological complexes in Peru.
Location and current access
The site is located in the district of Santa Teresa, province of La Convención, at an altitude of approximately 3,033 meters above sea level. Its location on the slopes of the Apurímac canyon makes it extraordinarily isolated: the only current access is on foot, through a two-day trek from the town of Cachora, in the Apurímac region. The route involves descending more than 1,500 meters to the bottom of the canyon and climbing back up on the other side, which turns the round trip into a hike of at least four days.
This difficulty of access explains why Choquequirao receives only a few thousand visitors a year, compared to the one and a half million who pass through Machu Picchu. The archaeological site is, in practice, an elite place within adventure tourism: only those who have the physical condition, the time, and the determination to do it make it there.
Why it is compared to Machu Picchu
The comparison between Choquequirao and Machu Picchu is not arbitrary. Both citadels share architectural and urban features typical of Inca urban planning: ceremonial plazas, agricultural terraces, perfectly fitted stone enclosures, canal systems, and a high-altitude location with visual control over the surrounding territory. Choquequirao also has a unique feature: on its lower terraces there are preserved relief representations of llamas and alpacas, a decorative element that has no known equivalent at any other Inca site.
Those who have visited both sites agree that the experience of Choquequirao has an additional dimension that Machu Picchu can no longer offer: solitude. Walking along its terraces without crowds, hearing the silence of the mountain, and feeling that you are in a place that the world has not yet fully discovered is an experience that many travelers describe as the most powerful of their time in Peru.
The trekking route between Choquequirao and Machu Picchu
The connection between both citadels through the Vilcabamba mountain range is one of the most complete and demanding treks in Peru. It is not a route for beginners or for those with little time, but for those who are prepared, it offers a combination of archaeology, high-mountain scenery, and ecosystem diversity that is hard to match on any other route in the Andean world.
Route, distance, and days of hiking
The full route starts from Cachora, accessible from Cusco in about four hours, and reaches Aguas Calientes, the gateway to Machu Picchu. The route covers approximately 100 kilometers on foot and is usually completed in nine days, although there are variations of eight or ten days depending on the pace and optional detours.
The classic itinerary follows this sequence: Cachora – Chiquisca – Choquequirao – Pincha Unuyoc – Maizal – Yanama – Santa Teresa – Aguas Calientes. Along the way, at least two mountain passes above 4,000 meters are crossed, descents are made to ravine bottoms with subtropical vegetation, and areas of cloud forest are crossed with orchids, tree ferns, and endemic birds.
Difficulty and profile of the ideal trekker
This route is classified as high difficulty. Daily stages range between 5 and 8 hours of hiking, with accumulated elevation gains that can exceed 1,500 meters in a single day. The maximum altitude is around 4,600 meters at the Yanama pass, so prior acclimatization in Cusco is essential.
The ideal trekker for this route is someone with experience in multi-day hiking, good cardiovascular condition, and willingness to sleep in tents or basic lodging in rural communities. No climbing experience or specialized technical equipment is required, but an attitude of adaptability and tolerance for changing mountain conditions is necessary. Small groups with a local guide are always the best option for safety and to support the economies of the communities along the route.
The cable car project to Choquequirao
The debate over how to make Choquequirao accessible has remained unresolved for more than fifteen years. At the center of that discussion is the proposal to build a cable car connecting the town of Kiuñalla, in Apurímac, with the archaeological site, reducing access time from two days to less than one hour.
What the proposal consists of
The project, promoted in different versions by the regional governments of Apurímac and Cusco with support from the central government, proposes the construction of a cable car system that would overcome the drop of the Apurímac canyon in approximately 45 minutes. The proposed route would begin near Cachora or Kiuñalla and arrive at an access platform to the archaeological complex, with an estimated transport capacity of thousands of visitors per day.
The arguments in favor point to the economic impact for the regions of Apurímac and Cusco, the democratization of access to a heritage site that today can only be visited by tourists with time and physical condition, and the potential of Choquequirao as an alternative to Machu Picchu to help ease tourism congestion in the Sacred Valley.
Current status of the project and the debate it has generated
To date, the project has not been carried out. It has gone through successive bidding processes, environmental impact studies, changes of government, and disputes over regional authority that have indefinitely postponed its start. At the same time, the project has generated intense debate among archaeologists, heritage managers, local communities, tour operators, and international organizations such as UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture of Peru.
The most serious concerns point to the risk that a massive influx of tourists without adequate management infrastructure would reproduce in Choquequirao the problems Machu Picchu already faces: deterioration of structures, loss of landscape value, pressure on local communities, and erosion of the authentic experience. Those who defend the project respond that the cable car design can include flow-control mechanisms and that the economic benefit for the populations of the Apurímac canyon justifies the development.
The future connection: what would change for tourism in the region
Beyond the debate over the cable car, the prospect of a consolidated route between Choquequirao and Machu Picchu, whether in its trekking version or with the support of infrastructure, already has important implications for tourism throughout the southern Andes of Peru.
Greater accessibility and new routes for the traveler
If access to Choquequirao is simplified, the archaeological corridor between both citadels could become one of the most important cultural routes in Latin America: an itinerary that connects two jewels of the Inca world through one of the most spectacular natural landscapes in the Andes. For the cultural and independent traveler, this would represent a high-value alternative to the classic Cusco – Sacred Valley – Machu Picchu circuit.
It would also open possibilities for specialized archaeological tourism: ongoing studies at Choquequirao continue to reveal new structures, and the projection of the site as a consolidated destination would accelerate excavations and academic research, enriching the knowledge available to guides, operators, and travelers.
Impact on the local communities of the Apurímac canyon
The communities that today benefit from the flow of trekkers Capuliyoc, Chiquisca, Santa Rosa, Maizal would see an increase in the demand for rural lodging, food, muleteering, and local guides. For these towns of the Apurímac canyon, among the poorest in the region, well-managed tourism represents a real economic alternative to subsistence farming.
The challenge, however, is to guarantee that this growth is orderly, that the benefits reach the families directly, and that the l
