Humantay Lake Tour from Cusco: Breakfast, Buffet Lunch and a Turquoise Glacier Lake
A glacier hangs off a 5,470-metre peak and melts into water so turquoise that first-time visitors assume the photos are edited. They are not. The lake sits at 4,200 metres, a steep hour and a half above the trailhead, and the small-group day trip below handles the 3:30 AM start, both meals and the pacing at altitude.
Written with Carlos Mamani, guiding the Humantay Lake day trip since 2022
Rating and review count are the operator's current GetYourGuide listing figures, not our own. Altitude and hike figures follow the sources on our about page; times shift with weather and season.
Short answer
Humantay Lake is a glacier-fed turquoise lake at 4,200 m in the Andes, about three hours' drive plus a steep 3 km hike from Cusco. Nearly everyone visits on a guided day trip, because the logistics (a 3:30 AM start, remote trailhead, altitude) are the hard part, not the trail. The trip we feature, run by Inka Altitude, holds a 4.8 across 3,809 GetYourGuide reviews and includes breakfast, a buffet lunch and emergency oxygen.
Dozens of agencies in Cusco sell this day trip, and the cheapest corner-shop deals cut the things you notice at 4,200 metres: meal quality, group size, and whether anyone is carrying oxygen. The small-group trip below is the one we point people to. It is among the highest-rated Humantay listings on GetYourGuide, the two meals are included rather than upsold, and the guide sets a pace that respects the altitude instead of racing the parking lot.
Top rated · Loved by English speakers
Best for reaching the lake with meals, pacing and altitude support handled, instead of organising colectivos and a guide yourself
Cusco: Humantay Lake Tour with Breakfast and Buffet Lunch
4.8across 3,809 GetYourGuide reviews
Small group with a bilingual guide, hot breakfast and buffet lunch (vegetarian option) in Mollepata included
Hotel pickup in Cusco's historic center between 3:30 and 4:00 AM, so you reach the trail before the midday crowds and cloud
First aid kit and emergency oxygen carried; free cancellation up to 24 hours before, reserve now and pay later
Live price on the listing shown for your date and currency at booking
Opens the operator's official GetYourGuide listing, where the live price and open times for your date are shown.
What makes the Humantay Lake tour worth a 3:30 AM alarm
The colour is real: rock flour ground off the glacier stays suspended in the meltwater and scatters light back turquoise. The setting does the rest, a wall of ice and rock rising straight from the far shore. Here are the numbers worth knowing before you book.
What the day looks like
Plan on a long morning that starts in the dark. The early pickup is not a gimmick: it puts you on the trail before the midday cloud builds over the glacier and before the biggest crowd wave reaches the shore. This is the usual shape of it, following the operator's listing.
3:30-4:00 AM: pickup in Cusco
Collection from hotels, hostels and homestays in the historic center. The van rolls out of the sleeping city and climbs into the hills while most people doze against the windows.
Breakfast in Mollepata
Around three hours in, the van drops into the Mollepata valley for a hot breakfast. Outside, the light is coming up over the mountains; this is where the day starts to feel real.
Soraypampa trailhead, ~3,900 m
A rougher stretch of road ends at a high grassland plain under Salkantay. The guide briefs the group, walking sticks come out, and anyone who wants a horse arranges one here (about 80 soles one way, paid on site).
The climb: ~3 km, 1.5 to 2 hours
Steep, rocky switchbacks with the valley falling away behind you. The guide sets a slow, steady pace with breathing stops; there is no prize for arriving first, and the altitude punishes anyone who treats it like a race.
Humantay Lake, 4,200 m
The trail crests a lip of moraine and the colour hits you all at once: turquoise water under the hanging glacier. You get time at the shore for photos and quiet before the walk down. Swimming is prohibited; the lake is sacred to the local communities.
Buffet lunch, then back to Cusco
Down in about an hour, then back to Mollepata for a buffet lunch with a vegetarian option. The van returns you to central Cusco in the evening, in time to sleep off the alarm.
The listing is unusually complete for a Cusco day trip: both meals and the safety kit are in the price rather than sold at the trailhead. Here is the split, straight from the operator's page.
Hotel pickup and drop-off in Cusco's historic center
Round-trip transport to Soraypampa
Bilingual guide (Spanish/English), small group
Hot breakfast and buffet lunch in Mollepata (vegetarian option)
First aid kit and emergency oxygen bottle
Entrance fee handling and an optional walking stick
Gratuities
Horse rental at Soraypampa (about 80 soles one way, paid on site)
Snacks and water beyond the meals
The listing notes the trip is not suitable for pregnant women, people with respiratory or mobility issues, vertigo, or a low fitness level; those are the operator's terms, and the altitude is the reason.
Prices for this trip move with the season and your currency, so we never print a number that goes stale: the live price sits on the listing. The rules below are the ones that actually shape the day.
Price
Shown live on the GetYourGuide listing for your date and currency. Book direct on the operator's official listing; reserve now, pay later is available.
Group & guide
Small group with a bilingual (Spanish/English) guide.
Start
Pickup between 3:30 and 4:00 AM from Cusco's historic center; evening drop-off near Plaza de Armas.
The hike
About 3 km one way, steep and rocky, roughly 1.5 to 2 hours up and 1 hour down. Horses available at Soraypampa; they stop short of the lake.
Altitude
Lake at 4,200 m / 13,780 ft. Spend two or more days in Cusco first; hydrate, walk slowly, skip alcohol the night before.
Entrance fee
A community fee is collected at the Mollepata/Soraypampa checkpoint (recent reports put it in the 10-20 soles range; this tour handles it, and the listing states the current arrangement).
The lake itself
No swimming and no entering the water. The lake is sacred to local communities and a protected water source.
This is the honest part. The hike is short, but it happens 800 metres higher than Cusco, and altitude does not care how fit you are at sea level. Most healthy visitors who have spent two days in Cusco manage it fine at a slow pace; the ones who struggle are usually the ones who landed yesterday.
You are
How it goes
What helps
Acclimatized and reasonably fit
A steep but satisfying 1.5-hour climb with breathing stops
Layers, water, sunscreen; the sun at 4,000 m is fierce even when it is cold
Fit but fresh off the plane
Expect headaches and heavy legs; soroche is real
Give Cusco two or more days first; the tour is bookable with free cancellation while you wait
Worried about the climb itself
The horse option carries you most of the way up
About 80 soles one way at Soraypampa; the final 15-20 minutes are on foot for everyone
Managing a health condition
The operator excludes pregnancy, respiratory and mobility issues, vertigo and low fitness
Read the listing's restrictions and talk to your doctor before booking
We do not write reviews, and we do not invent them. The figures below are the operator's own current GetYourGuide numbers, and the badge names are GetYourGuide's, not ours.
4.8 / 5
across 3,809 reviews on the listing
Top rated
GetYourGuide badge on the listing
Loved by English speakers
GetYourGuide badge on the listing
24 h
free cancellation window
Read the review body itself on the listing before you book; it is the least filtered picture of the trip you will find.
The lake hides in a hanging valley below Humantay peak, beside the Salkantay massif, in the Anta province north-west of Cusco. The drive runs through Limatambo to Mollepata and up a rough final stretch to Soraypampa, about three to three and a half hours each way.
For most visitors, yes, and emphatically so if you catch a clear morning. You trade a brutal alarm and a steep hour and a half for one of the most striking alpine lakes in South America. The honest caveats: the day is long, the climb is real, and cloud can mute the colour. Our full take is in is Humantay Lake worth it.
How difficult is the hike?
Moderate to hard, entirely because of altitude. It is about 3 km one way gaining roughly 300 to 470 m, on a steep, rocky path. Acclimatized hikers do it in 1.5 to 2 hours up at a slow pace. If you have just arrived in Cusco it will feel far harder than the distance suggests; see how hard the hike really is.
How long is the hike to the lake?
Plan on 1.5 to 2 hours up from Soraypampa and about an hour back down, plus your time at the shore. The tour builds this in, with a guide pacing the group and breathing stops on the way.
Can I swim in Humantay Lake?
No. Swimming and entering the water are prohibited: the lake is sacred to the local communities, a protected site, and a water source. Signs at the shore say the same. It is also glacier meltwater, cold enough to be dangerous regardless of the rules; more in can you swim in Humantay Lake.
Is Humantay Lake harder than Rainbow Mountain?
No, and that is the main reason to do it first. Humantay tops out at about 4,200 m; Rainbow Mountain reaches roughly 5,000+ m, where altitude symptoms are far more common. Doing Humantay earlier in your Cusco stay is the sensible order; the comparison lives in Humantay vs Rainbow Mountain.
Can you do it without a tour?
Yes, with effort: a colectivo to Mollepata, a taxi up to Soraypampa, the entrance fee in cash, and no backup if the altitude bites. It suits experienced, acclimatized travellers; for everyone else the guided day costs little more than the DIY route once meals and transport are added. We lay out both paths in with a tour vs on your own.
What is the best time of day and year to go?
Early morning, which is exactly why pickups run at 3:30 to 4:00 AM: the light is better, the glacier is clearer, and the biggest crowds arrive later. Season-wise, May to September is the dry season with the most reliable skies; October to April brings rain, mud and moodier views. Month by month in the best time to visit.
How much is the entrance fee?
A community fee is collected at the Mollepata/Soraypampa checkpoint; recent reports put it in the 10 to 20 soles range and it changes. On this tour the fee is handled as part of the trip per the listing, so carry small cash mainly for horses, snacks and tips. Details in what a Humantay day actually costs.
Humantay Lake tour planning guides
Longer answers, written to be the last tab you need to open.
Carlos Mamani is a Cusco local who has guided professionally since 2020 and has led international visitors on the Humantay Lake day trip since 2022, more than 1,000 travellers by his own count. He knows where people struggle on the switchbacks, when the glacier clouds over, and which details make or break the day. The figures and rules on this page come from the operator's official GetYourGuide listing and primary sources, not from memory.
Pick your date on the operator's official GetYourGuide listing, where today's price and open seats are shown. Book it for your third or fourth day in Cusco, acclimatize first, and with free cancellation up to 24 hours before, holding the date costs nothing.
