Full Day Ausangate 7 Lakes Hike from Cusco

The place is very beautiful. It positively surprised me, as it is not very well known. I would go to the Laguna Humantay, but as it broke down a barracks, I changed the passes for this one and I did not regret a little. It is a tour that leaves early, they spent 4:30 am at the hotel, took about 3h30 in the van until arriving at the venue. The walk is about 12 km and lasts about 5h. There is the possibility to be done by horse for 100 soles. The walk is a little tired, mainly because of the altitude. I indicate that this tour is not done in the first days, as it is necessary to get used to the altitude first. The trail has no dangerous parts, but many climbs that require physical preparation. What needs to be improved is the infrastructure of the site, the bathrooms were precarious, the restaurant could also improve.

This is really just a van ride with ~16 other people to and from the mountains from Cusco - no guided tour. It is a 4am start to make your way to the van and don't expect to get back until around 8pm (very long day). The hike itself took only a few hours, but what takes forever is that you have to wait for everyone from your van before trekking onward, which is annoying. The drive there takes ~3 hours, but it is ~4 hours on the way back with traffic. The food was OK (you get breakfast and lunch) and the views are awesome, but I would not do this again TBH.

Beautiful scenery, however you need to understand that this trail is physically demanding even if you are in a good physical state. Do not recommend for kids under 10. Be ready to paid for horses best way to get there.

Beautiful tour and well worth the cost, this is such a bargain! Our guide was Tony and he was amazing. I did not acclimate myself enough and 25 minutes into the trek I was really struggling. I was afraid I was going to have to turn around because the altitude was so much. Tony called one of the guides with a horse, and she got me to the top! (It was an additional fee but 100% worth it! Extremely reasonable cost and I ended up getting a horse right away on my next days trek). I was so thankful for him looking out for me, made sure i was okay and I was able to walk the way back. He was a great guide, and it was a great tour!

Amazing experience in Ausangate! The landscapes took some tears out of me. The weather changes fast, so be prepared: good coat, sunscreen and good trek shoes. Izi Peru guides are top, attentive and with the best energy and disposition. Thanks for the adventure, super recommended! K.Miranda

This tour was a mixed bag. The tour option selected and paid for was pick up and drop off from hotel, this didn’t happen. Both pick up and drop off was from very nearby locations, however being in an unfamiliar country with a complete language barrier and no internet to use maps or communicate with the guide made this a little challenging when it didn’t need to be. The guide easily remedied this at drop off by walking me back to my hotel, which I was appreciative of as drop off was at night time and I didn’t want to be lost, wandering a city after dark. Whilst this was fixed, it shouldn’t have been an issue in the first place. Otherwise, the trip ran as scheduled, the lakes are a scenic location and are well worth visiting. However, the food/restaurant might not fit into every travellers comfort levels. Lastly, a bilingual guide was advertised as part of the tour options and paid for, whilst the guide did have an amount of English and translated important points of information, without speaking Spanish you were often left wondering what was happening. This wouldn’t have been a problem, being in a Spanish speaking country except a bilingual guide was part of the service paid for.

If you’re looking to be driven to the hiking route and back to Cusco, then this trip will be fine for you. Don’t expect an actual tour or the guide to explain anything to you, especially if you’re not fluent in Spanish. The 7 lakes and hot springs are stunning and well worth the visit so definitely go if you can anyway. The landscape is truly stunning and uniquely different to other mountain ranges I visited from Cusco. The drive is long (3 hours) but once you’re out of the city it is so so beautiful. This is just a very budget tour company which I didn’t realise at the time of booking so I wouldn’t go with them again if I had the chance. Although our guide was a nice enough guy, not rude or anything like that. My main issue is the communication for this trip was very poor, especially in comparison to the multiple day trips and treks I went on from Cusco. The bad communication negatively impacted my experience, but thankfully the group I was with were great! Yes the hike is technically easy, however the elevation (4,750m) makes it incredibly challenging, even if you have already acclimatised to Cusco altitude. A third of our group ended up getting horses for the trail. Most of the group were unprepared for the trail and weather, if you’re gonna do it, wear proper waterproof thermal hiking gear and bring poles! Also you need toilet paper and 1sole to use bathrooms on the trail. Details on the hike: from Pacchanta it’s about 1.5 hours of Andean flats on an incline, 1 hour to tour the lakes, 1.5 hours back to Pacchanta of Andean flats on a decline. The trail is a loop. Back in Pacchanta you can enter the hot springs. The breakfast was unpalatable. Most of the group ate just the bread and nothing else. So bring some snacks or food with you if you want proper sustenance before the trail. The lunch is ok though. I booked the English speaking tour because my Spanish is basic, but the guide kept explaining everything in Spanish despite being able to speak English. I had to keep asking him to explain things in English when I didn’t understand. Thankfully I was sat next to a bilingual person that explained the bits I missed. She also said that things weren’t being explained properly in Spanish anyway. There is no time set for you to visit the hot springs. You must “finish the hike quickly” to have enough time to visit them. Because the altitude was affecting me I skipped half of the lakes so I could have enough time to visit the springs. They were lush and well worth everything. And only 5 soles to enter!! Just remember to bring sandals to change. Despite the booking saying you get dropped back to your original pickup point, you don’t. You get dropped back to the main plaza and must walk back to your hotel, which is ok if you’re expecting it. Most of us were not. Also, the group is large 20 people, the trip must have been over booked because the guide was sitting on the floor of the van for the journey… All in all, I wanted to enjoy it, so I did it enjoy it, and the landscape and springs made it worth the trip. This was my last full day in Cusco so I just wish I picked a better tour company. I would have loved to learn more about the region and the lifestyle of the people living in Pacchanta, the hot springs, etc. But, if you’re on a budget and not fussed this company will do just fine.

I did the full day Ausangate's Hike - Seven Glacial Lakes on April 18. I had a terrific hike. I highly recommend booking with Izi Peru. Very communicative, very friendly and organized. Thank you so much.

It is a long 3-4 hour drive from Cusco to and from this hike, but once you're there it's wonderful! Our guide, Tony, was fantastic - a life of the party type that could easily turn a storm into a fun event. We did in fact run into hail storms during the hike, but it didn't detract at all from the natural beauty of the area. They give you breakfast and lunch as well -very much worth the price tag. The hike itself was good, though perhaps not for everyone. It's ~9 miles give or take, with ~1500 ft elevation gain. Normally a low difficulty hike, but at ~15000 ft elevation it gets more difficult. Still very doable and fun. Tons of alpaca and horses too. The main downsides are the long drive and the locals trying to sell you anything from alpaca fur mittens to a bottle of cola. On balance a wonderful trip. Make sure you have a coping strategy for elevation sickness. My headache was quite bad on the trip back.

The hike itself was excellent but be aware that it is a very long drive. If you are above average height be aware that the bus is designed for relatively short peruvians.