Uwe L.
The South America Inka Trail motorcycle tour offers clear, well-structured organization. The tour takes you over impressive routes like the Quebrada de Humahuac...
MOTORCYCLE-TRIPS · SOUTH AMERICA
This Inca Trail motorcycle tour takes you through the mountain landscapes of Argentina, Chile, Peru and Bolivia in 20 days. Between Salta and Cusco you will find white salt flats, mighty volcanoes, the Atacama Desert and the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu.
The Journey
Argentina
Your Inca Trail motorcycle tour begins in Salta in northern Argentina. From here you set off through the colourful Quebrada de Humahuaca and up into the Andes.
You are picked up at Salta airport and taken to the hotel from which your Inca Trail motorcycle tour starts the next day. After a short introduction to the itinerary and important information about Salta, the rest of the day is yours to explore the colonial old town and get used to the altitude.
The ride first leads along a winding asphalt road through wooded mountains to Jujuy. There the picturesque Quebrada de Humahuaca opens up, a gorge declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its landscapes and cultural wealth. On this stage of your South America motorcycle tour you visit the village of Purmamarca, the painter's palette of Maimara and the pre-Inca ruins of Tilcara, where you spend the night. Around 200 km.
Chile
In Chile the South America motorcycle tour takes you across the Andes into the Atacama, the driest desert in the world, and down to the Pacific.
First you climb the winding Cuesta de Lipan pass at 4,200 metres and reach the high plateau of the Puna. After the Salinas Grandes salt flat you continue towards the Atacama Desert and the border with Chile. On this Andes motorcycle tour you cross several passes up to 4,800 metres and pass lagoons with flamingos, vicuñas and ñandus. In San Pedro de Atacama at the foot of the Licancabur volcano you complete the border formalities and explore the Valley of the Moon. Around 350 km.
Through the driest desert in the world you first pass Chuquicamata, the largest copper mine in the world, and then descend to the Pacific and the town of Tocopilla. Afterwards the South America motorcycle tour takes you along a winding asphalt road along the coast to the beach town of Iquique, where you spend the night right by the sea. Around 380 km.
Peru
Peru is the heart of this Machu Picchu motorcycle journey: from the White City of Arequipa via the Colca Canyon to Cusco and the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu.
Continuing through the Atacama Desert, you cross three deeply cut canyons on the way north before reaching Arica. After lunch in Arica, the northernmost city of Chile, the Peruvian part of your Peru motorcycle trip begins: you cross the border and spend the first night in Tacna. Around 360 km.
Through the Peruvian Clemesi Desert this stage of the Peru motorcycle trip takes you to Arequipa, known as the White City because of its buildings of pale volcanic stone. Set at the foot of several volcanoes, the colonial city invites you to stroll through its historic lanes and across the Plaza de Armas. Around 370 km.
From Arequipa you first pass the Misti volcano and then continue up into the Andes to the Colca Canyon, one of the deepest gorges on earth. On this Andes motorcycle tour you ride winding mountain roads, around 50 km of them unpaved, and spend the night in a pleasant mountain village high above the canyon. Around 150 km.
Early in the morning you ride to the deepest point of the Colca Canyon to watch the condors at close range as they glide along the steep walls on the morning updraft. After this natural spectacle the Peru motorcycle trip leads you through wide mountain landscapes into the higher regions of the Andes to Sicuani. Around 300 km, of which 50 km unpaved.
On the way to Cusco lie several temples and Inca ruins: the most important are the Viracocha temple of Raqchi, the ruins of Pikillaqta and Tipón as well as the man-made irrigation systems and gardens of Tión. This stage of the Machu Picchu motorcycle tour brings you to the old capital of the Inca empire. Around 200 km.
Today is devoted entirely to Cusco. You explore the ancient centre, the Spanish churches and the surroundings with their impressive Inca temples such as Sacsayhuamán. As the cultural capital of the Inca Trail motorcycle tour, Cusco offers museums, lively markets and lanes that invite you to linger before heading to Machu Picchu the next day.
Questions about the tour itinerary?
Our tour guide is happy to answer any questions about the day-by-day route, stops, and details.
Today brings the highlight of your Machu Picchu motorcycle journey. A train ride over several zigzags takes you out of the Cusco valley to Ollantaytambo and along the Urubamba river to Aguas Calientes. From there the bus brings you up to the spectacularly situated ruins of Machu Picchu, the religious centre of the former Inca empire. In the evening you return to Cusco by train.
After Machu Picchu you head towards Bolivia, across the valleys and plains of the Vilcanota mountains and over the La Raya pass to Juliaca and Puno on Lake Titicaca, where you spend the night. Very close by the Uru live on their floating reed islands, which you can visit on this Peru motorcycle trip if you arrive in Puno in good time. Around 400 km.
Bolivia
In Bolivia the Bolivia motorcycle journey takes you from Copacabana via La Paz and the Death Road to the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world.
Along Lake Titicaca the Bolivia motorcycle journey takes you to the border and into the idyllic little town of Copacabana on the shore of the lake. After the border formalities the rest of the day is yours: you can walk up to the pilgrimage church or simply enjoy the view over the deep blue Lake Titicaca. Around 150 km.
Over winding asphalt roads you reach an adventurous boat crossing over a narrows of Lake Titicaca and then continue to La Paz, the spectacularly situated seat of government of Bolivia. On this Andes motorcycle tour you dive into the sea of houses of the highest metropolis in the world. The rest of the day is free for sightseeing.
The adventurous ride the notorious Death Road into the Yungas today. First you cross a pass of almost 5,000 metres, then dive down into the wooded plains at the foot of the Andes at around 1,000 metres. On the way back you ride the narrow gravel road along a deep gorge - a highlight of the Bolivia motorcycle journey. Around 200 km, of which 80 km gravel.
Through the Bolivian highlands you cross the Altiplano to the town of Oruro, pass Lake Poopó and continue on excellent asphalt through spectacular mountain landscapes to the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world. The highlight of this Bolivia motorcycle journey is the ride across the endless white expanses and to the cactus-covered island of Isla del Pescador. You spend the night in a hotel built of salt. Around 450 km.
You ride back to Potosí to visit the silver mines of the Cerro Rico or the Casa de la Moneda museum in the afternoon. On this stage of the South America motorcycle tour, the once richest city in the Americas tells the eventful colonial history of the silver mountain. Around 200 km, of which 30 km unpaved.
Argentina
Back in Argentina the Argentina motorcycle journey takes you through the valley of Tupiza and the Humahuaca gorge to Salta once more.
On good roads you travel through colourful mountain landscapes first into the fertile valley of Tupiza, before climbing back up to the high plateau and the border with Argentina. On this stage of the Argentina motorcycle journey you cross the border and spend the night in the border town of La Quiaca. Around 400 km.
After a short ride across the high plains you descend into the valley of Humahuaca, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003. You visit the little town of Humahuaca and the church of Uquía, cross the Tropic of Capricorn and reach Tilcara. From there the Inca Trail motorcycle tour takes you via Hornillos, Jujuy and a winding forest road back to Salta. Around 400 km.
On the last day of your Inca Trail motorcycle journey you are taken to Salta airport. You take home many good memories of salt flats, volcanoes and Inca sites, along with a farewell gift. This brings to an end a South America motorcycle tour across four countries and around 5,000 kilometres.
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Verified Reviews
The South America Inka Trail motorcycle tour offers clear, well-structured organization. The tour takes you over impressive routes like the Quebrada de Humahuac...
The South America Inka Trail motorcycle tour in Argentina, Chile, Peru and Bolivia posed a significant challenge due to the high-mountain terrain and changing s...
The South America Inca Trail motorcycle tour through Argentina, Chile, Peru and Bolivia offers, with a maximum group size of ten people, an interesting group dy...
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