Peru Motorcycle Tour with Haku Expeditions

Welcome to the Imperial City. Meet your guides and the team, then get to know your machine. We go through each motorcycle together: controls, suspension setup, tires, and a full safety check. Then you pack your bags and dial in your gear for the week ahead. Take a short shakedown spin around the hills above Cusco to get comfortable at altitude, then wander the cobbled streets and plazas and finish with a relaxed welcome dinner and route briefing. It’s also a gentle first night for adjusting to Cusco’s thin air at 3,400 m (11,150 ft).

Distance: optional short shakedown ride · Lodging: hotel in Cusco

Roll out of the Imperial City and drop through high Andean farmland on smooth, sweeping pavement. The road winds through Anta and Limatambo (home to the Tarawasi Inca ruins), then plunges into the Apurímac canyon at the Cunyac bridge. It climbs again through Curahuasi, Peru’s anise capital, and finally descends into the warm, bustling valley town of Abancay, nearly 1,000 m lower than where you started.

Distance: ~195 km / 121 mi · Terrain: paved · Ride time: ~4.5 to 5 hrs · Lodging: hotel in Abancay

A steep, thrilling day that drops you out of the sky and into the heat. Climb west out of Abancay over a high pass of nearly 3,700 m, then plunge more than 2,600 m through endless switchbacks into the hot, deep river canyon. The air thickens and warms as you descend, the vegetation turns tropical, and the pace slows as you roll into Pasaje to spend the night beside the river.

Distance: ~138 km / 86 mi · Terrain: mountain road, many switchbacks · Ride time: 5 to 6 hrs · Lodging: Pasaje

The most dramatic day of the trip. Climb out of the river canyon through remote villages, then cross a wild, windswept pass above 4,500 m before dropping into the Vilcabamba valley, where the last Inca rulers held out until the Spanish invasion. Wind through Huancacalle and the small valley towns, then pop out at the Chaullay junction below Santa María for a short run down to Quillabamba.

Distance: ~220 km · Terrain: gravel and rough mountain road · Ride time: 8+ hrs · Lodging: hotel in Quillabamba

After the high passes and rough gravel of Day 4, this is a warm, easy recovery day. Head north out of Quillabamba along the Urubamba River through Echarati and Palma Real, riding between coffee, cacao, and banana plantations in thick, humid jungle air. The road ends at Kiteni, a river-port town on the Urubamba where the jungle truly begins and the river takes over from the road. Simple lodging is available there for the night.

Distance: ~80 km · Ride time: ~3-4 hrs · Terrain: mixed paved and gravel · Lodging: simple hospedaje in Kiteni

Leave Kiteni early and ride deeper into the jungle along the Urubamba, past Machiguenga communities, banana groves, and thick green hillsides, to Ivochote, where the road ends and the river takes over. Here you swap your motorcycle for a long aluminum lancha, an 18 m boat run by experienced local boatmen, and head downstream into the Pongo de Mainique. The canyon is only about 3 km long and 45 m wide, but it cuts through the only break in the entire Vilcabamba range, with towering walls and around 30 waterfalls pouring into the river. The Machiguenga people consider it sacred, and Werner Herzog filmed Fitzcarraldo here. Sleep at Carlos’s house along the river.

Distance: ~50 km riding + boat trip · Ride time: ~2 to 3 hrs · Terrain: gravel and dirt · Lodging: basic lodging in Ivochote

Wake to the jungle chorus, board a long aluminum lancha, and slip into the Pongo de Mainique. Sheer rock walls tower overhead, waterfalls spill down the cliffs, and the Machiguenga consider the gorge sacred. Return to our lodging in the afternoon for a long, lazy swim in the Yoyato’s clear turquoise water, then dinner and a second night with your hosts.

Ask your hosts about river levels before swimming, since jungle rivers can rise fast after rain upstream.

Terrain: river trip, no riding · Lodging: local family home

Say goodbye to your hosts and ride out through Ivochote to Kiteni, then turn onto the remote road into the Vilcabamba backcountry. The road from Kiteni toward Espíritu Pampa runs about 57 km, roughly two hours, through plantations and small hamlets. Pass through Esmeralda and keep descending toward the San Miguel River, in the shadow of Espíritu Pampa, the Incas’ last refuge. Keep an eye out for Andean cock-of-the-rock, oropendolas, and tamarin monkeys along the way.

Distance: ~110 km plus the ride out of the valley · Ride time: 4 to 5 hrs · Terrain: dirt, mud possible · Lodging: camp or simple lodging near San Miguel

The wildest day of the trip. Leave the steamy river valley and begin a long, steep climb through remote villages and cloud forest, up to a pass of nearly 3,850 m. From the top, drop into the Vilcabamba valley and follow the river down through Lucma, Pucyura, and Huancacalle, the heart of the last Inca refuge. Continue down the valley to the Chaullay junction and finish with a short run down to Quillabamba, where a hot shower and a cold drink are waiting.

Distance: ~140 to 145 km · Ride time: 8 to 10 hrs · Terrain: steep, rough dirt, then valley road · Lodging: hotel in Quillabamba

Leave Quillabamba and turn off the main highway into the Yanatile river valley, where the road follows the water through coffee, cacao, and banana plantations in warm, humid jungle air. The Yanatile district sits at only about 1,100 to 1,200 m, so the day is one long climb, rising nearly 2,000 m through cloud forest and remote Quechua villages to the high valley of Lares. End the day soaking in the thermal pools of Baños de Lares, a place the locals have used since Inca times.

Terrain: mostly dirt · Lodging: basic lodging in Lares

Soak one last time in the Lares pools, then climb out of the valley on the narrow dirt road over the high pass. Descend through traditional weaving villages to Calca, where the pavement begins, and roll through the Sacred Valley past Pisac, with its hillside Inca terraces and famous market. The road climbs over the last ridge and drops into Cusco, where you return the bikes, unpack, and celebrate with a farewell dinner.

Distance: ~105 km · Ride time: 3 to 4 hrs · Terrain: dirt over the pass, then paved · Lodging: hotel in Cusco