Machu Picchu tickets: circuits, routes and how to book

A Machu Picchu ticket is no longer a general entry to the citadel. Since 1 June 2024, Peru's Ministry of Culture has sold every ticket for a specific circuit and route, with a set entry time, and you follow that route through the site. Choosing the wrong one is the most common planning mistake, because it decides which parts of Machu Picchu you will see and whether you can climb one of the two mountains. This page belongs with the Cusco guides and the wider Peru travel guide, and it explains the circuits, the official sales channels and the conduct rules.

It affects every visitor, whether you arrive by train from the Sacred Valley or finish a trek. The information comes from the Ministry of Culture's regional office in Cusco and its ticket platform, with the protected-area service SERNANP used for the Inca Trail and the season. This guide quotes no ticket prices, because the price depends on the circuit and visitor category and the official platform is the place to confirm it.

The Ministry of Culture, through its regional office in Cusco (the DDC Cusco), manages the Inca city of Machu Picchu, which it calls the llaqta. The Ministry's site says the 5 visiting circuits set in 2021 were modified by Ministerial Resolution 528-2023-MC, and that from 1 June 2024 three new circuits grouping 10 visiting routes are in force.

The official information is on the Ministry's circuits and routes page. The same site publishes an equivalence table for older circuit numbers, so you may still meet the old numbering in forums and in older guides. Treat those as out of date.

There are three circuits. Circuit 1 is called Panoramic, Circuit 2 is called Machupicchu Clásico, and Circuit 3 is called Machupicchu Realeza (Royalty). Four of the ten routes are available only in the high season.

The Ministry's route list marks 1-C, 1-D, 3-C and 3-D as available only in the high season. Its pages in text do not define the high season, so check the route list on the ticket platform for your date before you plan around one of those four. Each route has its own capacity and entry times, and the entry slot on your ticket is the one you must use.

Start with what you want from the day, then pick the route. The names carry most of the meaning, and the Ministry's text pages publish no route maps, so use the circuit overview on the ticket platform to see the lines on a map before you pay.

If this is your first visit and you want the full citadel experience, Circuit 2 is the least risky choice. It is the circuit called Classic, and Route 2-A, the designed route, carries the largest share of the in-person quota, about which more below. If you want the high views and are happy with a mountain walk, Route 1-A and Route 3-A are the two climbs, and each has the smallest allocation in the in-person quota. Pick a mountain if the climb itself is the goal, not as a casual add-on.

Because each route covers only part of the site, no single ticket shows everything. Some visitors book a second ticket for another route or another day, for example Circuit 2 for the citadel and a mountain route on a different slot. If you do that, set the entry times far enough apart that the first visit does not cut into the second, and make sure the second slot is not so early that you need an overnight in Machu Picchu Pueblo you did not plan.

Who should skip the mountain routes: visitors who are unsure of their fitness at altitude, travelers with tight train or bus connections, and anyone who will not be at the control point on time. The schedule notes that entry at the controls of the Machu Picchu, Huayna Picchu and Huchuy Picchu mountains has no tolerance time.

There are two official channels. Online, the Ministry sells tickets through the state's platform for managing visits to cultural sites, developed by the Ministry of Culture together with the government digital transformation office. On the purchase form you select the circuit, then the route, then the date, then the entry time, and then the number of tickets, with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 5, and you confirm that you are human before paying. In person, the DDC Cusco ticket office in Machu Picchu Pueblo, the town below the site, sells a daily quota for the next day.

Buy online at tuboleto.cultura.pe and check how many in-person tickets remain on the availability page. The availability page lists capacity, tickets sold and tickets available per route. The split of the 1,000 in-person tickets it displayed on 2 October 2026 was 600 for Route 2-A, 100 each for 1-B, 2-B and 3-B, and 50 each for the two mountain routes, 1-A and 3-A. Treat that split as a snapshot, because the live page is the source. The Ministry's pages on online sales and in-person sales confirm both channels.

Many agencies and websites resell Machu Picchu tickets, often bundled with trains or guides. Some are legitimate operators and some charge markups, so if you only need the entry ticket, buying it yourself on the Ministry's platform lets you see the circuit, route, date and time before you pay. Check the change and cancellation terms on the platform before you pay, because this guide cannot confirm them and your entry slot affects everything else you book.

The Ministry publishes a schedule of entry times as a PDF on its visiting hours page. The schedule lists ten hourly entry slots at the main gate of the Inca city, from 06:00 to 15:00. The tolerance after the slot is up to 30 minutes in regular-demand months and up to 45 minutes in the months of higher demand, which the schedule defines as a window in the middle of the year plus 30 and 31 December. Read the schedule for the exact dates of that window.

The note at the foot of the schedule is the one that catches people out. Entry at the controls of Machu Picchu Mountain, Huayna Picchu and Huchuy Picchu has no tolerance time. If you have a mountain ticket, the slot is the deadline, so allow for the walk to the control point and for the queue at the main entrance, which is uphill from the town.

The Ministry lists 25 prohibited acts and items inside the citadel. The ones that most often decide whether you get in with your bag are about luggage and equipment, and park rangers of the Ministry and national police agents are the authority inside the monument.

The full list is on the rules of conduct page. Several items on it change how you pack. Because umbrellas are prohibited, a waterproof layer is the rain plan. Because heels and hard-soled shoes are prohibited, wear flat shoes with soft soles. Because food and utensils are prohibited, eat before you enter and plan what you will do if you get hungry, since the rules offer no exception. The list also bars musical instruments, speakers, megaphones, aerosols, graffiti, fires and littering, bans touching or moving the stones, and prohibits weapons and sharp objects.

The Ministry's list does not mention water bottles, so the safe route is to ask the Ministry or your operator before you go. If you need a walking stick for medical reasons, contact the Ministry before travel as well, because the list names walking sticks and the gate is the worst place to find out how that is handled.

SERNANP, which manages the Historic Sanctuary around the site, gives the recommended season for visiting as April to October and the rainy season as November to March. That makes the dry months the simplest time to book a mountain route, and the rainy months the time to keep a flexible plan. The best time to visit Peru guide covers the seasons across the country, and you can build in spare time around the ticket date so that a delayed arrival does not cost you the slot.

Work backward from the entry time on your ticket. Most visitors reach Machu Picchu Pueblo from Cusco or the Sacred Valley and then go up to the site entrance, so your transport has to land you in town with margin for the climb to the gate and any queue. Book the circuit first and the transport second, since the slot decides which arrival works. If you want two routes, book them for different slots or days.

The in-person quota is a backup, not a plan. It sells up to 1,000 tickets a day for the following day, so it can rescue a trip when online tickets are gone, but it means staying a night in Machu Picchu Pueblo and queuing at the office, and the mountain routes have the smallest allocation. If your dates are fixed and tickets are gone, the story on quieter alternatives when Machu Picchu is booked out is the place to start.

The Inca Trail is a different system. SERNANP says entry to the Inca Trail network is only through travel and tourism agencies authorized by the Historic Sanctuary, and describes six routes that take between 2 and 5 days. A trail permit and a citadel ticket are separate things, so confirm with your authorized operator what is included.

Book your circuit before your train or bus, since the entry time decides which departure works. Keep the ticket on your phone and on paper, and carry your passport in case staff ask for identification. Allow time for the uphill approach from Machu Picchu Pueblo, and read the rules page the night before so nothing in your daypack gets you turned around at the gate.

For the rest of the trip, see the Cusco guides and the best time to visit Peru. Cusco's altitude makes health cover worth sorting before you fly, so compare policies in the travel insurance guides. You will want data in town for tickets and train bookings, so see the connectivity guide, and use the transport guide to think through the legs between cities.