Cusco & Machu Picchu Travel Guide

How to Book Machu Picchu

A step-by-step guide to booking Machu Picchu in its current form: the three circuits and ten routes, daily caps, official sellers, Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain, guides, trains, the bus up, Inca Trail permits and what to do if things go wrong.

Visiting Machu Picchu is easy once you understand the system, and frustrating if you do not. Since June 2024, every visit follows a fixed circuit and route with a timed entry, daily numbers are capped, and the logistics of getting there involve trains, buses and, for many, a night in Aguas Calientes. This guide walks through the steps in the order you should book them.

Step one: understand the circuits. The citadel is visited on three circuits divided into ten routes. Circuit 1, the Panoramic circuit, follows the upper terraces for the classic postcard view and includes Route 1-A, the climb up Machu Picchu Mountain, plus the Sun Gate and Inca Bridge routes in high season. Circuit 2, the Classic circuit, offers the most complete walk through the citadel, with the postcard view from the lower terraces; for most first-time visitors, its routes are the best choice. Circuit 3, the Royalty circuit, covers the royal sector and the lower city, and includes Route 3-A, Huayna Picchu, as well as the Great Cavern and, in high season, Huchuy Picchu. You walk each route in one direction, without re-entry, and you cannot switch circuits once inside.

Step two: check the caps and dates. For 2026, the Ministry of Culture set a maximum of 5,600 visitors a day in high season, from 19 June to 2 November plus a few holidays, and 4,500 on other days, with each route given its own quota. Mountain routes are the most limited. In recent years, tickets for the following year have gone on sale late in the previous year or in early January, and Inca Trail permits have been released in November, so watch for announcements if you are planning for 2027.

Step three: buy the ticket. The only official online seller is the Ministry of Culture platform, tuboleto.cultura.pe, linked from the official machupicchu.gob.pe site. Foreign adult fares are roughly S/152 for the standard routes and S/200 for routes that include a mountain, with reduced fares for students and minors and free entry for children under three. You need your passport details, and you must bring the same passport. A daily quota of tickets is also sold in person at a cultural center in Machu Picchu Pueblo, which is useful for flexible travelers in the low season but involves queues and is not reliable in high season. Licensed agencies and platforms such as Tiqets resell tickets with service added, which can be convenient, particularly in combination with trains and guides.

Step four: arrange a guide. The regulations require visitors to enter with an authorized guide, and while enforcement has varied, a guide is strongly recommended, as there is little signage inside. You can book one in advance, through your hotel or tour operator, or hire one at the entrance. Group guides are cheaper; private guides let you set the pace.

Step five: book the train. Trains to Aguas Calientes run from Ollantaytambo, the busiest station, and from the Cusco area, where departures often begin with a bus leg. PeruRail runs the Expedition, Vistadome, Vistadome Observatory and the luxury Belmond Hiram Bingham, and Inca Rail runs The Voyager, The 360 and First Class. From January to April, all PeruRail Cusco services are bimodal, starting by bus from Wanchaq station. Book trains that bring you to Aguas Calientes the day before your entry, or at least ninety minutes to two hours before your slot, and remember the luggage limit of one small bag.

Step six: the bus up. From Aguas Calientes, shuttle buses climb the Hiram Bingham road to the entrance in about twenty-five to thirty minutes, or you can walk up the stone steps in an hour and a half or more. The bus service has been the subject of a dispute over its concession since 2025, with strikes and protests at times, so buy bus tickets through your operator or in town, check for news, and allow plenty of time for queues at busy times.

Step seven: the night in Aguas Calientes. Staying in Aguas Calientes the night before lets you take an early slot, when the site is quieter and the light softer, and removes the stress of a same-day connection. Book a hotel close to the station and the bus stop. Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, with its private cloud forest, and Sumaq Machu Picchu Hotel, on the river, are two of the most comfortable options.

Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain. If you want to climb, book the mountain route as soon as you can, as quotas are small. Huayna Picchu is steep and exposed, with spectacular views down onto the ruins; it closed for about a month of maintenance in mid-2026 and reopened on 1 July with new steel-cable handrails on the steepest sections. Machu Picchu Mountain is longer but less vertiginous. Mountain routes have strict entry times at the trailhead and no grace period.

The Inca Trail. The four-day Classic Inca Trail requires a permit through a licensed operator, which buys it in your name; popular dates sell out months ahead. The trail is closed every February, and it can close for weather, as it did from 19 August to 6 September 2026. Inca Trail hikers enter the citadel on a dedicated route, Circuit 3-B, with reserved quotas. The two-day short Inca Trail is an alternative when permits are scarce.

When things go wrong. Protests, strikes, landslides and occasionally fires can disrupt the railway and roads. Buy travel insurance, keep a buffer day, follow your train operator's alerts, and keep your guide and hotel informed. Train operators usually rebook passengers when services are suspended, and the Ministry of Culture has in the past rescheduled or refunded visits when access was closed.

Final checklist. Passport, printed or digital ticket, train tickets, bus tickets, guide details, rain jacket, sun protection, insect repellent, water and small change in soles. Arrive early, follow your route and the guards' instructions, and take time to simply stand and look; the view of the citadel with Huayna Picchu behind it is worth every step of planning.