You no longer buy “a ticket to Machu Picchu”. You buy a ticket for one route on one circuit, for one entry hour, in your name. The routes are one-way, you cannot wander between them, and there is no re-entry.
The three circuits at a glance
| Circuit | What it covers | Routes | Choose it if |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circuit 1 — Panoramic | The upper terraces and the classic postcard view. Does not go down into the buildings. | Machu Picchu Mountain · Upper terrace · Sun Gate* · Inca Bridge* | You want the photo, a mountain hike, or a second visit |
| Circuit 2 — Classic | A viewpoint over the city, then the main urban sector: temples, plazas, Sacred Rock. | Classic designed route · Lower terrace route | It is your first and only visit |
| Circuit 3 — Royalty | The lower sector: Temple of the Sun, royal residence, water channels, Temple of the Condor. | Huayna Picchu · Designed route · Great Cavern* · Huchuy Picchu* | You are climbing Huayna Picchu, or want easier walking |
Machu Picchu sanctuary Machu Picchu Citadel
The Inca city itself
Around 200 stone buildings and hundreds of terraces on a ridge at about 2,430 m: temples, plazas, fountains and houses built for the emperor Pachacuti in the fifteenth century and visited today on three fixed circuits.
Machu Picchu sanctuary Huayna Picchu
The peak in every photograph
The sugarloaf mountain that rises behind the city. A steep Inca staircase climbs to terraces and buildings near the summit, about 290 m above the citadel, for a bird’s-eye view of the whole site.
Machu Picchu sanctuary Machu Picchu Mountain
The highest viewpoint
The broad mountain on the opposite side of the site from Huayna Picchu. A long stone stairway leads to the 3,082 m summit, with the citadel, the river loop and the surrounding ranges laid out below.
Machu Picchu sanctuary Sun Gate & Inca Bridge
Two walks out along the Inca roads
Inti Punku, the Sun Gate, is where the Inca Trail first looks down on Machu Picchu; the Inca Bridge is a gap in a cliff path once closed by removable logs. Both are side routes of Circuit 1, usually open in high season.
* Routes generally offered only in high season.
Circuit 1: the panoramic terraces
Circuit 1 climbs from the entrance to the terraces around the Guardhouse, where the famous view of the city with Huayna Picchu behind it opens out. It then leaves without entering the urban sector. Its routes are:
- Upper terrace route — the viewpoint and little else. Short, and the easiest ticket to get.
- Machu Picchu Mountain — the viewpoint plus the long stair climb to the 3,082 m summit above the site. See Machu Picchu Mountain.
- Sun Gate (Inti Punku) — the viewpoint plus the walk up the last stretch of the Inca Trail to the gate. High season only. See Sun Gate & Inca Bridge.
- Inca Bridge — the viewpoint plus a short cliff path to a drawbridge-style gap in the trail. High season only.
Circuit 2: the classic route
This is the one most first-time visitors want, and the first to sell out. It gives you a view over the city and then leads down through the main gate, past the quarry, the Temple of the Three Windows and the main plaza, round to the Sacred Rock and out through the eastern buildings.
- Classic designed route — photographs from the classic upper platform, then the urban sector.
- Lower terrace route — the same urban sector, but the photo stop is from a slightly lower terrace. The picture is very similar; take it if the other is sold out.
Circuit 3: the lower city and Huayna Picchu
Circuit 3 stays in the lower part of the site, with the least climbing. You see the Temple of the Sun from close by, the royal residence, the fountains and the Temple of the Condor — but not the high postcard view. Its routes are:
- Designed (royalty) route — the lower sector on its own.
- Huayna Picchu — the lower sector plus the steep climb up the peak behind the city. A few hundred places a day; books out early. See Huayna Picchu.
- Huchuy Picchu — a short, easier climb up the small hill beside Huayna Picchu. High season only.
- Great Cavern (Temple of the Moon) — a long walk round the back of Huayna Picchu. High season only.
Timed entry, daily limits and seasons
Each ticket carries an entry hour, with slots through the day from 6 a.m. to mid-afternoon; the site closes at about 5:30 p.m. You are expected to enter within your hour — arrive late and you may be refused. Visits are not meant to be open-ended: plan on roughly two to three hours for a circuit and longer with a mountain.
The total number of visitors per day is capped, and the cap is higher in high season (recently set at about 5,600 a day, from roughly June to mid-October plus some holiday dates) than in the rest of the year (about 4,500). The extra high-season routes marked above only open then. These figures have been changed more than once, so take them as orders of magnitude.
Where to buy
- The official site — tuboleto.cultura.pe, run by the Ministry of Culture. Lowest price; you need each visitor’s passport details. Foreign adults have recently paid around S/152 for a circuit alone and around S/200 for routes with a mountain, with reductions for students and children — check the current tariff. Payment by foreign card does not always go through first time.
- Authorised agencies and resellers — including the tickets sold on GetYourGuide. These are official tickets bought for you, plus a service fee. Convenient when the official site is sold out for your route, difficult to pay on, or you want a guide and bus bundled in.
- In person in Aguas Calientes — a limited batch of tickets (in the region of a thousand) is normally released for the following day at the Ministry of Culture office in town. In high season people queue early and you may wait a day or more for a slot, so treat it as a last resort.
Passport and guide rules
- Passport. The name and number on the ticket must match the original passport you show at the gate. Photocopies are not reliable. Students need a valid physical university card for the discount.
- Guide. The site regulations call for visitors to be accompanied by a licensed guide, in groups of limited size. Enforcement has been inconsistent, and independent visitors are often admitted — but do not count on it. Guides wait at the entrance and in Aguas Calientes, and a shared guide is inexpensive.
- No re-entry. Once you leave, the ticket is used. The only toilets and the café are outside the gate, so go before you enter.
What you cannot bring in
- Drones, tripods, selfie sticks and other camera supports.
- Large bags — only a small daypack (about 40 × 35 × 20 cm) is allowed; there is paid storage at the entrance.
- Single-use plastics such as disposable bottles; bring a refillable bottle.
- Walking sticks and trekking poles, unless you are elderly or have a mobility need, and then only with rubber tips.
- Food, alcohol, umbrellas (bring a rain jacket or poncho), pushchairs and musical instruments.
Also forbidden: climbing on walls, smoking or vaping, and loud or disrespectful behaviour for photos. Wardens do remove people.
A simple way to decide
- One visit, want it all: Circuit 2, classic route, as early as you can manage.
- Circuit 2 sold out: Circuit 2 lower terrace; failing that, Circuit 1 upper terrace plus Circuit 3 designed route on the same or next day.
- Fit and unafraid of heights: Circuit 3 with Huayna Picchu, plus Circuit 2.
- Want a longer, less exposed hike: Circuit 1 with Machu Picchu Mountain.
- Limited mobility: Circuit 3 designed route has the least climbing.
