Machu Picchu Tickets: How to Buy Them and What to Know

A Machu Picchu ticket looks simple: a date and a name. In practice, it’s the piece that decides your train times, your hotel night and even which parts of the citadel you’ll see. The rules have also changed several times in the last few years, most recently in September 2026. Here’s how buying tickets works now, and what to check before you pay.

If you arrive on the Inca Trail, you don’t buy a separate ticket: your entry is part of the trail permit. Our guide to Inca Trail permits explains that system.

Where Tickets Are Sold

There are two official ways to buy a Machu Picchu ticket:

• Online, on Tu Boleto (tuboleto.cultura.pe), the Ministry of Culture’s ticket platform. You choose the circuit, route, date and entry time, enter each visitor’s details and pay in full at once. The platform sells up to five tickets per purchase.
• In person, in Machu Picchu Pueblo (Aguas Calientes). The Ministry’s Cusco office sells a limited number of tickets each day, 1,000 under the current rule, at its office in town, valid for entry the following day. The platform shows how many are left in real time, and in busy months they go early.

Tour operators buy tickets through the same official system on your behalf, with your passport details.

Ticket Types and Circuits

Every ticket is for one of the ten routes in the three circuits that the Ministry introduced in 2024: panoramic routes in the upper part of the site, the classic circuit through the terraces and the town, and the royal sector with the routes to Huayna Picchu and the smaller peaks. You pick the route when you buy, and you can’t switch once inside.

Most first-time visitors choose Circuit 2. Huayna Picchu, Machu Picchu Mountain and the seasonal routes have much smaller daily limits. Our guide to Machu Picchu circuits explains each route and who it suits.

Prices

Ticket prices are set by the Ministry of Culture and depend on two things:

• The visitor category: adult, student or child, with lower rates for eligible students and children. Students need a valid card that meets the Ministry’s rules, and children need their own document.
• Where you’re from: foreign visitors pay the general rate; Peruvians, foreign residents and citizens of the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador) pay much lower rates.

Since May 2026, SERNANP, Peru’s national parks service, also charges a small sanctuary fee on top of most Machu Picchu entries. It doesn’t apply to visitors who enter through the Inca Trail network. We don’t print ticket prices here because they change; the total appears on Tu Boleto before you pay, and in our quotes the ticket is itemized.

When Tickets Sell Out

The Ministry releases tickets for the year in stages, and it limits how many people can enter per day, per route and per time slot. From June to October, and around Easter, Christmas and Peruvian holidays, popular entry times sell out weeks or months ahead. Huayna Picchu goes first.

In the rainy season you’ll usually find more choice, but don’t count on buying at the last minute. If you only have one day for Machu Picchu, secure the ticket before you book the train, or book both together.

Buying on Your Own vs Through a Tour

On your own, you buy the ticket on Tu Boleto, then book the train to Aguas Calientes, the bus up to the site and, if you want one, a guide at the entrance. It’s entirely possible, but every piece has to fit: the train must arrive in time for your entry slot, and the bus line in the morning can be long.

Through a tour, the operator books the ticket, route and entry time that match your train and hotel, and a guide meets you on the day. You pay for the coordination, and you avoid the most common mistake: a ticket, a train and an entry time that don’t line up.

Either way, the ticket is nominal. Your operator will need each traveler’s full name, nationality, passport number and, for students, their student card details.

Entry Rules: Passport, Time Slots and Bags

Under the rules updated in September 2026:

• Tickets are nominal and final. They’re valid only for the date, time, route and person shown. Dates can’t be changed and names can’t be modified. An obvious typo in a document number can be corrected once.
• An unused ticket is lost. There’s no refund or new date if you miss your visit.
• Bring the document you booked with. Foreign visitors show their passport at the entrance; students also show their student card.
• Be on time. Arrive for the entry time on your ticket; the bus from Aguas Calientes takes about half an hour and the line can be long in the morning.
• Pack for the rules. Bags larger than 40 x 35 x 20 cm (about 16 x 14 x 8 inches), food, walking sticks, umbrellas, tripods, drones and hard-soled shoes or heels aren’t allowed inside.

Step by Step: Buying on Tu Boleto

If you buy your own tickets, the official platform walks you through the choices in this order:

1. Choose the circuit, then the route within it.
2. Pick the date and an available entry time.
3. Choose the number of tickets, up to five per purchase.
4. Enter each visitor’s details exactly as in the document they’ll carry: full name, nationality, document number and category.
5. Pay in full. The ticket is issued in each visitor’s name once the payment goes through.

Have everyone’s passports and your card ready before you start, because the platform only holds your selection for a short time while you pay. Save the confirmation and carry it, with the passport, on the day.

What the Ticket Doesn’t Include

A Machu Picchu ticket is only the entry to the citadel. Plan separately for:

• The train to Aguas Calientes and back, matched to your entry time.
• The shuttle bus between Aguas Calientes and the site entrance, unless you walk.
• A guide, if you’re not on a tour.
• Huayna Picchu, Machu Picchu Mountain or the seasonal routes, which are separate routes with their own tickets.
• A night in Aguas Calientes, if your entry time is early or you want a slower visit.

On our Machu Picchu tours, these pieces are booked together so they fit.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Typing a name or passport number that doesn’t match the passport you’ll carry.
• Buying a morning ticket without a train that gets you to Aguas Calientes in time.
• Choosing a route for its name without checking what it covers.
• Assuming you can add Huayna Picchu later; it usually sells out first.
• Buying from a lookalike website instead of the official platform.

Tickets for Children and Families

Children need their own ticket and document, and there are reduced rates by age. Strollers aren’t allowed inside, so small children need to walk or be carried. For pacing a family day, see our guide to Cusco and Machu Picchu with kids.

Wondering how to reach the site at all? Our guide to getting to Machu Picchu compares the train, the trek and the road route, and our Machu Picchu tours include the ticket.