Current rule
The three circuits and ten routes
Since June 2024 the citadel is visited on 3 circuits with 10 designated routes; your ticket locks your route.

Complete trips
One complete trip for every way in: by train or on foot, private or paced for a family, each built around the Machu Picchu entry your dates allow and run end to end by us.

Cusco as the base throughout: the Sacred Valley one day, Machu Picchu the next, same hotel each night.
4 days
FromUS$890
3 nights
per person
Physical rating
Physical rating 3 out of 5
An overnight in the town below Machu Picchu, so the second morning opens with the Huayna Picchu climb.
5 days
FromUS$1,040
4 nights
per person
Physical rating
Physical rating 3 out of 5
The full southern route from Lima through Cusco and the Sacred Valley, paced gently for the altitude.
7 days
FromUS$1,390
6 nights
per person
Physical rating
Physical rating 3 out of 5Before you book
The tools
Availability, permit releases, and the route that fits, for your exact dates. Free to use, no email asked. If your dates are tight, set an alert and we will map the closest option that still works.
Research
The research questions, answered by the team that operates the trips.
A working method for picking the right Machu Picchu tour: trek or train, group or private, package or DIY, and the questions that expose a weak operator.
When to go to Machu Picchu: how the dry and wet seasons actually feel, month by month, and how far ahead each season sells out.
Cusco sits near 11,150 ft. What the altitude feels like, an arrival plan that works, and how to acclimatize before Machu Picchu or a trek.
The permit-limited, ruins-rich Inca Trail or the wilder, higher Salkantay trek: how the two classic routes to Machu Picchu really compare.
A practical Machu Picchu packing list: layers for four climates, what to carry into the citadel, and what trekkers need that day-visitors do not.
Circuit 2 is the classic postcard view plus the urban core; Circuit 3 is the lower citadel and the Huayna Picchu climbs. How to choose between them.
The rules
The rules behind the tools above, each carrying the date we last checked it.
Current rule
Since June 2024 the citadel is visited on 3 circuits with 10 designated routes; your ticket locks your route.
Current rule
Operator-only, passport-bound permits with a hard daily quota; following-year permits release roughly a year ahead (recently around October or November).
Current rule
Timed, circuit-specific, capacity-capped entry tickets sold through the official platform.