Buy the ticket first, then the train. Machu Picchu has a daily cap, and the cap is 5,600 visitors until 2 November 2026. From 3 November it drops to 4,500. We read the Ministry of Culture's own pages on 12 October 2026. The ticket site, Tu Boleto, only loads by script in a browser, so some details come from the Ministry's notices and not from the booking screen.
What changed on 22 September 2026
Booking: Since 22 September 2026 the Ministry sells tickets direct on Tu Boleto, with a payment window of 15 minutes. The old three-hour reservation is gone. The Ministry calls the start a 30-day trial, so it ends around 22 October and the window may be longer or shorter after that (Ministry of Culture press note, 22 Sep 2026)
Note: The Ministry said the change does not touch the caps. The Inca Trail network stays at 750 visitors a day, and the Inca Trail is a separate permit (same press note)
In practice, you pick the date, circuit, route and hour, enter your passport details and pay within 15 minutes. The ticket is made out in your name when the payment clears. If you do not pay in time, the place goes back on sale.
How many people, and on which dates
Hours: Daily cap 2026: 5,600 visitors on 1 Jan, 2 to 5 Apr, 19 Jun to 2 Nov and 30 to 31 Dec. 4,500 on every other day (Ministerial Resolution 285-2025-MC annex, published 30 Oct 2025, read 12 Oct 2026)
Hours: Entry is by the hour from 06:00 to 15:00, ten slots a day. In high season the 07:00 slot holds 870 people and the 06:00 slot 455. In the low season the 07:00 slot holds 750 and the 06:00 slot 375 (same annex)
The Ministry's annex sets how many places each circuit has in each hour. Every slot has a web quota and a smaller number kept for in-person sales. The plain version is that the 07:00 slot is the largest and the first to go.
The three circuits and ten routes
| Circuit | Routes | Open |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Panoramic | 1-A Machu Picchu mountain, 1-B upper terrace, 1-C Intipunku gate, 1-D Inca Bridge | 1-C and 1-D in high season only |
| 2 Classic | 2-A designed route, 2-B lower terrace | Both all year |
| 3 Royalty | 3-A Huayna Picchu mountain, 3-B designed route, 3-C Great Cavern, 3-D Huchuy Picchu | 3-C and 3-D in high season only |
Source: Ministry's circuit page and Resolution 334-2026-MC, read 12 Oct 2026. The Ministry's page counts three circuits and ten routes. You must follow the route printed on your ticket.
What it costs
Price: Foreign adult S/ 152, student S/ 77, ages 3 to 17 S/ 70. Mountain route Huayna Picchu S/ 200 adult, S/ 125 student, S/ 118 ages 3 to 17 (Ministry tariff table for 2025, Resolution 451-2024-MC annex, read 12 Oct 2026). We found no 2026 table for foreign visitors. Andina, Peru's state news agency, gave the same S/ 152 on 9 Feb 2026. The 2026 table has S/ 64 and S/ 32 fares only for Peruvians, residents and Andean Community citizens (Resolution 284-2025-MC)
Price: Extra conservation fee from 1 May 2026: S/ 11 foreign visitors, S/ 5 Peruvians (Andina, 9 Feb 2026, on a Sernanp resolution we did not read). Unconfirmed at checkout
We found the foreign price in the 2025 table, and Andina's February 2026 article says it still stands. We did not find a 2026 foreign table. Check the total on screen before you pay.
The rules on your ticket
Note: Documents: your ticket and the passport you used to buy it. The ticket carries the name and document number in full, and the same document is checked at the gate (Resolution 334-2026-MC, as summarised by Andina, Sep 2026)
Note: No date change, no name change, no refund. An unused ticket is lost. Only a wrong passport number can be corrected, once (same resolution)
Note: Guide: recommended, not required (same resolution). The site rules ban food, tripods, umbrellas, drones and hard-soled shoes, and say you must keep to your circuit (Ministry's conduct page, read 12 Oct 2026)
When to book
The Ministry opened 2026 sales on 17 November 2025 and called early booking the way to plan. The notice gives no booking window now. PeruRail's own page says tickets sell fast from April to November and suggests three months ahead. We could not see the live calendar, so we do not know which dates are open today.
If the online sale shows nothing, the Ministry says up to 1,000 tickets a day go on sale in person in Machu Picchu Pueblo (Aguas Calientes), for entry the next day. The Ministry's site says it shows the live count of those tickets on the ticket platform.
| Detail | One source says | Another says | What we use |
|---|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Ministry's old site page: online sale on the state platform | Ministry press note, 22 Sep 2026: direct sale, 15 minutes, no reservation | The 22 Sep note |
| When to buy | PeruRail's page still lists a buying calendar from Nov 2025 to Jan 2026 | Ministry note, 22 Sep 2026: no reservation step, buy any date shown | The Ministry |
| Guide | PeruRail's plan page: "optional" | Resolution 334-2026-MC: recommended | Both agree, not required |
| Walk-up ticket | Ministry's site: valid the next day | PeruRail's page: bought for the following day | Next day |
If you live in the US but are not a US citizen
Peru is the country you enter before Machu Picchu, so the visa rule comes first. The source is a Peruvian state table, "Requerimientos y exoneración de visas para ciudadanos extranjeros que cuenten con pasaportes ordinarios", a 12 page PDF on gob.pe. The file name carries the date 16 July 2026 and the PDF was created that day. It does not name its issuing office, so we could not confirm which one. It is in Spanish.
Note: Philippines: exempt from a tourist visa. The stay is 90 days, extendable once for the same period, within 365 days from first entry (Peru's visa exemption table, file dated 16 Jul 2026, read 12 Oct 2026)
Note: India and China: marked "Si/No", exempt only on conditions. A holder of a valid ordinary passport can enter without a tourist visa if they have a visa "con una vigencia mínima de seis (6) meses" from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia or a Schengen state, or permanent residence in one of those places. The stay is 180 days that cannot be extended, within 365 days from first entry (same table)
| Passport | Visa-free for tourism? | With a US visa | With a US green card | With neither |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philippines | Yes, with no US document needed | Not needed | Not needed | Not needed. Up to 90 days, extendable once |
| India | Only with a listed visa or residence | Yes, if it has at least 6 months of validity | Yes, as "residencia permanente" in the US | Peruvian visa required. How to apply is not confirmed |
| China | Only with a listed visa or residence | Yes, if it has at least 6 months of validity | Yes, as "residencia permanente" in the US | Peruvian visa required. How to apply is not confirmed |
The table has separate columns for transit and business. For India and China they carry the same "Si/No" condition as tourism. For the Philippines the transit column says yes and the business column says no.
Not confirmed: the table does not say whether the US visa must allow multiple entries or which visa types count. It sets the 6 month minimum for visas and sets no minimum for permanent residence. It does not say how a US green card is shown at the border. Peru's immigration agency, Migraciones, adds that your passport must be valid for at least six months. Check a Peruvian consulate before you book, and note that your airline may ask for the same proof when you check in.
What is checked here and what is not
Checked on 12 October 2026: the Ministry of Culture's press notes of 17 November 2025 and 22 September 2026, the annex to Resolution 285-2025-MC, the Ministry's tariff annex for 2025, the Ministry's Machu Picchu site (its pages on circuits, in-person sales, online sales and conduct), and Radio Nacional's report of 11 September 2026. Andina, Peru's state news agency, is our source for the text of Resolution 334-2026-MC and the Sernanp fee. The Ministry's Machu Picchu site has a certificate error in some browsers, and its pages carry a 2024 copyright line.
Checked on 12 October 2026 for the section on non-citizen US residents: the PDF "Requerimientos y exoneración de visas para ciudadanos extranjeros que cuenten con pasaportes ordinarios" (file dated 16 July 2026). Not checked here: the Peruvian consulates' pages (Migraciones' tourist page is read on our Peru entry page), how to apply for a Peruvian visa, and the legal texts (Decretos Supremos 006-2017-RE and 069-2016-RE) the table cites.
Not checked: the live ticket calendar. Tu Boleto loads by script behind a human check, and we did not buy a ticket. We did not read the Official Gazette text of Resolution 334-2026-MC, any 2026 foreign tariff table, how the Sernanp fee shows at checkout, or what happens after the trial ends.
