Information about Machu Picchu

Information about Machu Picchu and joining Machu Picchu Tours:

If you want to visit Machu Picchu, but don’t know yet where to start, we can recommend to read the following information about Machu Picchu, so you will be well prepared.

The Machu Picchu ticket price to only enter the archaeological site of Machu Picchu is at the moment of writing (February 2024) 152 Soles, around 40 US$. This ticket is only valid for max. four hours and to follow one of the 4 designated walking circuits. To climb either the Huayna Picchu, or Machu Picchu Mountain, you need to buy a special ticket for 200 Soles (around 52 US$)! When you hike the Inca Trail it is NOT possible to climb either the Huayna Picchu, or the Machu Picchu Mountain on the same ticket. You will then have to buy a separate ticket for 200 Soles extra. The other way around, if you want to climb one the the mountains, it is not possible to walk the popular long circuit 2 over the archaeological site of Machu Picchu. Again you will have to buy two separate entrance tickets. If you want to know if there are still tickets available for Machu Picchu, Huayana Picchu and/ or the Classic Inca Trail, you can visit the official Peruvian ticket sales website: Tu Boleto Cultura.pe

How to get to Aguas Calientes

Most Machu Picchu tours start from the little tourist town of Aguas Calientes (now officially called “Machu Picchu Pueblo”, which is located at 110 km from Cusco and at an altitude of 2000 m. There are 2 ways to travel from Cusco to Aguas Calientes. The most common route is by train, either from Poroy (just outside of Cusco), Urubamba, or from Ollantaytambo. From Poroy it takes about 3 hours by train to Aguas Calientes, from Urubamba it takes about 2h15 min and from Ollantaytambo, also located in the Sacred Valley, it takes about 1h40 min. to travel to Aguas Calientes. The train station in Cusco only has trains towards Puno, not to Aguas Calientes.
There are only 2 railway companies to reach Aguas Calientes. The cheapest train option to Machu Picchu is with Inca Rail. Nowadays only just a bit cheaper, this company is partly owned by the international investment group Carlyle, the same investment group that also invests in mining activities in the Cusco province… Peru Rail was the first train company to offer train rides to Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu and is still the most popular railway company in Peru. Peru Rail is partly owned by the huge British Orient Express, who also owns the most expensive Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge and the Luxury Hiram Bingham Train.
It is also possible to travel either by public transport or tourist transport in about 7 hours from Cusco to the village of Santa Teresa. From here you walk in about 1h30 min. towards the hydroelectric plant, which is located at the end of the railway from Cusco to A.C., but 12 km further and at the other side of the mountains. These last 12 km you can either walk along the railway, or take a train for about 25 US$. These last 12 km are also the last part from the Inca Jungle Trail. Check out our short video we made in July 2023 about the Inca Jungle Trail.

From Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu

The archeolaogical site of Machu Picchu 8 km away from Aguas Calientes, at an altitude of 2400 m. it will take you about 1h30 to 2 hours to walk from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu. First you follow the dirt road along the river, but after crossing the river you will follow a small pad. While the dirt road continues its ascent with long hairpin bends, the small winding trail has steeper ascent (400 m up) through the forest that covers the hills of Machu Picchu and cutting the edges of the hairpin bends.
If you want to hike towards Machu Picchu, we recommend to start around 4:00 am and to take a headlight or flashlight with. Take also your own drinks and food with you, because at Machu Picchu everything is very expensive… You can leave part of your belongings in lockers at the entrance of Machu Picchu, for only 5 Soles.
If you don’t want to walk up to Machu Picchu, you can also take the most expensive bus within Peru. This bus costs 12.5 US$ for a ride of 25 min. up to Machu Picchu and 12.5 US$ again to drive back from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes. There are about 24 busses, with 26 seats each and they departure when full. The first buses leave Aguas Calientes from 5:30 am in the morning and at that time there will already be a long line of people waiting to go up, so at least the first 20 buses will departure quickly. What has also helped to shorten the waiting lines is that Machu Picchu officials are now already checking if the people waiting in line have a valid entrance ticket and for which time slot. For example, if the time slot on your entrance ticket starts at 8:00 am, you are not yet allowed to enter the bus at 5:30 am and will have to wait until after 7:15 am. The buses back from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes also leave when full, with the last bus departing from Machu Picchu at 18:00 h.
If you want to save the 12.5 US$ bus ticket from Machu Picchu back to Aguas Calientes you can use the backpackers trail through the forest again (75 min.) Just before arriving at the bridge you will pass by the museum of Machu Picchu. This museum isn’t really worth its 20 soles entrance fee, since most of the information and pictures can be found on the internet and/ or have been told to you by your guide in the Sacred Valley or at Machu Picchu.

How to avoid busy crowds at Machu Picchu

To avoid the busy crowd on your Machu Picchu tour you can take an early train from Poroy or Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes. Eat an early lunch and then hike in 2 hours from A.C.to the entrance of Machu Picchu. Enter the site at 14:00 h and stay until it closes at around 18:00 h. This last hour it will be quiete at the site and you can enjoy the view of the ancient Inca structures in the soft afternoon light.
It will also be easier to get a good deal with one of the guides, since they likely already earned their share in the morning turn.

Machu Picchu ticket tip!

In 2023 the Peruvian government decided to temporarily stop selling entrance tickets to Machu Picchu, right in high season?! They left only two options open to be able to buy your entrance ticket: The first option was to buy them in person as a tourist with your passport in the ticket office in Cusco. This meant getting up early and waiting in the cold in line for the office. The second option was to buy your ticket in person in Aguas Calientes. The ticket sales started at 12:30 h and each day they would sell max 1000 tickets, including 15 tickets that included visiting the Huayna Picchu Mountain and 15 that included visiting the Machu Picchu Mountain. We were with 5 persons and at 13:30 h we were still able to buy an entrance ticket to Machu Picchu and the Machu Picchu Mountain. For us it worked out well, but you can imagine how bad this decission was for travel agencies selling Machu Picchu tours…

Students with an international ISIC student card, receive a 50% discount on the ticket price.

More information about the different Inca Trails you can find on: Selection of Inca Trails

About Machu Picchu access

Important: at the actual entrance of Machu Picchu and also the Inca Trail you will have to show your original passport. You are officially also not allowed to bring food and your big backpack (the maximum allowed size is 25 liter) into the archaeological site. You can leave all this at the guarded storage next to the entrance, where you pay 5 Soles for the whole day.
Just after the entrance, on your left hand side, you find a small office where you can get a map of the archaeological site, which also includes the 4 different main circuits to walk. Note: it is best to try to get this trail map already at the Machu Picchu ticket office in Aguas Calientes.
In this office you can also put a stamp of Machu Picchu in your passport.

At the entrance of Machu Picchu you might find several guides (depending on the hour), which you can hire for a tour around the site. A common price is between 35 to 70 US$ for the guide, for a tour of about 3 hours, depending on the time and quality of the guide.

The first time you visit the archaeological site of Machu Picchu you will now be obligated to do so with an official guide and you have to follow a set route, see below. We recommend you to choose Circuito 2 (the Second Route). This is the longest trail over the archaeological site of Machu Picchu and also offers the best views. After entering Machu Picchu through the main entrance, you turn to the left and follow the trail towards Inti Punku (the Sun Gate) and the Care Takers Hut, from this last spot you have a great view over the archaeological site of Machu Picchu. After taking in the amazing view, you can go down on the very last bit of the original Inca Trail and enter Machu Picchu through its original old main gate.

The new entrance rules for Machu Picchu, since the 1st of January 2019

After years of speculations, Peru’s Ministry of Culture announced on Thursday April 27, 2017 new entrance rules for visiting Machu Picchu and Machu Picchu tours.
Starting from the first of July 2017 these new rules affect all visitors of the Machu Picchu Inca citadel. On the 1st of January 2019 these rules changed again a little bit…

The official reason:
When Machu Picchu was first given the UNESCO World Heritage status back in December 1983, the Inca Citadel was fairly unknown to the world. But since then, tourism has grown steep and reached to more than 3000 a day…
According to an investigation of UNESCO the daily weight of all these visitors can damage the ground of the archaeological site and cause the site to sink, or worse, even to slide ‘off the hill’… For this reason you can see a thin cable stretched above the main square of Machu Picchu. This cable is there to register each small movement of the soil and ‘floor’ of Machu Picchu.
In 2011 UNESCO finally obligated the management of Machu Picchu to limit the daily amount of visitors. The official maximum amount should have been 1750 visitors a day, but the management of Machu Picchu DDC Cusco (Dirección Desconcentrada de Cultura de Cusco), under pressure of the British Belmond and several other international hotel chains, managed to raise this maximum amount up to 2500 visitors a day…
In reality however, the management (DDC Cusco) even isn’t really strict with these rules and travel agencies found their ways around it. The result is that during high season the daily amount of visitors is still even higher than 3000!
According to Peru’s Ministry of Culture the new rules of 2017 were implemented to control how visitors and guides access the site, in order to maintain the integrity of the site and its legacy for future visitors.
However reading the 6th final conclusion of the Resolution you will notice that DDC Cusco will now allow instead of 2500, a maxim amount of 5940 visitors a day, spread out over 2 groups! Combine this information with the option that visitors who visit Machu Picchu for the second time don’t need a guide anymore and you will understand that these new rules are only designed to gain more money from the visitors of Machu Picchu…

Different Machu Picchu Entrance Tickets

So as from the first of January 2019 when you buy your entrance ticket to Machu Picchu online, in Cusco or in Aguas Calientes, then you already have to decide if you want to enter Machu Picchu at 6:00 am, 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 am, 12:00 pm, 13:00 h or 14:00 h. When you only visit Machu Picchu, then you can stay a maximum of 4 hours on the archaeological site. If you want to spend more time on the archaeological site of Machu Picchu with only one entrance ticket, you have the following options:
* Ticket Machu Picchu, only hiking route 4 + Huaynapicchu – 6 hours of visit maximum.
* Ticket Machu Picchu, only hiking route 3 + Mountain – 7 hours of visit maximum.
* Ticket Machu Picchu + Huchuypicchu – 5 hours maximum visit.
* Ticket Machu Picchu + Inca Bridge – 4 hours maximum visit.
* If you want to walk along Cicuit 2 and also climb one of the mountains, you will have to buy two different entrance tickets for Machu Picchu.

Keep in mind officially all visitors entering Machu Picchu tours must be accompanied by an official tour guide!
These Guides are only permitted to take maximum group sizes of 16 people on a tour between two and a half and max 4 hours. All guides have to follow desiganted routes and officially Guides need to sign in and sign out all visitors in his/her group. The guides will also be responsible for informing visitors of the regulations of the park… Please do consider that this will mean that 3267 visitors will need a minimum amount of 205 guides, not taking in account the private groups… On top of this, also the train schedules to visit Machu Picchu are not (yet) adjusted to these new visitors hours and amounts…

Officially if you want to visit Machu Picchu without a guide, then you have to visit the site 2 times, so twice pay the entrance fee… You can either do this the same day, like morning + afternoon, or even the next day. On your second visit you do have to show the ticket from your previous visit and inform the people at the entrance of Machu Picchu about the full name of the guide who showed you around on your first visit. How they will check if this is true, that will be interesting…

Re-entrance of Machu Picchu
The new rules also prohibit re-entrance to your Machu Picchu tour, meaning that when you leave the archaeological site you’re not allowed to return. They do make an exception if you really need to use a toilet. You’re also not allowed to walk back the same route you were following with your guide. Ones you start this route, you have to follow it all the way, to prevent congestion from walking against the tourist stream…
The rules do include a stipulation, which allow re-entrance for special circumstances. At the moment, the only toilets at Machu Picchu are located on the outside of the archaeological site, so until a solution is found to solve this problem (for 5000 visitors), we think that this is a fairly good “special circumstance.”

Machu Picchu entrance update from July 2023:

Although officially you still need a guide to visit Machu Picchu, we also saw a few people who explored the archeological site by themselves. It could be that this was their second time on Machu Picchu, but because I also saw them listening to the stories of guides who were with groups, it is more likely they were alone and it wasn’t their second visit…

Different Machu Picchu hiking circuits

The new rules define 4 main routes/ circuits which visitors to Machu Picchu have to follow (with their guides). The route that you take will be defined when purchasing the ticket on the official website from Machu Picchu. Circuit 1 and 2 follow the upper part of the archaeological site, while circuit 3 and 4 visit the lower parts of Machu Picchu. Circuit 1 and 3 are relative short cirquites, while 2 and 4 are longer. Circuit 2 is the longest and gives the best views over the archeological site of Machu Picchu. But it is also the most ‘challenging’ from a physical perspective. Circuits 3 & 4, visit the mid and lower-sectors of the archaeological site and are more suitable for those who want a more relaxing visit. It is not permitted to leave these defined areas, and anyone found doing so, can be removed from the site.

Additional, alternative Circuits
If you want to climb one of the 2 famous mountains, Huayna Picchu (Young Mountain, 2720 m), or Machu Picchu Mountain (Old Mountain, 3082 m), then you will usually have to book this far ahead. On a daily base they allow on each mountain only 400 visitors.

Note: As you could read above, it isn’t possible anymore to buy separate entrance tickets only to climb one of these mountains. You will now have to buy your entrance to one of these mountains directly together with your entrance ticket of Machu Picchu. The price of Huayna Picchu together with the archaeological site, or the Machu Picchu Mountain together with the archaeological site is around 200 Soles.
It is not possible anymore to climb both of the mountains on the same day and it also isn’t possible anymore to hike the Classic 4-days Inca Trail in combination with climbing one of the mountains, except when you buy an additional new entrance ticket.

Climbing the Huayna Picchu Mountain

Because the Huayna Picchu Mountain has steep trails with some deep abysses, this trail isn’t recommendable for people with vertigo.
Something that most people don’t know about the Huayna Picchu Mountain is that there is a temple ‘hidden’ on the back side of this mountain. This temple is called Templo de la Luna (Temple of the Moon). Its build half into a cave and accessible from a trail that starts just after the top of the Huayna Picchu Mountain. After going over the huge rock at the top, most people will go down to the right side, but you will also see a small white sign with the word: “La Caverna” (the cave), that points to the right. If you follow this trail for about an hour, mostly downhill, you will get to Templo de la Luna.
From the temple it takes another hour, mostly steady up along a different trail with some great views, which reconnect halfway with the normal trail that goes to the top of Huayna Picchu.
If you only climb the Huayna Picchu, then it takes about an hour steep up (2400-2720 m) and about 45 min. to go back down. If you also want to visit Templo la Luna, then you need about 3h30 till 4 hours for the whole visit.

If you buy a combination ticket for Machu Picchu + Huayna Picchu you will be allowed a total of 6 hours for your visit.
To prevent that too many visitors will climb the small and steep trails to the top of Huayna Picchu at the same moment, the 400 visitors are split in 4 groups of 100 visitors each: The first 100 visitors can enter between: 6:00 am – 7:00 am. The second 100 visitors can enter between: 7:00 am – 8:00 am the third groups can enter the Huayna Picchu Mountain between 8:00 am and 9:00 am and the last group between 10:00 am and 11:00 am.

Visitors must sign in and out of the trek at the control post, at the start of the trail head.
The new rules state that the time allowed to complete the trek should be between 2 & 3 hours, depending if you include or leave out the Gran Cavern (also known as the Moon Temple).
After visiting the Huayna Picchu, you will have to leave the archeological site. But how these visitors hours are going to be combined with the obligated tours over the archaeological site isn’t clear yet. They might need to organize guided tours which start from the entrances of Huayna Picchu Mountain and Machu Picchu Mountain…
Technically a ‘Mountain Ticket’ can also be interesting for those who want to spend more time on the archeological site of Machu Picchu. A combination ticket cost around 16 US$ more than a normal ticket, but it gives you 2 more hours on the site.

Climbing the Machu Picchu Mountain

This mountain is higher (3082 m), but the trail is a little less steep. It takes about an hour and 30 min. to get to the top and 75 min. to go back down. The views along the way are great and depending on the season, you can also find several special orchid species along the trail. In this video from July 2023 you can see how we climbed the Machu Picchu Mountain and visited Machu Picchu.

Also the entrance to climb the Machu Picchu Mountain has to be bought together with the general entrance ticket for Circuito 2 on Machu Picchu. The entrance time is split in three turns: The first 100 visitors can enter between: 7:00 am – 8:00 am. The second 100 visitors can enter the Machu Picchu Mountain between 8:00 am and 9:00 am. And the last group of visitors can enter the trail to the Machu Picchu Mountain between 9:00 am and 10:00 am.

Note: it is important to know that when you have a 7:00 am slot entrance ticket for climbing the Machu Picchu Mountain, they will already allow you to enter the upper part of the archaeological site of Machu Picchu between 6:00 am and 7:00 am. This way (depending on the season) you can watch the sun rise above Machu Picchu before you start climbing the trail on the Machu Picchu Mountain.

Visitors must sign in and out of the trek at the control post, at the start of the trail head. The new rules state that the time to complete the trek is approximately 4 hours and the maximum time to visit the archeological site of Machu Picchu + the mountain is a total of 7 hours. All visitors must have left the trail by 15:00 h.

To climb the Huayna Picchu Mountain or Machu Picchu Mountain is allowed to do without a guide. Only after the climb, you will be directed directly back to the entrance of Machu Picchu, as to avoid that people wander off onto the archeological site without a guide. But, see my explanation above about this rule…

If you want to know if there are still places available on the famous 4-Days Inca Trail, or to climb the Huayna Picchu Mountain, you can have a look on the official website from the: Ministry of Culture .

Two other interesting hikes you can make from the site of Mach Picchu and which you (still) don’t have to book in advance are; A visit to the Inti Punku Sun Gate. It takes about 45 min. steady up to reach Inti Punku. It is the last gate of the official Inca Trail and from here you have a great view over the site of Machu Picchu and the mountain range behind!
The other interesting visit is to the so called Inca Bridge. This small trail and partly restored wooden bridge used to be the back entrance to Machu Picchu. The bridge isn’t special, but the trail provides good views over the Vilcanota River and the back of Machu Picchu.
Currently it is still not clear how visitors can visit Inti Punku and/ or the Inca Bridge during their first visit of Machu Picchu.

If you want to visit Machu Picchu and/or climb one of its surrounding mountains, we can help with organizing your Peru tour.

List of new Machu Picchu tour visitor rules:

As set out in Article 19 of the Ministerial Resolution, here are the most important (new, 2017) visitor rules for Machu Picchu:

19.1. Any type of bag/rucksack measuring more than 40 x 35 x 20 cm (15.7 x 13.7 x 7.9”) is not permitted on your Machu Picchu tour, and must be placed in storage (near the entrance).

19.2. It is prohibited to enter with food and drink.

19.4. It is prohibited to enter with alcoholic beverages.

19.5. It is prohibited to enter with umbrellas or sun shades (hats and ponchos / rain coats are permitted).

19.6. It is prohibited to enter with photographic tripods or any type of camera stand/support. This is only permitted with pre-authorization and the appropriate permit.

19.9. It is prohibited to enter with any musical instruments, including megaphones and speakers.

19.11. It is prohibited to enter Machu Picchu tours with shoes with high-heels, or hard soles. Only soft soles are permitted (like those found in training shoes or walking shoes/boots).

19.12. It is prohibited to enter with children’s strollers / prams. Only strap on baby/child carriers are permitted.

19.17. It is prohibited to climb or lean on walls or any part of the citadel.

19.18. It is prohibited to touch, move or remove any lithic items / structures.

19.22. It is prohibited to enter with walking sticks with a metal or hard point. Only elderly people and physically-handicapped people are permitted to enter with a walking stick, when it has a rubber tip.

19.25. It is prohibited to get naked, dress up, lie down, run and jump.

19.26. It is prohibited to make loud noises, applaud, shout, whistle and sing. The tranquility and character of Machu Picchu must be maintained at all times.

19.27. It is prohibited to smoke or use an electronic cigarette.

19.32. It is prohibited to feed the resident or wild animals.

19.33. It is prohibited to paraglide; and/ or fly any type of drone or small aircraft above the site

The complete Ministerial Resolution is named No. 070-2007-MC. It is a long legal document written in Spanish, which you can read here: PDF Resolution 070-2007-MC in Spanish   plus a new extension.

The history of Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu information is based on the interpretation of archaeologist. The complex was likely build around the year 1450, during the glory years of the Inca Empire. In this period the Empire was ruled by the Inca’s Pachacutec Yupanqui (1438-1471) and Tupac Yupanqui (1472-1493).

Although the archaeological site of Machu Picchu and Machu Picchu tours are very famous, about the original name and purpose of this Inca city scientists are still not sure. Because the city wasn’t easy to reach and is surrounded by sacred mountains, the most accepted theory about Machu Picchu is that it was used as a holiday resort for Kings and other very important people. From the style of the rooms, it seems that there were more rooms for the royal and less for their servants. It’s estimated that the total capacity of Machu Picchu was to house 750 persons. Just compare this amount with the 5000 visitors which join the Machu Picchu tours now on a daily base…

About 100 year after the start of the construction of Machu Picchu, the city was already abandoned. Likely this happened because the invasion of the Spanish conquistadores caused the death of most royal people, while others went in hiding.
Another explanation for the sudden abandoning of Machu Picchu is that its inhabitants died from smallpox, which the Spanish brought from Europa into Latin America. This although the Spanish never managed to find Machu Picchu.

In 1911 the American Explorer Hiram Bingham heard about an abandoned city in the mountains, surrounded by the Vilcanota Rivier. Bingham, who was working for the Yale University in the United States, was actually looking for the city of Vilcabamba. Supposedly this was the last refuge of the Inca’s, were they had taken their treasures to hide them from the Spanish conquistadores.
When Bingham arrived at the site of Machu Picchu he asked his local guide about the name of this city. However, his local guide spoke Quechua, the local language from the Andes and not much Spanish and no English at all. Therefor he didn’t understand the question. He told Bingham that the site was called Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu means “Old Mountain” and is actually the name from the sacred mountain behind the archeological site of Machu Picchu.
Despite that this site wasn’t the lost city of Vilcabamba that Bingham was looking for, he immediately understood the importance of his ‘discovery’.

Bingham made many notes and several pictures of the site and took this information back to the Yale University in the U.S.A. Together they organized in 1912 a new expedition to Machu Picchu. Careful and with lots of patience they searched the archeological site for treasures and relics from its previous inhabitants.
They didn’t find any treasure, but managed to fill up 93 wooden crates with mostly ceramics, bones and a few silver and bronze objects.
It took a lot of effort to convince the Peruvian government to allow these crates to be transported to the Yale University in the U.S.A.  and apparently they only managed to receive permission after they agreed that the objects would always remain property of the Peruvian State.
In the past years some of these objects have returned to Peru, but many remain in the U.S.A. The Peruvian government now accuses Bingham of stealing their archeological objects, which isn’t really fair if you consider that Bingham and Yale put all their time, money and effort in finding, cleaning and protecting these objects, without much help from the government. If Machu Picchu had been rediscovered by just any ‘gold-digger’, most objects would have been lost forever.

Some interesting information about Machu Picchu:

–    The archaeological site of Machu Picchu is located within the official nature reserve of Machu Picchu. This reserve covers about 32.000 hectare rainforest and cloud forest at altitudes between 2000 and 4200 m altitude. Within this nature reserve you can find several special orchids and when lucky you might even encounter a spectacle bear!

–    In the year 2000 the well-known Peruvian beer company Cusqueña received permission to film one of their commercials on the archaeological site of Machu Picchu. However, during the recordings one of the cranes that carried a heavy camera fell down on the ceremonial Intihuatana rock and broke off a small corner. High fines and even time in prison were demanded, but it isn’t clear what punishment the received.

–    The only movie ever to receive permission to film on the archaeological site of Machu Picchu is the Indian Endhiran-movie-machu-picchu-tour-peruBollywood Movie: Endhiran This movie was released in 2010 and belongs to one of the most expensive Bollywood movies ever.

–    In 2007 the archaeological site of Machu Picchu was elected one of the 7 New World Wonders.

–    Researchers of UNESCO and other international conservation organizations have discovered that the archeological site of Machu Picchu is slowly sinking. This sinking is caused by different reasons, including the tunnels under the site, the instable grounds during raining season and the huge amount of visitors the site receives daily. To monitor the movements of the archeological site scientists have now stretched a thin wire across the main square of Machu Picchu.