Machu Picchu Circuits 2027: All 10 Routes, Times and Which Ticket to Choose
Since June 2024, Machu Picchu is visited on 3 circuits divided into 10 routes, and every ticket is for one circuit, one route and one entry hour. You walk a signposted path in a set direction from the entrance to the exit, you cannot switch to another circuit, and re-entry is not allowed. Circuit 2 covers the most of the urban sector and is the safest choice for a first visit; Circuit 1 gives the high, panoramic views; Circuit 3 goes closest to the royal buildings and includes the Huayna Picchu ticket. As of 22 October 2026, the 2027 fares have not been published, so check the current fare on Tu Boleto before you book.
How do the Machu Picchu circuits work?
Peru's Ministry of Culture redesigned the visit through Ministerial Resolution 000528-2023-MC, and the three new circuits have been in force since 1 June 2024. Each circuit groups several routes. Four of them (1-C, 1-D, 3-C and 3-D) open only in the high season; the other six run all year.
The ticket is sold by entry hour, from 6:00 am to 3:00 pm. On the routes that stay inside the citadel you can remain up to 2 hours 30 minutes from the time you enter. Routes that add a mountain or a longer trail allow more time, from 3 to 7 hours, and you register at a checkpoint when you start and finish them. The citadel admits up to 4,500 people a day, rising to 5,600 on high-season dates.
Two rules shape the whole visit. Guides and visitors must stay on the circuit printed on the ticket, and the regulation states that re-entry is not permitted except for reasons of force majeure. Use the toilets at the entrance before you go in.
Machu Picchu circuits and routes compared
| Route | What it covers | Mountain or extra trail | Length (round trip) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-A Machu Picchu Mountain | Upper terraces and the trail to the summit of Machu Picchu Mountain | Yes, the highest climb | 3.8 km | Fit hikers with a full morning to spare |
| 1-B Upper Terrace | Upper platforms near the Guardian's House, with panoramic views | No | 1.6 km | The classic photo without a long climb |
| 1-C Inti Punku (high season only) | Upper terraces and the Inca path to the Sun Gate | Yes, a long Inca trail | 3.4 km | A taste of the Inca Trail in a day |
| 1-D Inca Bridge (high season only) | Upper terraces and the cliff path to the Inca Bridge | Yes, a narrow cliff path | 2.6 km | Short extra walk with dramatic drops |
| 2-A Designed route | Middle terraces and the whole urban area: quarries, Main Temple, Three Windows, Sacred Rock | No | 1.3 km | First visits; the most complete tour of the city |
| 2-B Lower Terrace | Same urban sectors, starting from the lower platforms | No | 1.4 km | First visits when 2-A is sold out |
| 3-A Huayna Picchu | Royal sector plus the climb up Huayna Picchu | Yes, steep stone stairs | 2.4 km | Hikers with a head for heights |
| 3-B Designed route | Temple of the Sun, House of the Inca, Temple of the Condor, Water Mirrors | No | 1.3 km | Short, easy visit; Inca Trail arrivals |
| 3-C Great Cavern (high season only) | Royal sector plus the trail to the Great Cavern | Yes, a long jungle trail | 3.0 km | Quiet trails and fewer people |
| 3-D Huchuy Picchu (high season only) | Royal sector plus the small peak of Huchuy Picchu | Yes, a short climb | 1.7 km | A mountain view without Huayna Picchu's stairs |
How long can you stay on each route?
| Route | Maximum time | Season | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-A Machu Picchu Mountain | 7 hours | All year | The longest climb. Start early: the mountain checkpoint has no tolerance. |
| 1-B Upper Terrace | 2 h 30 min | All year | Short and easy; the classic photo. |
| 1-C Inti Punku | 4 hours | High season | About 2 hours there and back on the Inca path to the Sun Gate. |
| 1-D Inca Bridge | 3 hours | High season | About 1 hour there and back. You see the bridge from a viewpoint; you do not cross it. |
| 2-A Designed route | 2 h 30 min | All year | The most complete walk through the urban sector. |
| 2-B Lower Terrace | 2 h 30 min | All year | Same sectors as 2-A, starting lower down. |
| 3-A Huayna Picchu | 6 hours | All year | Steep, exposed stairs; the checkpoint has no tolerance. |
| 3-B Designed route | 2 h 30 min | All year | The royal sector; the route Inca Trail hikers use. |
| 3-C Great Cavern | 7 hours | High season | A long trail down the far side of Huayna Picchu. |
| 3-D Huchuy Picchu | 3 h 30 min | High season | A short climb to the small peak in front of Huayna Picchu. |
The maximum times are those printed on the Ministry of Culture's official route sheets for each circuit, and they count from your entry at the main gate. Overstaying can get you and your guide escorted out. The site closes at 5:30 pm.
Circuit 1: Panoramic
Circuit 1 stays high. It covers the upper and lower platforms next to the Guardian's House, the terraces on the way to the Inca Bridge and the path to Machu Picchu Mountain. You look down on the whole city instead of walking through it, which is why it gives the best photographs but the least close-up Inca stonework.
It has four routes. Two run all year (1-A and 1-B) and two open only in the high season (1-C and 1-D).
Route 1-A: Machu Picchu Mountain
The upper terraces plus the climb to the summit of Machu Picchu Mountain, the big peak opposite Huayna Picchu. It is 3.8 km there and back on a wide stone trail with many steps, and the summit view takes in the citadel, the Urubamba River and Huayna Picchu. You have up to 7 hours.
Choose it if you are fit and want the highest view without Huayna Picchu's exposed drops. It does not enter the urban sector.
Route 1-B: Upper Terrace
The shortest route of all: the upper platforms by the Guardian's House, where the classic postcard photo is taken, and back down to the exit. It is about 1.6 km with little climbing and a maximum of 2 hours 30 minutes.
Choose it for the view when you are short on time or energy. It does not go down into the city, so you will not see the temples up close.
Route 1-C: Inti Punku, the Sun Gate (high season)
From the upper terraces you follow the last stretch of the Inca Trail up to Inti Punku, the Sun Gate, where Inca Trail hikers get their first view of the city. The walk takes about 2 hours there and back on a wide path with a steady climb, and the route allows 4 hours in total.
Choose it for a taste of the Inca Trail in a single day; it suits families better than the mountains.
Route 1-D: Inca Bridge (high season)
A narrow path cut into the cliff leads from the upper terraces to the Inca Bridge, a gap in a stone wall once closed with logs. You see it from a viewpoint and cannot cross it. It is about 1 hour there and back, with a maximum of 3 hours for the visit.
Choose it for a short, quiet walk with big drops; skip it if you suffer from vertigo.
Circuit 2: Classic Machu Picchu
Circuit 2 is the one most people imagine when they think of Machu Picchu. It starts on the platforms by the Guardian's House, so it includes the classic view, and then goes through the main gate of the city into the urban sector: the quarries, the viewpoint over the Temple of the Sun, the Main Temple and the Temple of the Three Windows, the Sacred Rock and the storehouses.
Both routes allow 2 hours 30 minutes, run all year and include no mountain. Circuit 2 tickets are the first to sell out, so book them as soon as your dates are fixed.
Route 2-A: Designed route
The fullest walk through the city: the middle terraces, then the urban sector from one end to the other. About 1.3 km, with stairs but no long climb.
Choose it for a first visit. If you only get to see Machu Picchu once, this is the route that shows you the most of it.
Route 2-B: Lower Terrace
It covers the same urban sectors as 2-A but starts on the lower terrace, with a slightly different line through the city. About 1.4 km and the same 2 hours 30 minutes.
Choose it when 2-A is sold out; the difference for a first visit is small.
Circuit 3: Royalty
Circuit 3 goes to the lower part of the city, where the Inca nobility lived. It starts on the farming terraces by the storehouses and passes the stone fountains, the Temple of the Sun, the House of the Inca, the Three Doorways, the Twelve Niches and the Water Mirrors, ending at the Temple of the Condor. These are the finest walls in Machu Picchu, and here you see them up close.
What it does not include is the upper platforms with the postcard view. It has four routes: two all year (3-A and 3-B) and two in the high season (3-C and 3-D).
Route 3-A: Huayna Picchu
The royal sector plus the climb up Huayna Picchu, the peak in every photograph. It is 2.4 km there and back, but almost all of it is steep Inca stairs, with exposed sections and a narrow summit. The route allows 6 hours in total.
Choose it if you are comfortable with heights and want the most famous climb in Peru. It sells out early in the high season.
Route 3-B: Designed route
The royal sector without a mountain: Temple of the Sun, House of the Inca, Water Mirrors and Temple of the Condor, in about 1.3 km and 2 hours 30 minutes.
Choose it for an easy visit, for a second visit after Circuit 2, or if you arrive on the Inca Trail, whose permit includes this route.
Route 3-C: Great Cavern (high season)
The royal sector plus a long trail through cloud forest to the Great Cavern, a cave with fine Inca stonework on the far side of Huayna Picchu, often called the Temple of the Moon. About 3 km there and back with steep sections, and up to 7 hours.
Choose it for quiet trails and very few people. It is a long, demanding day.
Route 3-D: Huchuy Picchu (high season)
The royal sector plus Huchuy Picchu, the small hill in front of Huayna Picchu. It is about 1.7 km there and back with a short, steep climb, and the route allows 3 hours 30 minutes.
Choose it for a view over the city without Huayna Picchu's stairs.
How to read our route maps
- Our maps follow the Ministry of Culture's official route sheets, with the labels in Spanish. The coloured line is your route; the numbers are the sites:
- 1 Plataforma Inferior: lower platform · 2 Plataforma Superior: upper platform · 3 Foso Seco: dry moat · 4 Mirador del Templo del Sol: Temple of the Sun viewpoint · 5 Caos Granítico: granite quarry
- 6 Plaza de los Templos: Sacred Plaza · 7 Pirámide del Intiwatana · 8 Roca Sagrada: Sacred Rock · 9 Doce Vanos: Twelve Niches · 10 Qolqas Orientales: eastern storehouses
- 11 Conjunto Espejos de Agua: Water Mirrors · 12 Templo del Cóndor: Temple of the Condor · 13 Plaza de Pisonay · 14 Reserva Arqueológica: archaeological reserve
- The red i marks an explanation area, where guides stop to talk, and the house icon is a control booth. Ingreso is the entrance and Salida the exit.
Which circuit has the classic postcard view?
The postcard photo, with the city below you and Huayna Picchu behind, is taken from the upper platforms near the Guardian's House. Circuits 1 and 2 include those platforms; Circuit 3 does not list them, because it starts lower down, in the agricultural sector by the storehouses.
That is why we book Circuit 2 for most first-time visitors. Route 2-A combines the terraces with a walk through the whole urban area, and route 2-B covers the same sectors starting from the lower terrace. If you only care about the view and want an easier walk, route 1-B stays on the upper terraces. If you want to see the Temple of the Sun and the House of the Inca up close, that is Circuit 3, and you can still see the classic view from the Inca Trail, from a mountain route, or by visiting twice on two tickets.
Huayna Picchu, Machu Picchu Mountain or Huchuy Picchu?
Huayna Picchu (route 3-A) is the peak in every photo. The trail is short, 2.4 km there and back, but it is a steep staircase of Inca steps with exposed sections. It suits people who are comfortable with heights; it does not suit anyone with vertigo or knee problems.
Machu Picchu Mountain (route 1-A) is the longer, higher option at 3.8 km round trip, with a wider trail and fewer sheer drops. It takes more stamina but less nerve, and the view takes in the citadel, the river and Huayna Picchu.
Huchuy Picchu (route 3-D), open only in the high season, is the small hill in front of Huayna Picchu: 1.7 km, a short climb and a good view for people who want height without a long hike.
Mountain checkpoints are strict: the official schedule gives no tolerance at the entrances to Machu Picchu Mountain, Huayna Picchu and Huchuy Picchu, so the hour on your ticket is the hour you must be there. These routes can also close for maintenance. In 2026, route 3-A was closed from 1 to 30 June and routes 3-C and 3-D from 19 to 30 June, under Resolution 000317-2025-MC.
The rules that catch visitors out
- Entry time. The hour on your ticket is the hour you enter the main gate. The official schedule allows 30 minutes of tolerance in regular months and 45 minutes in the busiest periods (1 June to 15 October, and 30 and 31 December). The checkpoints of Machu Picchu Mountain, Huayna Picchu and Huchuy Picchu allow no tolerance. Miss your hour and you may lose the visit.
- One circuit only. Entering a circuit or an area your ticket does not include can get you and your guide removed from the site.
- No re-entry. Once you go out through the exit, the visit is over.
- Your name and document. Tickets are personal and valid only for the date and hour bought. Dates and names cannot be changed; only a passport or ID number can be corrected if there was a typing error. Bring the same passport or ID you booked with.
- Documents. Foreign visitors enter with their passport; citizens of the Andean Community (CAN) and MERCOSUR can also use their national ID. Foreign students up to undergraduate level need their original, valid student card to use a student fare.
- Refunds. The Ministry does not refund tickets except for force majeure that prevents you from reaching the site.
- Bags and food. Backpacks over 40 x 35 x 20 cm, food and aerosols are not allowed inside.
- Guide. The regulation recommends visiting with a licensed guide. All our Machu Picchu tours include one, and the guide knows exactly where your route turns.
Getting to the gate on time
Every visit starts in Aguas Calientes, the town at the foot of the mountain, reached by train from Cusco or Ollantaytambo. From there, buses climb the zigzag road to the main gate, or you can walk up a long, steep stone stairway.
Plan backwards from your entry hour: the bus queue can be long in the high season, and the mountain checkpoints allow no tolerance. For an early hour or a mountain route, sleep in Aguas Calientes the night before; our packages do this, and our representative tells you what time to board the bus for your slot.
Are 2027 Machu Picchu tickets and prices out yet?
Not yet. As of 22 October 2026, the Ministry of Culture has not published the 2027 fares or opened 2027 sales on Tu Boleto, its official ticket platform. Fares are set each year by ministerial resolution and differ by circuit, route, nationality, age and season, so we do not quote a price until it is official. Check the current fare on Tu Boleto or ask us for a quote with the tickets included.
Under the high-season protocol, the Ministry has to approve the next year's peak-capacity dates by 31 October, so the 2027 calendar should follow soon. For reference, 2026 sales opened on 17 November 2025. The same window matters for Inca Trail permits, which we cover in Inca Trail permits 2027.
How to buy your Machu Picchu ticket on Tu Boleto
- 1. Choose the circuit and route first. Sales are by circuit, route and hour, and 2-A and the mountain routes sell out first in the high season.
- 2. Buy only on the official platform. Tu Boleto (tuboleto.cultura.pe) is the Ministry of Culture's ticket site. Lookalike websites resell tickets with a surcharge.
- 3. Pick the date, route and entry hour. Routes with a mountain have their own hour at the checkpoint, so choose the ticket before the train.
- 4. Enter each visitor's details exactly as in the passport. Names cannot be changed later; only a mistyped document number can be corrected.
- 5. Pay online and keep the ticket. Save the PDF on your phone and carry a printed copy and the same passport you used to book.
- 6. Match the train and the bus. Arrive at the gate before your hour, allowing for the bus queue in Aguas Calientes. If you book a tour with us, we buy the tickets and set the times for you.
So, which ticket should you choose?
First visit, normal fitness: Circuit 2, route 2-A, or 2-B if 2-A is gone. It is the most complete walk through the city and it includes the classic view.
You want the big view and a hike: route 1-A to Machu Picchu Mountain, or 3-A to Huayna Picchu if you are comfortable with exposed stairs.
Limited mobility or little time: route 1-B for the view, or 3-B for the royal temples, both on short paths.
Travelling with children: route 2-A or 2-B, which have no climbing, or 1-C to the Sun Gate on a wide path. Leave Huayna Picchu for older children who are used to heights.
Older travellers or bad knees: 1-B or 3-B, both short and close to the gate. Machu Picchu Mountain and Huayna Picchu are long series of stone steps, especially hard on the way down.
Photographers: an early hour on Circuit 1 or 2 for the classic view from the upper terraces. Morning cloud often lifts during the first hours, so a slot after the first one can give clearer light.
Second visit: Circuit 3, route 3-B or 3-A, to see the Temple of the Sun, the House of the Inca and the Temple of the Condor up close.
Arriving on foot by the Inca Trail: you do not choose. Trekkers enter the citadel through route 3-B on the day they arrive, and our Classic Inca Trail includes it. On our Peru 7 days package, the Machu Picchu ticket and a two-hour guided visit are already included, and we choose the circuit with you when we book.
Frequently asked questions
Which Machu Picchu circuit is best for a first visit?
Circuit 2, route 2-A. It is the most complete walk through the urban sector and passes the upper terraces with the classic view. If 2-A is sold out, route 2-B covers the same sectors from the lower terrace.
Which circuit includes Huayna Picchu?
Circuit 3. Route 3-A combines the royal sector with the climb up Huayna Picchu and allows up to 6 hours. Machu Picchu Mountain is a different ticket: route 1-A, on Circuit 1, with up to 7 hours.
Can I visit two circuits on the same day?
Only with two tickets for two different entry hours. Each ticket allows one entry on one route, and re-entry is not permitted except for force majeure.
Is there a map of the Machu Picchu circuits?
Yes. The Ministry of Culture publishes a sheet for each route, and this guide includes our own map of all 10 routes, with the path, the numbered sites and the maximum time on each.
How long can I stay inside Machu Picchu?
Two hours and 30 minutes on the routes that stay in the citadel (1-B, 2-A, 2-B and 3-B). Routes with a mountain or a long trail allow more: 3 hours for the Inca Bridge, 3 h 30 min for Huchuy Picchu, 4 hours for Inti Punku, 6 hours for Huayna Picchu and 7 hours for Machu Picchu Mountain and the Great Cavern.
Can I change the circuit, date or name on my ticket?
No. Tickets are valid only for the date and hour bought, and the date and holder cannot be changed. Only a mistyped passport or ID number can be corrected, and refunds are given only for force majeure.
Do I need a guide to enter Machu Picchu?
The regulation recommends visiting with a licensed tour guide, and a guide keeps you on the right route. All our Machu Picchu tours include one.
Which Machu Picchu routes open only in the high season?
Routes 1-C (Inti Punku), 1-D (Inca Bridge), 3-C (Great Cavern) and 3-D (Huchuy Picchu). The other six routes run all year. Seasonal routes can also close for maintenance, so check Tu Boleto for your date.
Is the Machu Picchu museum included?
The Manuel Chávez Ballón site museum, near Aguas Calientes, is free between 12:00 and 4:00 pm under the same regulation. It is at Puente Ruinas, at the foot of the road up to the citadel, and worth an hour after your visit.
Official sources: Ministry of Culture of Peru: Machu Picchu circuits and visiting routes (route maps and panels) · Ministerial Resolution 000528-2023-MC: Machu Picchu carrying capacity and visit regulations, circuits, visit time and re-entry (PDF) · Ministry of Culture of Peru: Machu Picchu entry times and tolerance (PDF) · Ministerial Resolution 000317-2025-MC on Circuit 3 routes at Machu Picchu (El Peruano, 15 November 2025) · Ministerial Resolution 000207-2024-MC, Annex 1: protocol for managing visits to Machu Picchu in high season (PDF) · Tu Boleto, the Ministry of Culture's official ticket platform for Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail · Ministry of Culture of Peru: official Machu Picchu and Inca Trail tickets · Ministry of Culture of Peru: official route sheets for Machu Picchu circuits 1, 2 and 3, with route maps and maximum visit times (PDF, May 2024)
