Peru’s Ministry of Culture has abolished advance ticket reservations for Machu Picchu, introducing a system that gives visitors 15 minutes to complete their purchase through the official ticketing website. Once that window expires, an unpaid reservation is cancelled and the ticket returns to sale. All tickets must now be issued in a visitor’s name, with entry dependent on the name matching their identification. The measure is intended to ensure that the availability displayed online reflects tickets the public can actually purchase.
The arrangement is initially being trialled, and the ministry may extend or shorten the payment window afterwards. It does not alter the existing admission caps at the UNESCO World Heritage Site: the citadel remains limited to 5,600 visitors per day in the high season and 4,500 in the low season. A separate ceiling of 750 daily visitors applies to the Inca Trail network.
For those purchasing in person, the DDC-Cusco ticket office in Machupicchu Pueblo offers 1,000 tickets each day, valid for entry the following day. Machu Picchu, a 15th-century Inca site recognised as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, therefore retains both an online purchasing route and an in-person option, with different purchase arrangements.
