My wife and I just got back from Peru, and with 7 days in the Sacred Valley one of the things that we did was visit the iconic UNESCO World Heritage Site – Machu Picchu.
(SEE ALSO: How to buy Machu Picchu train tickets)
Two new Machu Picchu restrictions
When we went last month, buying Machu Picchu tickets allowed you to visit Machu Picchu for an entire today. You need a separate ticket if you want to hike Huayna Picchu, but a Machu Picchu ticket allowed access the entire day.
Now according to the Washington Post, Peru is limiting visitors to one of two different timeframes to visit. 3600 people will be allowed to visit in the morning (6 am to noon) with an additional 2700 in the afternoon. If you want to stay the whole day, then you will be required to buy two tickets.
The other restriction is that people will no longer be allowed to explore Machu Picchu on your own – all visitors will be required to hire a guide and follow the prescribed paths (no more exploring on your own). Guides must be licensed and can only take groups of a maximum of 16 people. I don’t know if there will be guides that will allow hikes up to the Sun Gate (Intipunku) – that’s a 45 minute hike up to an amazing vista
These recommendations are being done per recommendations by UNESCO and a US archaeologist in an attempt to conserve the site and start on July 1st.
We did not hire a guide to take us around, and it’s not clear to me how that will be organized. Seems like it would be fairly easy to “accidentally” lose your guide if you didn’t want to be with them, though I guess if you’ve already paid for them, you might as well let them
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Wow, That is an Increase of 152% in available tickets!
Currently there are only 2,500 tickets a day. They are increasing it to 6,300 tickets per day.
MP can’t not handle that many people, no wonder the local strikes.
Well the flipside of that is that people will only be there half the time
Most people don’t say more than 4 hours at the site. When there are couple hundred people there, it felt over run by certain “type” of people. Almost like Rome in the summer.
Dont think they have the infrastructure to handle the increase in visitors.
We went to Macchu Picchu in the mid to low season and there was a long wait to get on the bus and even longer when we got to MP entrance. I could’nt imagine the mayhem it’s going to create with the “new rules” especially in the peak season.
We went at the very beginning of June (June 1). We got off the train at about 9:30 a.m. and there was a very minimal line for bus tickets, the bus itself, and entry to the park. I’m sure it can be a lot worse during high season and/or at sunrise
I heard they are very greedy in collecting money from tourists. The 1 and half hour train to there costs almost $300 for a round trip. I don’t think I would like that.
Our train tickets were about $140 roundtrip – see 4 tips for taking the train to Machu Picchu
The train is expensive because it’s owned by an international conglomerate. Many more options if you just talk to locals. One way to Machu Picchu Pueblo only cost 60 peso roundtrip to hydroelectrica via shuttle bus with a USD$15 one way the rest of the way on the train. Can save the $15 if you just want to walk the 10km to town.
Ofcourse there may be a gringo tax as with all parts of South America, but it’s nothing compare to even tipping here in the US.
You can see my report here: https://travel2walk.com/2016/07/01/trip-report-cusco-region-in-peru-june-2016/#machu
60 soles rather, getting my South American currencies mixed up.
John – we looked into going by way of hidroelectrica but decided to just go with the train
For sure Dan, there are definitely multiple options. With tight time lines and more comfort, the train is better if the price isn’t the issue. I imagine most people are will to pay for machu picchu.
Was just addressing the complaint of cost in that there is plenty of cheap option to see awesome stuff.
What a scam, no surprise from the bureaucrats at unesco. If Peru had any cojones it would tell them where to put it. Stonehenge seems to have no problem accommodating thousands.
Location location location
We camped at the SUN Gate in 1992. The amazing view is from the top of Mauna Picchu, it seems you are on top of the world. Back then you could backpack the Inca Trail without a guide.
Did you use a guide book to get around Machu Picchu? If not, and you didn’t use a guide, I am certain you missed a lot.
Gary – yes, we came to that conclusion as well while we were there.