Glory Be! We never thought we'd see the day that tickets for the Wayna Picchu hike would be available in August when tickets for Machu Picchu Llaqta are sold out. You heard me right. Demand for Machu Picchu General Entry (Llaqta) tickets has flipped this year and visitors are buying them first. Can you guess which tickets are selling out in second place? 

You're not going to believe it. It's Inca Bridge tickets. This trend is unprecedented and we believe it's due to recent changes in how the hikes are combined with the circuits. The first thing you need to know is that Machu Picchu has 4 one-way circuits. Circuit #1 and #2 begin in the upper terrace and we believe that's the key to understanding this latest shift in ticket buying demand. Two out of 4 Machu Picchu hikes include access only to lower circuits. Wayna Picchu is one of those hikes.

Each of 4 hikes inside Machu Picchu is paired with access to one of the 4 circuits. Wayna Picchu (also spelled Huayna), once the little darling of Machu Picchu, is now relegated to the status of ugly step-sister. And it's through no fault of her own. The hike has not changed except to spread out the number of people hiking at the same time. We believe that because Wayna Picchu tickets are combined with entry to a lower circuit, visitors are choosing other tickets just for the opportunity to get the Classic View of Machu Picchu, which can only be seen from the upper terrace. We wrote an entire post about the Classic View of Machu Picchu.

What's wrong with the Machu Picchu Lower Circuits?

The only bad thing you can say about the lower circuits is that they're not the upper circuits! I mean, it's still Machu Picchu. It's true they don't allow access to the classic view, but there's plenty of opportunity for some stunning photography. Check out the image of the Temple of the Condor in this post. That's not too shabby. It's located in the lower circuit but it's not open all the time. Here's more info about opening hours for certain Machu Picchu historical landmarks. Click Here

Can you buy tickets to hike Huayna Picchu and for entry to the Upper Circuit at Machu Picchu?

Yes. It's not difficult to do. You just buy two separate entry tickets. One for Wayna Picchu and another for Machu Picchu Llaqta. Although tickets can be purchased for the same day, we think it's ideal to set up a 2 day / 1 night trip to Machu Picchu. The first day you can travel roughly 5 hours to the village of Aguas Calientes and have plenty of time for an afternoon on circuit 2. Then overnight in the village. The next morning you go back to Machu Picchu and do the hike to Huayna Picchu. There's plenty of time to get back to Cusco by 6-7pm the same day.