Real Time - In Person Ticket Sales at Machu Picchu

Beginning Monday, July 28, 2025, the Peru government launched a new page to show "real time" in-person ticket availability at Machu Picchu Cultural Center in the village of Aguas Calientes. This is the only way to track availability online for last-minute in person tickets to Machu Picchu. On the date the tickets are being sold, this page only shows the tickets available on the exact date of entry, which is typically the next day. However when excess travelers showed up, changes had to be made. Read what happened below. There is no archives for past sales.

Here's the link to the page that shows real-time ticket availability: https://tuboleto.cultura.pe/cusco/1000boletos

Or scan the QR code in the photo to access the page.

Disclaimer; I'm providing this information as a courtesy to travelers. Please reconfirm instructions with your local sources like hotels and tour guides when you get there in person. Everything is subject to change folks! The frst change occurred on August 1. See more below!

The new Machu Picchu tickets tracking page will pop up when you land on the official Tu Boleto website. This page is desgined for travelers who are going in person to the village of Aguas Calientes, to view entrance tickets to Machu Picchu in person for the next day. The office opens daily at 6am when tickets are sold for entry the next day. Visitors in line or anyone with access to internet, can view real-time changes to ticket availability.

Change to the Real Time In-person Machu Picchu Ticket sales process

Since they started this new in-person viewing page on July 28, they've already made changes. Here's what happened on August 1. The first big change was that the office opened at 6am. The 2nd big change was to let people actually buy the ticket at that time. (what a brilliant idea! Don't you think?) They no longer gave people a number for their spot in line when they returned in the afternoon which was when they could select and pay for entry tickets the next day. Then again they started selling entry on future dates. Sometimes it was 3 days out. Early on August 5 they sold out fo all tickets to enter on Aug 6. So they started selliing Aug 7, and all those sold out. Then around 1pm, they went on to selling tickets for entry on Aug 8. (Peru time). The tracking page which is linked above is rotating pages if they end up selling out for the next day. About every minute of so, the tracking page will switch display for available tickets between dates being sold that day

But then!. The 3rd big change occurred! All members of your group getting tickets had to be present.

This means that every member of your group who is getting a ticket needs to be in line. And this also means, that no matter what I, or anyone else tells you, it's important to be ready for last minute changes.

Here's the quick recep of the changes to the process of buying in-person tickets to Machu Picchu, so far:

office opens at 6am in the village of Aguas Calientes
the entry tickets are selected and sold at the time you enter. They no longer require people to get a number and return later in the day
everyone who wants to buy an entry ticket to Machu Picchu needs to be present at the time the purchase is made
they can "borrow" entry tickets from future entry dates (if they choose to)
note about the surge of visitors on Aug 1. This week experienced a surge in in-person ticket buyers because it happens to coincide with Peru National Independence Day which is July 28. Schools are closed for a couple of weeks and Peruvian families take vacations. No one can predict if and when the surge will subside. Aug 12 is the official last day of the Peruvian holidays.
On Aug 14 we saw some relief in the swell of visitors arriving to stand in line for in-person tickets in Aguas Calientes. But folks, it's still very crowded. Reserving hotels and booking your return train can still be challenging without knowing the exact date/time of your entry to Machu Picchu.

I'll keep you updated as more details come in. It's kind of like following the stock market. Anything can happen!

There is a total of 1000 in-person tickets to Machu Picchu available each day, divided among 6 circuits:

Circuits 1A has 50 tickets and 1B has 100 tickets
Circuits 2A and 2B each have 300 tickets (total 600 for both)
Circuits 3A has 50 tickets and 3B has 200 tickets

This is a real time display of Machu Picchu tickets. Only visitors who go to the village can get in line to buy these tickets in person. it is not possible to buy in-person entry tickets through the page. The new page is for viewing ticket availability only.

Can visitors ask their tour guide or hotel to buy their in-person tickets to Machu Picchu?

No. The passport holders must buy their own tickets in person. They cannot ask a 3rd party to go for them. However, members of families and groups can take turns holding the place in line. No matter when you show up, you should get in the line with all the passports for each person in your group. When you buy your tickets all members of your group need to be present. Bring Peruvian soles in cash.. There are only a couple of ATM machines in the village. And you also need to buy bus tickets. In cash if you buy in person in the village of Aguas Calientes.

If you are in line in the evening and the office closes, some people may stay in line all night. Adios tour guides have been able to arrange for our groups to hire a local guide to stand in line overnight. So far, this has been permitted. You must return to the line before 6am when the office opens. The agents will do random head counts to anticipate how many tickets are needed that day. So they track how many people are in your group for this reason.

These agents are working on the fly. They're trying to adjust to the unpredictable flow of visitors. Be patient. And flexible.

What happens if there are more than 1000 people in line for Machu Picchu tickets on the same day?

Visitors can get in line early in the morning before the office opens at 6am the day before they want to enter Machu Picchu. As of August 1, they are no longer issuing a number to designate your place in line to return in the afternoon. All passport holders need to be present. There may be an advantage to getting in line in the evening when you arrive by train. The office has stayed open until 10pm. These tickets are sold on a first come basis. If you don't get tickets on the first day, you can try again the next day.

Between August 1-13, 2025, there were way more than 3000 extra travelers in that tiny gateway village to Machu Picchu. This created another situation that affected everyone who now had to wait sometimes up to 3 or 4 days from the time they bought their entry tickets in person, to the time and date they actually entered. It was chaos. The village was overwhelmed by the pre-ticketed visitors who average 5000 per day, combined with the surge in last-minute travelers. Hotels and restaurants were accused of price-gouging and taking advantage of thousands of marooned travelers waiting until they could enter the Inca citadel. The only way to get out of the village of Aguas Calientes is by train to Ollantaytambo, or on foot to the high jungle village of Santa Teresa to wait it out. Trains were booked solid, so many chose to walk 3 hours to the hidroelectric station where hopefully they could find transport about 45 minutes on rough dirt roads to the small village of Santa Teresa. That's what some people did to escape the crowds and the extra cost of waiting in Aguas Calientes to enter Machu Picchu.

Can entry tickets to Machu Picchu be guaranteed for visitors who show up in person to buy them?

Technically no. However if you have the flexibility to stay more than 2 days, there's no reason why you wouldn't eventually get to the front of the line. And get a ticket. But officially no one can guarantee that anyone can get an in-person ticket.