Following the pandemic, the daily capacity of Machu Picchu has been reduced to 10% of its normal capacity. This is in addition to many management problems that have resulted in a shortage of available spaces. However, as an agency authorized by the government, we can offer Machu Picchu VIP tickets that override these measures. These tickets have the same validity as the regular tickets and allow you to visit Machu Picchu in a normal way. In addition, these tickets do not have an entry time or limit. You enter whenever you want and can visit the Citadel for up to 1 hour and half, taking the Circuit 3. Obviously, these special tickets have an extra cost for us and therefore for you. The price of the regular tickets is US$ 62 and the price for Machu Picchu VIP tickets is from US$ 142 to US$ 228.
Please note that Machu Picchu VIP tickets have discounts for children (up to 17 y/o), but do not have discounts depending on nationality.
The access to Machu Picchu is reserved to people with a regular ticket and to the hikers of the 2 Inca Trail treks of 2 days and 4 days. The hikers of the 2-day trek visit Machu Picchu on the 2nd day, after having spent the night in Aguas Calientes. The hikers of the 4-day trek arrive directly to Machu Picchu on the 4th day. In both cases, the visit and therefore the entrance is apart from the limit of visitors of regular tickets. Our agency is authorized to book and sell the regular entrance tickets but is also authorized to book, sell and operate the two Inca Trail treks. This allows us to offer the Machu Picchu VIP tickets which are nothing less than... an entrance to the 2-day Inca Trail, which already includes the entrance to Machu Picchu. You will use only half of it; that is to say without doing the trek, arriving directly to Machu Picchu, by the main gate.
This also explains why the price is higher than the regular ticket. When we book and pay for your entrance to Machu Picchu, we have to buy at the same time an entrance to the 2-day Inca Trail [called KM 104], even if you will not use it.
For the visitor and for the authorities, there is no difference between someone who makes the Inca Trail trek on D day and visits Machu Picchu on D+1 day, and someone who arrives by train and visits Machu Picchu on D+1 day. Even better, the authorities at the entrance have no idea if you have hiked the Inca Trail trek the day before or if you have just arrived by train. The Machu Picchu VIP tickets are perfectly valid. And since trekkers can go up to Machu Picchu at any time on D+1, they can enter at any time. That's why the Machu Picchu VIP tickets don't have a specific time to enter. You can use them to enter at any time, during the opening hours of Machu Picchu from 06:00 to 15:00.
As an authorized agency, we have been selling and operating the trek since 2003. To date we have issued almost 10,000 trek permits and almost 30,000 Machu Picchu entrance tickets. However, we believe that the best way to verify our claims is to check for yourself directly on the Ministry of Culture website. For this purpose:
The corresponding official booking appears.
The green frame indicates:
The tickets that we issue and that you must print and show at the entrance of Machu Picchu are like the one below. The red frames indicate the time of entry (free), the date of entry and the circuit.