How And Where To Buy Your Machu Picchu Entrance Tickets

Machu Picchu is without doubt the biggest tourist attraction to be found in Peru and one of the bigger ones in South America. Due to this popularity one would thing that buying entrance fees to see this New Wonder of the World would be straightforward but unfortunately as with many things in Peru it is not. Therefore following we will try to give you an overview of the options one has to obtain one of the daily 2500 tickets for Machu Picchu available.youtube.com Since two years the number of visitors daily has been limited to 2500 and since last year this number is reached for some days, especially during the high season (June through September). In earlier times people bought their entrance ticket at the site itself as there were more than enough spaces available.


Message us through the contact form and provide us with the dates, a color copy of your passport and email address and we can arrange these tickets for you. We will send you an online link for the payment which can be done either with Mastercard or Visa and once payment has been received will send you the tickets electronically. You can just print these out and you are ready to go. 1. You can pay for the ticket online via the website using a Visa credit card and print out your tickets. 2. You can pay for the reservation at any Banco de la Nacion in Peru.


3. You can for the reservation at the ticket office in Cusco or Aguas Calientes. For Visa payments online you go (after having made the reservation) to the same website and go to the "pagos" option in the top menu bar. Here you fill out the reservation code you generated and Cuscotours continue to the payment page. This will take you to the "Verified by Visa" page for the payment of your tickets. Please be aware that due to a lot of time-outs on the page this may take a couple of tries to get through. Once the ticket is paid for you will return to the confirmation page were you can print out the entrance tickets.


Banco de la Nacion; with the generated reservation code online, the reservation can also be paid for physically. Once the reservation is made a reservation document will pop up. This reservation document you will have to print out (or copy at least the amount and reservation number) and with this go to the Government bank; Banco de la Nacion. There is a Banco de La Nacion in almost any Peruvian city so you could do this during your trip and not necessarily in Cusco. Please keep in mind that due to the fact that these banks are used for a lot of bureaucratic payment the waiting times can easily be up to an hour.


To make this payment you will also need to bring your passport or valid proof of identity as well as the reservation print out or code. Once the payment has been made you will be given a voucher for this payment and have to return to the official website and in the "check-in" section of the top menu fill out the original reservation code. If the payment came through you will hear have the possibility to print out your ticket(s). With the reservation generated online you can also walk into the "Direccion Regional de Cultura" offices either in Cusco or Aguas Calientes and pay for the tickets physically.


You would just need the reservation number and your passport. Here you can pay in cash or with Visa credit card and the tickets will be handed to you at this moment. Nevertheless as at these offices they can also make the reservation, it is not really necessary to use the website first if you are considering buying your tickets here. Av. Pachacutec (just off the main square). Finally you can buy your Machu Picchu entrance tickets at the Direccion Regional de Cultura offices either in Cusco or Aguas Calientes. You can just go to either of these offices with your passport and they accept payment either with Visa credit card or cash.


The office in Cusco is located at about 15 minutes walking form the main square and in Aguas Calientes on the main road of town. Keep in mind that as there are only 2500 spaces available per day (especially in the high season), this option is best only used when having at least a week in advance. The tickets will be given you at this moment. The last option would be to contact an official travel agency and let them buy the tickets for you. In general agencies will need your passport information (full name, passport number, date of birth and nationality) and the tickets will have to be paid for in advance as agencies have to make full payment on the moment of purchase. On average agencies will charge a 10-15% commission on the ticket price but this percentage can go down if you would have them organize more services such as trains or hotel overnights.


It took about an hour, but finally I felt well enough to carry on. By this point, the assistant guide had just arrived looking for us. When we finally arrived at the lunch spot, the tent was already set up and everyone was inside waiting for us. I was embarrassed to admit I was dealing with food poisoning and felt bad for holding the group up, but everyone was very understanding. As it would turn out, I wouldn’t be the only one dealing with an upset stomach during the trek. The rest of our hike after lunch was thankfully uneventful, but also not very memorable. I was just looking forward to getting to camp so I could lie down and rest. When we did get to camp at Wayllabamba, the porters already had our tents set up.


This was my kind of camping- no set up or take down, and no cooking! The meals we were served on the trek were all very delicious, with enough selection to please even the pickiest eaters (like myself). I was impressed by the gourmet dishes they could make out in the middle of nowhere! Wayllabamba camp was near a small farming community so there were donkeys, roosters and dogs roaming around. Those noisy animals kept us from getting a good night’s sleep, but at least the campsite had a clean, sit down toilet (I can’t say the same about the rest of the campsites).


Day 2 is considered the hardest day of the Inca Trail hike because of the steep elevation gain and hundreds of stone steps, going both up and downhill. I kept telling myself if I could get through Day 2, the rest of the hike would be easy in comparison. Day 2 is the steepest part. Uphill almost all day! The scenery was very different from the previous day, much more lush because we were walking through a cloud forest. We even passed a small waterfall. I liked being in the thick of nature and Mike kept saying he felt like Indiana Jones!


As expected, we soon came to a section of stone steps, still original from the time of the Incas. This part of the trail was tough, but in hindsight I was expecting it to be even harder. The key for me was to go slow and steady, always keeping the same pace so I didn’t have to stop and catch my breath all the time. I felt like I was moving in slow motion, taking the tiniest steps. That’s all I could manage in the high altitude. I didn’t see the point in pushing myself and risking getting sick because I knew the majority of the hike today would be uphill.


As long as I made it to the final destination, that’s all that mattered. It wasn’t a race, even though the porters running past us made it look as though it was. Getting above the treeline, we stopped for lunch at Llulluchapampa, a meadow at 3,680m. It was a nice place to rest up for the most difficult part of the trail, the ascent to Dead Woman’s Pass. We were told it was another 1.5 hour climb to Dead Woman’s Pass, the highest pass on the Inca Trail at 4,200m, but I think it took us longer than that. It’s called Dead Woman’s Pass because from the other side the top of the mountain looks like the profile of a woman lying down. It was such a relief to get to the top of the pass because that meant that the hardest part of the trek was over.


It was cold and windy so we quickly took a group picture then started our descent down the other side. View from Dead Woman’s Pass. Looking back at Dead Woman’s Pass. There were so many steep stone steps going down that I was glad we rented trekking poles. They really help with balance and stability and take some of the stress off your knees. For me, going down the steps was the best part of Day 2. Passing through the cloud cover, incredible views of the valley and mountain peaks were revealed. Most of the way down I was by myself, so I decided to sit on a step and take in the moment. Descending Dead Woman’s Pass. There was a beautiful, ancient stone path in front of me, curving its way down into the valley.


Mountain peaks surrounded me on all sides and the only sound was the gentle chirping of birds. This was my favourite moment of the trip so far. Mike struggled more on this section of trail. The altitude was making him feel light-headed, so he had to really slow down and concentrate on where he was stepping so he didn’t tumble down the stairs. Continuing on, I made my way down the steps until I arrived at our campsite for the night. I know I said it wasn’t a race, still I was impressed with myself for not being the last one to arrive at camp on the hardest day of the trek. Pacamayo (3,600m) was probably the most scenic campsite I’ve ever stayed at. Our tents were set up on a ledge looking out onto a valley, with mountains on the other three sides.


Great view from the camp! Glancing back at where I just hiked from was surreal. I almost couldn’t believe I walked that high up a mountain! After another great dinner, I set up my tripod and took a few night photos. It was a little cloudy and there was a full moon so I couldn’t capture a dark starry sky like I wanted. Still, I got some good shots of the mountaintop with moving clouds and a few stars. We got another 5:30 am wake-up, but I didn’t mind because I was very excited for Day 3 of the trek. I knew it was going to be incredibly scenic with some gorgeous Inca ruins along the way. The first Inca site we came to was Runkuracay, a small circular ruin overlooking the Pacamayo valley.


We stood inside the stone structure as Edy gave us another history lesson. He was such a wealth of information- I wish I could remember everything he said! We got the best views of Runkuracay when climbing the hill to leave the site. A good reminder to always take a moment to look back where you came from! From Runkuracay, it was about a 45 minute hike to the top of the second Pass, Abra de Runkuracay at 4,000m. This section of the trail is mostly original, the stones laid by the Inca. It was crazy to think about all the work that must have went into building this trail and laying all those stones.


And now, hundreds of years later, there I was walking the same path as the Inca did. My favourite site along the Inca Trail was Sayacmarca. The ruins were spectacular and built in such an incredible location, protected on two sides by cliffs. The name Sayacmarca means "Inaccessible Town", which was very fitting considering the surroundings. All throughout the hike, I was so amazed at the locations the Inca chose to build their towns at. My favourite photo from the Inca Trail! We spent a good amount of time wandering through Sayacmarca as Edy told us about the site. I was so enamoured by these ruins I didn’t want to leave. Back on the trail we passed by more ruins including Conchamarca, a small Inca dwelling that was probably a resting place for travellers on their way to Machu Picchu.


The path got very scenic again as we went through another lush cloud forest. The orchids were just starting to bloom and I bet in a week or so the trail would have been so colourful. We even passed by a group of llamas! After going through an Inca tunnel carved into the rock, the trail started to climb up to the third pass (3,700m). The stone path hugged the mountainside, with nothing but a steep valley on my left. It was a little nerve-wracking to be that close to the edge, but oh-so photogenic! From the pass I could see several snow-capped mountains and what looked like a small waterfall way on the other side of the valley. After the pass we came to a clearing where we stopped for lunch. Once again, fantastic views were spread out before us.


It’s funny because on one hand, these views make you want to sit and stare for the rest of the day, while on the other hand, they energize and motivate you to keep going and see what lies ahead. Just down the hill from our lunch spot was Phuyupatamarca, the "Town in the Clouds". It was another scenic ruin, but probably most memorable for the thousand or so steps leaving the site. This section of trail has a reputation for being tough on the knees and even earned the nickname "The Gringo Killer". My knees didn’t get too sore (probably because of the trekking poles) but the bottoms of my feet started to hurt.


It’s tough walking on all those uneven rocks! On our way to the last campsite, we took a short detour to the Winay Wayna ruins. This site had a spectacular set of agricultural terraces clinging to the mountainside and also some stone baths. Winay Wayna may have been a place where pilgrims to Machu Picchu engaged in ritual cleansing for the final leg of the trail. I didn’t have a sense of just how tall the terraces were stacked until I walked down to the bottom. Standing in the shade of this man-made wonder, I suddenly felt insignificant and small. From the ruins we could see our campground and hear the trains coming and going from Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu town).karikuy.com I started to feel sad we were getting closer to civilization, signaling our journey was coming to an end.