Machu Picchu's Big Reform Still Can't Stop a Sellout: October 13 Walk-Up Slots Are Gone

Tourists visit the ancient Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in the Urubamba valley, seventy-two kilometres from the Andes city of Cusco, on February 15, 2023. (Credit: Photo by Carolina Paucar / AFP via Getty Images)

The Briefing

• Peru's Decentralized Directorate of Culture in Cusco confirmed that all 1,000 daily in-person tickets for Machu Picchu on October 13 were claimed by the afternoon of October 12, leaving walk-up visitors with zero same-day options.
• The high-season daily visitor ceiling stands at 5,600; walk-up tickets go on sale the evening before between 3:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. at the government's cultural center in Aguas Calientes, valid only for the following day.
• A government audit of nearly 210,000 reservations found 63% had been cancelled by agencies blocking entry slots in bulk — the dysfunction that drove Peru's September 22 launch of a new 15-minute direct-purchase rule on its Tu Boleto platform.