Peru Sets Firm Date for Inca Trail's Return After Storm: Machu Picchu's Route Reopens Saturday, Sept. 5th

Tourists return on foot after visiting Machu Picchu ruins while tour operators hold a strike, who in protest against the opening of online ticket sales to the ruins of the Inca citadel blocked the entrance of the tourist train, in Machu Picchu Pueblo, Peru on January 26, 2024. Visitors to Peru's iconic Machu Picchu site were met Thursday by protesters angry with the government for privatizing ticket sales at the Inca citadel. Tour operators and residents closed shops in protest and blocked the tracks of a tourist train, compelling those on board to walk the remaining three kilometers (1.9 miles) to the entrance. (Credit: Photo by Carolina Paucar / AFP) (Photo by CAROLINA PAUCAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Peru has finally locked in a date for hikers to return to the Inca Trail. Cusco's Culture Directorate and the national parks agency Sernanp jointly confirmed that Routes 1, 2 and 3 of the trail network will reopen to tourists this Saturday, September 5, closing out an 18-day shutdown that outlasted two earlier target dates neither agency managed to keep.

Two Deadlines Came and Went