Where these numbers come from
An entry slot is one combination of route, date and entry time — the unit the Ministry of Culture actually sells. We recount all of them every hour and store what is left. The figures below are a snapshot taken on 9 September 2026, covering 10,332 slots across the ten routes on sale and every date up to 28 February 2027, which is as far ahead as the official calendar went that day.
The answer: 90 days is the cliff, 30 days is the wall
Group every future slot by how far away its date is and the curve is not gradual. It falls off twice.
- 0–7 days out: 100% sold out. Of the 288 slots on dates inside a week, none were on sale.
- 8–30 days out: 100% sold out — all 854 of them. This is the number that surprises people: inside a month it is not «hard», it is nothing. If your trip is three weeks away and you have no ticket, the online calendar has no answer for you.
- 31–60 days out: 82% sold out. Roughly one slot in five is still there, and it will not be the circuit or the hour you had in mind.
- 61–90 days out: 64% sold out. Still a third available — enough to choose, not enough to be picky.
- More than 90 days out: 15% sold out. This is the only band where you get to pick your circuit and your hour instead of taking what is left.
So the practical rule the numbers support is: **book more than three months ahead if you care which circuit you walk, and treat one month out as the point where the online calendar stops being an option.** Between those two, you are buying whatever is left.
Seen month by month from the same snapshot, the same shape appears: September 2026 was 100% sold out, October 90%, November 75%, December 38%, January 2027 8%, and February 2027 had not sold a single slot yet. You can watch this move — the live availability board is the same count, refreshed hourly.
Surprise one: the mountains are the easy tickets
The standard advice is that Huayna Picchu sells out four to five months ahead and should be booked before anything else. Comparing every route over the same 31-to-90-day window — so no route is flattered by far-off dates — that is not what the calendar shows.
| Sold out at 31–90 days | Route | |
|---|---|---|
| 3D — Huchuy Picchu | 100% | Smallest quota on sale |
| 3C — Great Cavern | 95% | Second smallest quota |
| 2A — Classic Designed | 89% | The postcard route, highest demand |
| 1D — Inca Bridge | 89% | Small quota |
| 2B — Lower Terrace | 84% | The 2A alternative |
| 1C — Sun Gate | 84% | Small quota |
| 3B — Royalty Designed | 83% | Large quota, steady demand |
| 3A — Huayna Picchu Mountain | 43% | More than half still on sale |
| 1B — Upper Terrace | 37% | Large quota, lower demand |
| 1A — Machu Picchu Mountain | 16% | The easiest ticket to get |
Two things are going on. The routes that vanish first are not the famous ones, they are the ones with the smallest daily quotas — Huchuy Picchu and Gran Caverna release a fraction of what Circuit 2 and 3B do, so a normal amount of demand empties them. And the mountain climbs self-select: they are long, steep and weather-exposed, so far fewer travelers want one than the internet assumes.
Circuit 1A Mountain
Hike Machu Picchu Mountain — 3,082 meters of breathtaking views
Circuit 3A Huayna Picchu
Climb the iconic peak — 400 visitors per day, only
Surprise two: sunrise is not the hardest hour
«The 6 AM slot goes first» is repeated everywhere. Over the same 31-to-90-day window, the hours that are actually hardest to get are the middle of the morning:
- Hardest: 11:00 (80% sold out), 08:00 (77%), 09:00 (76%), 10:00 (73%). This is when the day-trippers arriving from Cusco on the morning trains can realistically be at the gate, and it shows.
- Easiest: 12:00 (54% sold out), then 07:00 and 15:00 (62%), 06:00 (64%), 13:00 (66%), 14:00 (67%). Noon and mid-afternoon are consistently the most open, and the two earliest slots are on the easier half of the list — not the first to go.
The practical read: if your date is tight, ask for noon or 3 PM before you change the date. And if you want the early slot for the light, you are competing for it with fewer people than you have been told — the site is at its emptiest in the first hour and the last two.
What to do at each point on the calendar
- More than 3 months out: Book the circuit you actually want, at the hour you want. This is the only window where the choice is yours. If a mountain climb is on your list, this is when it is cheapest in effort to get one.
- 2–3 months out: Decide what you will not compromise on — the postcard viewpoint, or the date — because you will probably give up the other. Check 2B before abandoning 2A: it is the same walk minus one viewpoint.
- 1–2 months out: Take what exists. Widen the search to any circuit and any hour, and be ready to move your Machu Picchu day by one or two within your trip — moving the day is far easier than finding a specific circuit.
- Under a month: The online calendar is no longer the route. The Ministry keeps a daily quota that is sold in person in Machu Picchu Pueblo, the day before the visit — that is the only remaining way in, and it is what our 2-Day Tour exists to handle. Read what to do when Machu Picchu is sold out before you rearrange your trip.
Planning 2027
At the time of writing, the official calendar reached 28 February 2027 and the Ministry had not announced when the rest of 2027 opens. We are not going to invent a date for you — when it is published we will update this article and the availability board will start counting those months automatically. What the current data already tells you is that February 2027 had sold nothing at all and January only 8%, so the months that are open are still wide open.
How far in advance should I book Machu Picchu tickets?
More than three months ahead if you want to choose your circuit and entry hour — beyond 90 days only 15% of slots were sold out. Between one and three months you are choosing from what is left. Inside 30 days, every slot we track was gone.
Which Machu Picchu circuit sells out first?
Not the famous ones. Huchuy Picchu (3D) and Gran Caverna (3C) go first because they have the smallest daily quotas — 100% and 95% sold out at 31–90 days. Circuit 2A, the postcard route, follows at 89%.
Is Huayna Picchu really impossible to book?
Not at two or three months out. Measured over the 31–90 day window, Huayna Picchu (3A) was 43% sold out and Machu Picchu Mountain (1A) only 16% — both far more available than the standard city routes. Inside a month, though, they are gone like everything else.
What is the best entry time to actually get a ticket?
Noon was the most available (54% sold out), followed by 07:00 and 15:00 at 62%. The hardest are 11:00 (80%), 08:00 (77%) and 09:00 (76%). Contrary to the common advice, the 06:00 slot is not the first to sell out.
Can I still visit if everything is sold out for my dates?
Yes, but not through the online calendar. The Ministry sells a daily quota in person in Machu Picchu Pueblo for the following day. It requires being there the day before with your original passport, which is what our 2-Day Tour from Cusco is built around.
Check your dates against the live count
The board shows what is left for every circuit and month, recounted every hour. If your dates are inside a month, look at the 2-Day Tour instead — it is the in-person route to a ticket.