Which Machu Picchu circuit should you choose?

When you buy a Machu Picchu ticket, you choose one of three circuits and one of ten routes inside them. The route decides what you walk past and how long you can stay: two and a half hours on the standard routes, up to seven on the longest. There is no going back in once you leave, so the choice is worth making before you pay. When the ministry introduced the circuits in 2024, it said that every one of them allows the classic photo with Machu Picchu behind you. Here is what else each one offers.

Circuit 1: the views from above

Circuit 1 stays high, on the upper terraces, and its routes are about the view. Route 1-B, to the upper terrace, gives what the ministry calls the widest panoramic views of the Inca city, with the bends of the Vilcanota river below, in up to two and a half hours.

The other three routes go further. Route 1-A climbs Machu Picchu Mountain and allows up to seven hours. Route 1-C follows the path to the Intipunku gate, about 1.7 km, in up to four hours, and route 1-D is an easy walk of about 1.3 km to the Inca Bridge, in up to three, according to the ministry's description.

Circuit 1 is for looking at Machu Picchu. Circuit 2 is for walking through it.

Circuit 2: the city itself

Circuit 2 is the classic visit, through the Inca city. In 2024 Andina called it the circuit tourists prefer. Route 2-A, the designed route, passes the Llaqta Punku gate, the field of granite boulders, the sacred plaza, the Sacred Rock, and the Hall of Mirrors, and includes the Main Temple and the Temple of the Three Windows. Route 2-B, the lower terrace, shows the quarries, the main plaza, the Sacred Rock, and the water mirrors. Both allow up to two and a half hours.

Circuit 3: the royal quarter and Huayna Picchu

Circuit 3 covers the lower part of the site, with the royal quarters. Route 3-B, the designed route, passes the storehouses, the farming terraces, ceremonial rooms, and the Temple of the Condor, in up to two and a half hours. Its official map is also the only one that marks access for visitors with reduced mobility.

Route 3-A climbs Huayna Picchu, about 2.4 km with some difficulty, according to the ministry, and allows up to six hours. Route 3-C leads about 3 km to the Great Cavern and a stone seat carved like a throne, in up to seven hours, and route 3-D is a short walk to the Huchuypicchu lookout, in up to three and a half.

Routes for the high season only

Four routes open only in the high season: 1-C, 1-D, 3-C, and 3-D. In 2026 the high season runs until November 2, so from November 3 these routes are likely to close until the next high season begins. The two mountain routes, 1-A and 3-A, and the Great Cavern cost more than the others: for a foreign adult, S/ 200 instead of S/ 152, under the ministry's tariff in force on October 23, 2026.

How to choose

For a first visit, Circuit 2 puts you inside the city, among the temples and plazas. For the view, route 1-B gives the wide panorama in the same time. For a climb, the mountain routes, 1-A and 3-A, allow six to seven hours and cost more. For someone who walks with difficulty, route 3-B is the one the ministry marks for reduced mobility. We compared the two climbs in Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain?

Whatever you choose, arrive on time: entry is at the hour on your ticket, with a tolerance of 30 minutes in the low season and 45 in the high season. We wrote about buying the ticket in How to buy Machu Picchu tickets in 2026 and 2027, and about the rest of the day in Machu Picchu from Cusco in one day.