Inca Trail Permits: Who Sells Them, and the 2027 Sale

You cannot buy an Inca Trail permit on your own. SERNANP, the agency that runs Peru’s protected areas, states on its map of the Machu Picchu sanctuary that entry to the Inca trail network must be made through authorized agencies. In practice you book a trek company, and the company reserves and pays for your place on the trail in your name. TreXperience’s 4-day Inca Trail hike & panoramic train includes the entrance tickets to the Inca Trail and to Machu Picchu, Circuits 1 and 3, at US$840 per adult on 12 November 2026.

Illustration: hikers with backpacks waiting at a small stone checkpoint hut where a mountain trail crosses a river valley at dawn — Illustration. The trail starts at a checkpoint: the permit is in your name, so the passport comes with you.

Who sells Inca Trail permits

Two issuers say the same thing. SERNANP’s tourist map of the sanctuary: “El ingreso a la red de caminos inca se debe realizar a través de agencias autorizadas”, entry to the Inca trail network must be made through authorized agencies. And the culture ministry: Andina, the state news agency, reported on 25 December 2025 that a ministerial resolution (RM 000306-2025-MC) had added a rule under which a limited number of daily places is set aside in the ticket system for Inca Trail visitors, and those places must be reserved and paid in advance through authorized agencies.

How many places there are each day is set on a technical report of the culture directorate in Cusco, Andina wrote; it gave no number, and neither do we.

What this means for you: the Inca Trail booking is the trek booking. You pick a company and a date; the company buys the permit with your details. A trek listing that includes “Entrance tickets to the Inca Trail”, as TreXperience’s does, is selling you the permit along with the guide, the camps and the train.

What the trek company needs from you

The permit and the Machu Picchu ticket are issued to a named person, so your passport details are part of the booking. For TreXperience’s trek that means each participant’s full name as on the passport, passport number, date of birth and country, and the original passport “for train boarding and Inca Trail entry”. Two more lines on the same trek:

“Confirmation will be received within 24 hours of booking, subject to availability.”
“Only after Manual confirmation from our team, you tour will be 100% confirmed.”

So a booking is a request until the company confirms it. Use the passport you will travel with: the tickets are booked with its details.

When the permits go on sale

For 2026, the culture ministry announced on 3 November 2025 that reservation and payment for the Inca trail network and Machu Picchu would open on Monday 17 November 2025 (Andina, 3 November 2025). In September 2026 the ministry and the tourism ministry changed the sale to direct purchase with confirmed payment: the three-hour reservation hold was dropped, buyers get 15 minutes to complete a purchase, and travel agencies keep their part in buying Inca Trail tickets (Andina, 13 September 2026).

For 2027, no sale date had been announced as of 12 November 2026: not by the culture ministry, its Cusco directorate or Andina. A ministerial resolution of 31 October 2026 (RM 000408-2026-MC) sets Machu Picchu’s visitor capacity for 2027 and names the TuBoleto platform as the sales channel, but gives no date for the Inca Trail sale. TreXperience’s calendar already offered March 2027 dates on 12 November 2026.

Check dates for the 4-day trek

The permit and the Machu Picchu ticket

The Inca Trail permit and the Machu Picchu entrance are two tickets. Since 1 June 2024, Machu Picchu has been visited on 3 circuits with 10 routes, according to the site’s official page, machupicchu.gob.pe. Andina reported in December 2025 that visitors arriving by the Inca trail network and continuing into Machu Picchu enter by route 3-B.

Each trek includes different tickets. TreXperience’s includes “Entrance tickets to the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu (circuit 1 and 3)”: the Sun Gate and the upper path on day 4, then a guided Circuit 3 tour. Huayna Picchu is not included: it is a separate ticket that must be booked in advance, on TreXperience’s trek and on Alpaca Expeditions’ 4-day trek on GetYourGuide, where it is listed at US$75 per person.

The short Inca Trail needs a permit too

Inca Trail permits map: the 4-day trail starts at Piscacucho, Km 82, and ends at the Sun Gate above Machu Picchu Pueblo; Cusco and Ollantaytambo on the way out — The permit covers the trail from its start to the Sun Gate. The places are marked; the trail itself is not drawn.

The 2-day short Inca Trail follows Route 5 on SERNANP’s map, 10.4 km from Chachabamba at Km 104 to Machu Picchu, and it also goes through the permit system. TreXperience’s 2-day trek on GetYourGuide includes the “Entrance ticket to Inca Trail and Machu Picchu”. Classic vs short Inca Trail compares the two.

February and the other closures

A permit is for a date the trail is open. Routes 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 were closed through 28 February 2026 and reopened on 1 March, SERNANP announced (Andina, 27 January 2026), and after unusual rainfall in August 2026, entry resumed on 5 September (Andina, 4 September 2026). The best time for the Inca Trail has the notices. Most of these treks are non-refundable, TreXperience’s included, so check the cancellation line before you pay.

Inca Trail Permits