Inca Trail Availability

Inca Trail Permits

The availability of the Inca trail permits should be your main concern at the moment of planning a trip to Machu Picchu if you want to do the hike. As you may know already, there is a limit of 500 people per day for the Inca trail from which roughly 200 permits are for tourists. The remaining 300 are for guides, cooks and porters.

Once the 500 permits are sold-out for a specific date there is no way to get a place on a tour to the Inca trail starting on that date. It doesn't matter how many tour companies you contact, none will be able to offer you a tour on that date. Even if somebody cancels the permits are not made available again thus, there is no waiting list.

Is there a way to check the availability of permits for the Inca trail online?
Yes, the following web site http://www.machupicchu.gob.pe/ shows the permits availability for the Inca trail in real time. It is available in English. Just follow the next steps:

Step 1: Click on the British flag on the upper right corner just under the button "Extranet" to access to the English page.

Step 2: Click on the "Consultations" tab (third from left to right).

Step 3: Select the month to see availability.

Step 4: The number of remaining spaces for each day of the chosen month will now be shown. The maximum number of spaces is 500 per day as mentioned before.

If the availability shown for a specific date is zero that means that the Inca trail is already full for that date. The permits are booked at an exponential rate. Thus, hundreds of permits can be booked in a matter of days. Therefore, it is highly recommended booking the Inca trail as far in advance as possible to secure a spot specially if you will travel during the peak season (June to September). For these months the permits are sold-out four to six months in advance.

Inca Trail Reservations

How to make a reservation of a permit for the Inca trail?
The Inca trail permits cannot be booked directly by the tourists. Only authorized tour operators and professional guides can request permits in Cusco. Thereby, you have to either book a tour or contact a local guide to organize a tour for you. Either way you will be requested the following information in advance to proceed with the booking: full name as in your passport, birthdate, gender, nationality and current passport number. Without these information the reservation cannot be done.

You will also be asked to pay in advance for the tour because the entry fees to the Inca trail and Machu Picchu have to be paid in advance as well as the permits for the crew of porters, among other expenses (e.g. train tickets). Be aware that the Inca trail tickets are nonrefundable hence, it is important to proceed with your booking only once you have confirmed your travel dates.

Inca Trail Tour Operators

There are 181 tour operators registered and authorized to organize tours to the Inca trail. Most of them operate tours seldomly and very few have groups on a daily basis. Therefore, after checking the availability of permits for a date then you have to find a tour operator running a tour on that date.

The main differences in regard to the quality of the tours are due to the performance of the guides (e.g. English fluency), the quality of the camping gear (e.g. water-proof tents), and the working conditions of the porters. Unfortunately, an expensive tour does not mean necessarily better salaries and working conditions for the porters. In some cases, it is quite the opposite. This is mainly because the tourists will hardly notice the differences between tours in this regard.

Book your Inca trail tour now

Indiana Expedition EIRL
Address: Enrique Palacios 960 - 303 / Lima 18 / PERU
Telephone: +1 347 480 1250