How the 500-a-day permit works, when it sells out and what to do when your month is gone.
Peru issues 500 Inca Trail permits per day, and that number includes every guide, cook and porter on the trail — so in practice roughly 200 trekkers start at Km 82 each morning. Permits are personal: your passport number goes on the booking, the date cannot be moved, and the permit cannot be transferred to anyone else. This is why every 4-day trek on GetYourGuide is non-refundable or refundable only until the operator buys your permit.
Permits for a calendar year go on sale in November of the previous year, month by month over about a week. In 2025 the release ran from 17 November (January dates) to 25 November (August–December). The peak months disappear first: June and July are typically sold out within 24–48 hours of release, April and May within one to three days. By the time most people start planning a Peru trip — three or four months ahead — the classic route in high season is gone.
What this means for you. If your dates fall between May and September, plan to book five to six months ahead, and book the trek, not just the flight. If you are reading this in spring for a summer date, check the live calendar below first — it shows which dates are still open — and remember that October is the tail of the dry season, not the peak. If your month shows nothing, the honest options are the 2-day Short Inca Trail from Km 104 — it uses a separate permit pool that often stays open two to three months out — or a trek that needs no permit at all, such as the Quarry Trail or Salkantay. Both reach Machu Picchu; neither is the classic four-day route, and we say so on every page where they appear.
One more thing operators rarely say out loud: a permit is one date and one name. If your passport is renewed between booking and departure, tell the operator immediately — a mismatch at the Km 82 checkpoint means no entry, and re-issuing the permit costs a fee — about $25 at the operator whose terms we checked.
If the pattern of the last release holds, permits for 2027 will go on sale in November 2026, month by month over about a week, starting with January. We will add the exact dates when they are published. Until then, the practical rule stays the same: for May to September, book five to six months ahead. Check the live calendar for the trek we recommend.
Many Machu Picchu tickets now cover only one circuit, and a second circuit needs a separate ticket. On the treks we compare, the recommended one includes the upper path of Circuit 1 and a guided walk of Circuit 3; another includes Circuit 3; one includes only the Circuit 1 viewpoint and sells the guided walk through the citadel as an extra re-entry ticket.
Peru issues 500 Inca Trail permits per day, and that number includes every guide, cook and porter on the trail.
Inca Trail permits for a calendar year go on sale in November of the year before, month by month over about a week.
The peak months sell out fastest: June and July typically within 24–48 hours of release, and April and May within one to three days.
No — you can't buy an Inca Trail permit yourself; permits are issued only to licensed operators.
No — an Inca Trail permit can't be moved to another date or transferred to another person.
If your passport changes after booking, tell the operator immediately, because the passport number on the permit must match the one you show at Km 82.
No — February isn't available on the classic Inca Trail; the whole trail closes every year for maintenance.
When your month is sold out, the closest alternative is the 2-day Short Inca Trail from Km 104, which uses a separate permit pool and often has dates two to three months ahead.