What Not to Bring to Machu Picchu: Rules and Banned Items

You can’t enter Machu Picchu with backpacks larger than 40 × 35 × 20 cm, food, alcoholic beverages, trekking poles, umbrellas, tripods, selfie sticks, drones, aerosols, baby strollers, or high-heeled or hard-soled shoes. These are official rules from Peru’s Ministry of Culture, and breaking them can mean immediate removal with no refund. What you do need to bring is the original document you used to buy your ticket, water, sun protection and something for the rain.

The Official List, Explained

The Ministry of Culture publishes 25 rules of conduct for the Llaqta of Machu Picchu. Inside the sanctuary, the authorities are the Ministry’s park rangers and officers of Peru’s National Police. This table brings together the items that raise the most questions and what to do instead:

Machu Picchu: what you can’t bring in

40 × 35 × 20 cmLargest bag or backpack allowed

• Food and tableware
• Alcoholic beverages
• Trekking poles
• Umbrellas and parasols
• Tripods, selfie sticks, stabilizers and extension poles
• Portable seats
• Drones, paragliders and any small aircraft
• Aerosols
• Baby stroller
• High-heeled or hard-soled shoes
• Musical instruments, megaphones and speakers
• Sharp objects or weapons
• Banners, signs, costumes or promotional clothing
• Animalsguide dogs only

Item	Allowed?	What to do instead
Backpack, bag or purse larger than 40 × 35 × 20 cm	No	Bring a small daypack and leave everything else at your hotel or in a luggage storage room.
Food and tableware	No	Eat a big breakfast and have a meal before you go in or after you come out, next to the entrance.
Alcoholic beverages	No	You also can’t enter while intoxicated.
Trekking poles	No	Wear shoes with good grip and take it slow on the way down the mountains.
Umbrellas and parasols	No	A poncho or rain jacket; a hat or cap for the sun.
Tripods, selfie sticks, stabilizers and extension poles	No	Shoot handheld, with a camera or phone.
Portable seats	No	Take your breaks standing up, in the wider areas along the route.
Drones, paragliders and any small aircraft	No	No flyovers of any kind are allowed.
Aerosols	No	Sunscreen and insect repellent in cream or lotion form.
Baby stroller	No	A backpack-style or front baby carrier.
High-heeled or hard-soled shoes	No	Sneakers or boots with flexible, grippy soles.
Musical instruments, megaphones and speakers	No	Enjoy the silence: loud noises are banned too.
Sharp objects or weapons	No	Leave your pocketknife or multitool at the hotel.
Banners, signs, costumes or promotional clothing	No	Filming or taking photos for advertising purposes isn’t allowed either.
Animals	Guide dogs only	You also can’t feed animals, whether domestic or wild.

Source: rules of conduct for the Llaqta de Machupicchu, Ministry of Culture. The alternatives are our own recommendations from years of experience in Cusco.

Backpacks and Luggage

The limit is 40 × 35 × 20 cm (16 × 14 × 8 inches) for backpacks, bags and purses. In practice, that’s a small daypack, the kind you’d take to the office or on a short hike. Large trekking backpacks and suitcases won’t get in.

Where do you leave the rest of your luggage? It depends on how you’re traveling:

• If you’re returning to Cusco the same day: leave your suitcase at your hotel in Cusco and travel with just the small backpack.
• If you’re staying overnight in Aguas Calientes: leave your luggage at your hotel in town before you go up.
• If you’re traveling with PeruRail: the company offers free luggage storage at the Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu Pueblo stations.

Also keep the train’s limit in mind: PeruRail allows one backpack of up to 8 kg and 100 linear cm or one carry-on of up to 12 kg and 115 cm; Inca Rail, one piece of up to 8 kg and 118 linear cm. More details in our guide to the train to Machu Picchu.

Tip: if you’re doing the Inca Trail, Salkantay or another trek, your multi-day backpack won’t make it through the checkpoint. If you’re going with an agency, ask where it will be kept; if you’re on your own, set aside time to drop it off at your hotel in Aguas Calientes.

Food and Water

The rules ban bringing in food and tableware, so don’t pack sandwiches, fruit or snacks in your backpack. There’s no food or water for sale inside the sanctuary. The most practical approach is to:

1. Eat a good breakfast before going up, especially if you’re entering early or climbing a mountain.
2. Bring water in a reusable bottle. On the mountain routes, you’ll need it.
3. Eat when you come out: there’s a restaurant next to the entrance, and Aguas Calientes has plenty of options.

Keep each route’s maximum time in mind: on the short routes it’s 2 h 30 min, but on Machu Picchu Mountain you can spend up to 7 hours without eating. Plan your breakfast accordingly. The times for each route are in Machu Picchu circuits: all 10 routes explained.

Trekking Poles, Umbrellas and Tripods

All three fall under the same rule, which also bans portable seats, mounts, extension poles and any kind of stabilizer for filming or taking photos.

• No trekking poles: on the mountains, the key is footwear with good grip and taking the descent slowly, especially when the stones are wet.
• No umbrellas: in the rainy season, bring a poncho or a rain jacket. Check what to expect each month in Cusco weather by month.
• No tripod or selfie stick: shoot handheld. For the classic photo, any recent phone will do.

Important: if you need a cane or pole because of a medical or mobility condition, check with the Dirección Desconcentrada de Cultura de Cusco (the Ministry of Culture’s Cusco office) before you travel. The published rule doesn’t list any exceptions, so don’t leave it until the entrance checkpoint.

Drones and Professional Photography

Flyovers with drones, paragliders or any small aircraft are banned, even outside the routes. If you’re bringing a drone on your trip, leave it at the hotel.

Personal photos and videos are allowed. What isn’t allowed without authorization is filming or taking photos for advertising purposes, or using banners, signs, costumes or promotional clothing. Fashion shows, dances and social events aren’t allowed inside the monument either.

If You’re Traveling with Kids

Baby strollers aren’t allowed: the route has lots of stairs and narrow passages. For babies and young children, bring a backpack-style baby carrier. Route 3-B is the shortest and has an accessible section. Everything you need to know is in Machu Picchu with kids, and the category that applies to each minor is in Machu Picchu ticket types.

Banned Behavior Inside the Sanctuary

It’s not just about items. These behaviors can also get you removed:

• Smoking, vaping or lighting any kind of fire.
• Climbing on or leaning against the walls and structures, or touching, moving or taking stones.
• Jumping, running, lying down, undressing or causing a disturbance.
• Making loud noises: clapping, shouting, whistling or singing.
• Stopping to use apps on your phone in narrow passages.
• Throwing away trash of any kind: keep your garbage in your backpack.
• Picking plants, disturbing wildlife or feeding animals.
• Writing graffiti.
• Leaving the route on your ticket or trying to turn back.
• Entering under the influence of alcohol or illegal substances.

The official rules also ban street vending at the monument and in its surroundings down to the Puente Ruinas bridge.

What to Bring: Your Checklist for Visit Day

• Your passport or original document, the same one you registered when you bought your ticket. Without it, you won’t get in.
• Your entry ticket, printed or on your phone, showing the route and time.
• Your bus ticket if you’re going up from Aguas Calientes; you show it with your document too.
• Water in a reusable bottle.
• Sunscreen, a hat and sunglasses: the high-altitude sun burns even when it’s cloudy.
• Insect repellent in cream or lotion form, not aerosol.
• A poncho or rain jacket, at any time of year: the weather changes quickly.
• A light warm layer for the first time slots, when the morning is cool.
• Sneakers or boots with good grip, essential if you’re climbing a mountain.
• Some cash for meals and expenses in town.

Tip: use the restrooms before you go in. They’re next to the entrance, outside the route, and the route is one-way. If you want to pack for your whole trip, not just your day at the sanctuary, check out our Cusco packing list by season.

What the Entrance Checkpoint Is Like

At the main entrance, staff check your ticket and make sure your document matches the registered details. They may also check that you’re not carrying banned items or a backpack larger than allowed. Lines form in peak season, so arrive with your backpack already sorted:

1. Document and ticket in hand, not at the bottom of your backpack.
2. No food, trekking poles or tripods: leave them at the hotel.
3. Water bottle and sunscreen in an easy-to-reach pocket.
4. Flexible-soled shoes already on.

Remember that your entry time has a limited grace period and that there’s none at the mountain checkpoints. Entry times, grace periods and the rest of the ticket rules are in our guide to Machu Picchu tickets.

Bottom Line: Pack for the Visit You’re Making

• Classic half-day visit: a small backpack with your document, tickets, water, sunscreen and rain gear. That’s all you need on a day trip.
• A route with a mountain: all of the above plus extra water, a big breakfast before going up and shoes with grip. Read our guide to Machu Picchu Mountain or to Huayna Picchu.
• Arriving on foot from a trek: leave your big backpack at your hotel in Aguas Calientes. A night in town before your visit gives you that buffer.
• Rainy season: a poncho, waterproof shoes and a bag to protect your phone.
• With a baby: a baby carrier instead of a stroller.

With a well-packed backpack, the checkpoint goes quickly and your visit starts without any surprises. If you don’t have your ticket yet, start by choosing your route and the category that applies to you.