Private & discreet travel in Peru
Peru for travelers who cannot be recognized.
Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, Cusco and the Amazon, planned and run privately for public figures, their families and the teams who manage them. Straight answers about what the rules allow, and a crew that keeps names, dates and photographs where they belong.
Founder replies personally within 24 hours · U.S. and Peruvian owned · Operating in Cusco since 2012
The first question every team asks
Can Machu Picchu actually be private?
Privately managed, yes. Privately closed, no. Machu Picchu is a national sanctuary and a UNESCO World Heritage Site run by Peru's Ministry of Culture. It does not close for private visitors, and nobody can sell you a buyout of the site. Anyone who promises one is promising something the Ministry does not offer.
What a well-run visit does is control everything around the site: a private train carriage or charter, a private guide who knows which circuit and which entry window gives you the quietest hour, a vehicle held at the gate, a hotel beside the entrance so you walk in at 6:00 a.m. while most visitors are still on the train, and a protection team that is already registered with the people who need to know. Done properly, a visit is quiet, unhurried and unphotographed. That is the version we plan.
Machu Picchu visitor rules, as they stand
- Daily capacity 2027
- 4,500 visitors on regular dates; 5,600 on 147 high-season dates (1–3 January, 25–28 March, 19 June–2 November, 29–31 December), with entry capped at 800 people per hour. Ministerial Resolution 000408-2026-MC, published 31 October 2026.
- Entry
- From 6:00 a.m., in timed windows by circuit. Three circuits (Panoramic, Classic Llaqta, Royalty) with set routes; the mountain routes open at 6:00 and 8:00 a.m.
- Tickets
- Nominal, dated, timed and tied to one circuit. They are not transferable and cannot be re-dated. The passport used to buy the ticket must be shown at the gate. Ministerial Resolution 000334-2026-MC, 11 September 2026.
- Guides
- Recommended by the Ministry, not mandatory. We always provide one: the guide is what turns a timed ticket into a quiet visit.
- Drones and overflights
- Drones are prohibited inside the sanctuary. Commercial helicopter flights to and from the sanctuary have been banned since 2010. Filming and advertising photography need prior authorization from the Ministry of Culture.
Last verified: 3 November 2026, against the published resolutions and Peruvian press. Rules change; we re-check before every private visit.
Definitions, so nobody is surprised
What "private" legitimately means in Peru.
Private guide and vehicle
Your own licensed guide and driver for the whole trip, vetted by us, briefed on who you are only when they need to be. Nobody else in the car, ever.
Private rail
A private carriage on the Belmond Hiram Bingham for up to 12 guests, attached to the scheduled train or run on its own locomotive, or Inca Rail's "The Private" carriage for up to 8 between Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu.
Private Inca Trail departure
Your party only, on your dates, with our own crew. Permits are capped at 500 people a day including porters and guides, so this is booked months ahead.
Private hotel floors, villas and buyouts
Suites, villas and full-property buyouts where the property allows it. We tell you honestly what each hotel can and cannot close.
Private security
A licensed Peruvian executive-protection partner registered with SUCAMEC, the national authority for private security, working alongside your own team.
Not private: the site itself
Machu Picchu, the Inca Trail and the sanctuary are public and regulated. No company can close them, skip the ticket rules or fly you in. We plan around that instead of pretending otherwise.
How we protect privacy
Four commitments, in writing.
Staff and vendor NDAs
Available on request for every guide, driver, cook and porter on your itinerary, and for third-party vendors we bring in. Ask and we send our standard form before you share a name.
No staff photographs, no social posts
Our crew does not photograph guests, does not post about assignments and does not confirm who they have worked with, during or after the trip.
Need-to-know names
Reservations are made under the name you give us. Your traveler's identity goes only to the people who must see a passport: the ticket office, the airline, the hotel desk.
Licensed security partner
Protection is run by a SUCAMEC-registered Peruvian firm that coordinates with your advance team, the hotels and, where required, local police. We do not improvise security.
A private visit, step by step
How a private Machu Picchu day actually works.
The night before: you sleep beside the entrance at Belmond Sanctuary Lodge, the one hotel adjacent to the gate, or at Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo in the town below. Both are reached by train, not road, so you arrive on your own carriage with your guide and security.
6:00 a.m.: you enter in the first window on a circuit chosen for your party's pace and the sections you care about. The first hour is the quietest the site gets. Your guide carries the tickets and passports are checked once, at the gate.
The visit: circuits are one-way and timed, so there is no doubling back; the guide sets a route that keeps you ahead of the morning's arrivals. Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain are separate timed permits and need to be reserved early.
Afterwards: lunch at the hotel, then the private carriage back to Ollantaytambo or Cusco, with the vehicle waiting on the platform. If the Inca Trail is part of the plan, the sequence changes: you walk in through the Sun Gate with our crew and the ticket is a dedicated circuit for trail arrivals.
Private Inca Trail
The trail, with our own crew and nobody else's.
We operate the Inca Trail through our own licensed trail company, Inca Trek (SERNANP credential 11-2022-SERNANP-DGANP), with porters, cooks and guides we employ directly. A private departure means your party only, on your dates, with a camp set before you arrive and struck after you leave.
Permits are limited to 500 people a day across the whole route, porters and guides included, and are sold months in advance by name and passport. The trail closes every February for maintenance. Those are the two constraints that decide when a private trek is possible, and we are candid about them.
Formats: the four-day classic, a two-day short trail, or a five-day version with a night at Inkaterra before the site. Pack animals are not allowed on the trail, so everything travels on porters' backs under Peru's 20 kg limit, and we staff accordingly.
Security teams can walk the trail with you as registered trekkers, and we can brief them on the route, campsites and comms coverage before departure.
Getting there quietly
Aviation, rail and transfers.
Private aviation
Private and charter aircraft operate into Lima and into Cusco's Alejandro Velasco Astete airport, which remains the gateway while the new Chinchero airport is still under construction. Your operator's handling agent manages slots and FBO; we manage the ground side from the apron onward.
No helicopters to Machu Picchu
Commercial helicopter flights to and from the sanctuary have been prohibited since 2010, and overflights of the citadel are not permitted. Rail is the only way in, which is why the private carriage matters.
Vehicles and timing
Private vehicles with vetted drivers throughout; unmarked where you prefer it. Transfers are timed to station platforms and hotel back entrances, and your advance team gets the full movement plan before arrival.
Security and medical
Altitude is the risk people underestimate.
Cusco sits at about 3,400 m (11,150 ft). The Sacred Valley is lower, around 2,800 m, and Machu Picchu lower still at roughly 2,430 m. We routinely sequence itineraries valley first so the body acclimatizes before the city, which follows the gradual-ascent guidance the U.S. CDC gives for travel above 2,500 m.
On request: supplemental oxygen in vehicles and rooms, a physician on call in Cusco and the valley, and a pre-trip note for your traveler's own doctor on medications and timing.
Security is coordinated through a SUCAMEC-licensed Peruvian partner. They can run advance work, liaise with hotel security and local authorities, and provide close protection that understands Cusco's narrow streets and the sanctuary's rules. If your own team travels, we integrate rather than duplicate.
Communications: we confirm mobile and satellite coverage for each segment, including the parts of the Inca Trail where there is none, and we share it in writing beforehand.
Where high-profile travelers stay
Properties chosen for what they can control.
Belmond Sanctuary Lodge
The only hotel adjacent to the Machu Picchu entrance. Small, and the reason a 6:00 a.m. entry involves no transport at all.
Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo
Casitas set in cloud-forest grounds in the town below the site; spread out enough that a party can stay out of sight.
Belmond Palacio Nazarenas, Cusco
All-suite, in a former convent beside the Plaza Nazarenas, with oxygen-enriched rooms for the altitude.
Sacred Valley
Belmond Rio Sagrado's riverside villas, explora Valle Sagrado and Sol y Luna in Urubamba: lower altitude, space, and private villas that can be taken whole.
Private villas and buyouts
Standalone villas in the valley and full-property buyouts where the owner permits them. We say plainly which properties can close and which cannot.
Lima and the Amazon
Lima for arrivals and departures; a full-ship charter of Aqua Expeditions' Aqua Nera when the Amazon is part of the plan. Both are run with the same controls.
Public record
Public figures who have visited Machu Picchu.
Press-reported visits, listed so your team can see that the site is a routine stop for people at every level of public profile, and that it is done quietly all the time.
| Who | When | Reported visit | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bono, U2 | February 2012 | Visited Machu Picchu with his family | El Comercio, Dec 2019 |
| Mick Jagger | 2013 | Visited Machu Picchu; named a "distinguished visitor" by the region | El Comercio, Dec 2019 |
| Katy Perry | 2015 | Visited Machu Picchu and Puno after her Prismatic World Tour | Infobae, May 2026 |
| Antonio Banderas | 2014 | Walked the four-day Inca Trail with his daughter | El Comercio, Dec 2019 |
| Jim Carrey | June 2011 | Visited Machu Picchu via Cusco | Infobae, May 2026 |
| Demi Moore | October 2016 | Visited Machu Picchu with her daughter | El Comercio, Dec 2019 |
| Zac Efron | 2013 | Visited Machu Picchu; returned for a later series | Infobae, May 2026 |
| Sarah Michelle Gellar | 2017 | Toured Machu Picchu | Infobae, May 2026 |
Compiled from published press reports only. This is not a client list. We do not confirm or deny who travels with us, before, during or after a trip.
Who you are dealing with
A licensed operator, not an intermediary.
We have run travel in Peru for touring musicians, stage and screen performers, and sitting U.S. governors and members of Congress. We do not name them, and we never will. That is the whole point.
Questions teams ask
Answers before you send anything.
Can we book Machu Picchu for one party only?
No. The Ministry of Culture does not sell private closures of the site, and the 2027 capacity (4,500 a day, 5,600 on high-season dates) is shared by everyone with a ticket. What we can do is put you in the first entry window, on the quietest circuit for your purpose, with a private carriage, guide and vehicle around it.
Do you need the traveler's real name?
Not to plan. Tell us the dates, party size and needs, and we work with a placeholder. Machu Picchu tickets, train tickets and flights are issued by name and checked against a passport, so the real name is needed at booking, and it goes only to the issuing offices.
Will your staff sign an NDA?
Yes. Our standard staff and vendor NDA is available on request, and we will sign your own if you prefer. Our crew does not photograph guests or post about assignments regardless.
Can a helicopter take us to Machu Picchu?
No. Commercial helicopter flights to and from the sanctuary have been prohibited since 2010, and overflights of the citadel are not permitted. Every visitor arrives by rail or on foot, so the private carriage is the real luxury here.
How much lead time do you need?
For a private Machu Picchu visit with a private carriage, four to eight weeks in most months. For a private Inca Trail departure, three to six months, because permits sell out by name. For high-season dates (June to early November, Christmas, Easter), earlier is safer.
Can you work with our security team, travel advisor or production company?
Yes, and most of our private work comes through one of them. We share movement plans, hotel contacts and coverage maps with your advance team, work through advisors as the agent of record, and handle filming permits and crew logistics for productions.
What does a private trip cost?
It depends on the carriage, the hotels and the security scope more than on anything else. We quote a single inclusive figure once we know the shape of the trip, usually within 48 hours of your inquiry.
For assistants, advisors and protection teams
Send a confidential inquiry.
Jared Snow, founder, reads every one of these himself and replies within 24 hours.
Sent over an encrypted connection to a dedicated inbox. The traveler's name is not required to start; a placeholder is fine. Nothing you send here is shared outside the people planning your trip.
Prefer to talk first? Call (801) 797-2777 (U.S.) or WhatsApp +51 919 528 246 (Cusco).