Machu Picchu is by everyone’s standard a premier tourist attraction – one of the new Seven Wonders of the world. When I was a boy and saw textbook images of the misty peaks at sunrise, something within me said this was a special place that I couldn’t miss. I’m sure it was the same for you. Fast forward a few decades, and I’m lucky enough to count myself among one of the 1.5 million visitors each year. Yet, for a revered wonder of the world, the booking experience was anything but. A day spared for queuing. Sustained confusion. Many, many blogs read, and tour guides asked, in an attempt to grasp what type of ticket I should purchase. My experience isn’t unique – it was shared across all the members of my hiking group. So let’s break down what’s gone wrong at Machu Picchu and how to fix it.

Problem & Context

^{Image: confusion is the primary sentiment of google searchers}

Since Covid, there has been a restructuring in how tourists can visit. The government has created five ‘circuits’ – paths of exploration through differing sections of the ruins, made to overlap as little as possible and provide a cap on the amount of tourists per day.

While I would argue a tourist cap is necessary for both preservation and the tourist experience, this circuit iteration is confusing and restrictive. The circuits are poorly described and poorly named, requiring cross referencing the official ticketing website, as well as numerous third-party sellers to gain any semblance of an idea.

During peak season each circuit is purchased in person at a central ticketing office, requiring anywhere from one to four plus hours of your time. Each circuit has a limited number of tickets. Tickets sell out each and every day. And at the end of this whole experience – a full day of ticket-purchasing immersion – I still didn’t know whether I had made a decision that was best for me.

Image: full map from the official website of all circuit options

Defining Success Criteria

When discussing the available circuits, ‘best for you‘ is a key phrase, as the 2,500 people who visit Machu Picchu each day go for different reasons. There’s the history buffs, there’s the photography buffs. Architecture reasons, cultural, scientific. Some people want to take the quintessential photo, others want to conquer the mountain that lies behind. Some want to do it all. And when travelling half-way across the world, it’s only fair to want to maximise your personal experience.

As a long term tourist knee-deep in the complex logistical challenge of travelling, it’s fair to say I don’t have the time or will to become an expert on the many attractions within Machu Picchu. I haven’t been there yet – why should I be expected to know everything? So when selecting a ticket, I have specific criteria that need to be met so I can understand and maximise my experience.

1. What attractions within Machu Picchu are most important and popular?
2. Does my chosen ticket include these main attractions?
3. Does my chosen ticket align with my reasons for going?
4. How long will my visit be?
5. What am I sacrificing with this ticket?

^{Image: information for circuit one. In my opinion, not at all helpful to the uninitiated.}

Currently, these questions aren’t being answered. Circuits on the official ticketing website are presented as maps of archaeological sites visited and the path taken. This map is unnecessarily complex. You’d need to have sufficient knowledge to understand if the attractions listed are valuable to you. So against the five criteria above, the current solution only answers how long it will take.

How do we succinctly answer the other four?

Solution 1 – Categorisation & Labelling

Better categorisation – or grouping – of the circuits, and attaching any appropriate labels, can go a long way to helping us with an elegant starting place for our decisions. So let’s begin there.

Here’s what we’re currently working with:

Llaqta de Machupicchu (Circuit 1, 2, 3 or 4)
Circuit 4 + Waynapicchu Mountain
Machupicchu Mountain + Circuit 3
Circuit 4 + Huchuypicchu Mountain
Circuit 1 or 2 + Inka Bridge

Some of these options only include walking the site of Machu Picchu, while others include additional hiking to vantage points. So the first thing to do is simplify this set into the different classes of activities with the appropriate label. Changes are shown italicised.

Let’s use an additional grouping label of activity type, augmented with time, to break it down further.

Main Site Only (2 Hours)
Llaqta de Machupicchu (Circuit 1, 2, 3 or 4)

Main Site (2 Hours) with Additional Short Walks (1 Hour)
Circuit 1 or 2 + Inka Bridge Circuit 4 + Waynapicchu Mountain

Main Site (2 Hours) with Additional Long Walks (3 Hour)
Circuit 4 + Huchuypicchu Mountain
Machupicchu Mountain + Circuit 3

Now we’ve got three potential options based on our desire for activity and a rough time allowance. Next is to break out all of the potential offerings and standardise the language. As there are three different ways Huchuypicchu could be spelled (Huayna Picchu, Waynapicchu, Wayna Picchu) this task includes selecting only the most popular and representative name for clarity.

Main Site Only
Circuit 1 (2 hours)
Circuit 2 (3 hours)
Circuit 3 (1.5 hours)
Circuit 4 (2.5 hours)

Main Site with Additional Short Walks
Inka Bridge & Circuit 1 (4 hours)
Inka Bridge & Circuit 2 (5 hours)
Huayna Picchu Mountain & Circuit 4 (5 hours)

Main Site with Additional Long Walks
Huchuy Picchu Mountain & Circuit 4 (6 hours)
Machu Picchu Mountain & Circuit 3 (7 hours)

Better. But, I’m still confused. Aside from time, how are the circuits actually different? Enter: naming.

Solution 2 – Naming

We want our names to define the core characteristics of a circuit. An essence of the expected experience. I think the key points to tackle are the general route, the length and physicality, and how many attractions of interest are along it. Let’s try to compress all of this information into the real estate we’re allotted.

Main Site Only
Condensed upper circuit (2 hours)
Upper circuit (3 hours)
Condensed lower circuit (1.5 hours)
Lower circuit (2.5 hours)

Main Site with Additional Short Walks
Inka Bridge & condensed upper circuit (4 hours)
Inka Bridge & upper circuit (5 hours)
Huayna Picchu Mountain & lower circuit (5 hours)

Main Site with Additional Long Walks
Huchuy Picchu Mountain & lower circuit (6 hours)
Machu Picchu Mountain & condensed lower circuit (7 hours)

We can’t answer all questions in a single name, so there’s still work to do. But without getting overly granular, I think you’ll agree these options are much clearer as a starting point. We’ve now answered 2 out of 5 of our previously listed criteria. Let’s move another level deeper: categorisation and tagging.

Solution 3 – Tagging

By grouping offerings according to the types of activities they afford, we answer the question as to whether an offering aligns with our reason for visiting in the first place.

Let’s create some categories of interest that tie to general reasons one might attend.

1. Photography [P] – in particular, instagramable shots.
2. History & Culture [HIST] – learning about the Incan civilisation.
3. Architecture & Engineering [ARCH] – seeing how an old civilisation utilised our technologies before their time.
4. Experiential & Active [ACT] – increased hiking, climbing and exploring.

Of course, not every list is perfectly defined and there will be crossover. For this reason, we can map multiple tags to each of our singular offerings.

Main Site Only
Condensed upper circuit (2 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
Upper circuit (3 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
Condensed lower circuit (1.5 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
Lower circuit (2.5 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]

Main Site with Additional Short Walks
Inka Bridge & condensed upper circuit (4 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
Inka Bridge & upper circuit (5 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
Huayna Picchu Mountain & lower circuit (5 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]

Main Site with Additional Long Walks
Huchuy Picchu Mountain & lower circuit (6 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
Machu Picchu Mountain & condensed lower circuit (7 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]

To make it even easier to narrow appropriate choices, we can further augment tags to include indicators such as demographics and ability. So on one line we have your reason for attending, while the other indicates your capacity to attend.

Main Site Only
Condensed upper circuit (2 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
Suitable for: seniors and low desire for physical activity.

Upper circuit (3 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
Suitable for: most people and fitness levels.

Condensed lower circuit (1.5 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
Suitable for: seniors and low desire for physical activity.

Lower circuit (2.5 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
Suitable for: most people and fitness levels.

Main Site with Additional Short Walks
Inka Bridge & condensed upper circuit (4 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
Suitable for: most people with a low-medium desire for physical activity.

Inka Bridge & upper circuit (5 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
Suitable for: most people with a medium desire for physical activity.

Huayna Picchu Mountain & lower circuit (5 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
Suitable for: most people with a medium desire for physical activity.

Main Site with Additional Long Walks
Huchuy Picchu Mountain & lower circuit (6 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
Suitable for: fit people with a strong desire for physical activity.

Machu Picchu Mountain & condensed lower circuit (7 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
Suitable for: fit people with a strong desire for physical activity.

It’s not pretty, but we’ve now got a decent idea about what type of person, who is seeking specific activities, will benefit from each offering. We’ll solve the design shortly, but before that, let’s add some more useful augmentations.

Solution 4 – Callouts and Proofing

Within each of our activities, we should callout the attractions most relevant to that type of experience. Using a combination of blogs, Tripadvisor and Google Maps ratings, we can identify what people regard as the most popular and noteworthy attractions for a general crowd. For those who want more depth regarding the archeological, cultural and historical, we can use the offical government documentation. Because I’m no expert on where they sit, I’ve utilised ChatGPT to group these attractions for me.

1. Photography [P] … can see:
   • Quintessential ‘Machu Picchu photo’ zone
2. History & Culture [HIST] … can see:
   • Main Plaza
   • Temple of the Sun
   • Temple of the Moon
   • Temple of the Condor
   • Temple of the Three Windows
   • Intihuatana Stone
   • Sacred Rock
3. Architecture & Engineering [ARCH] … can see:
   • The Citadel itself
   • Guardian House
   • Quarry
   • Agricultural Sector
   • Inca Bridge
4. Experiential & Active [ACT] … can do:
   • Huayna Picchu Mountain
   • Huchuy Picchu Mountain
   • Machu Picchu Mountain

If an offering includes one of the above, we can now call it out. (warning: it’s still not clear to me which circuit includes what [thus the need for this article]. Suffice to say this is not a perfect mapping).

Main Site Only
Condensed upper circuit (2 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
++ Includes: Quintessential Photo Zone, Guardian House, Main Door & Plaza
— Does not include: Temple of the Sun, Intihuatana Stone, Agricultural Sector, Sacred Rock, Temple of the Moon
Suitable for: seniors and low desire for physical activity.

Upper circuit (3 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
++ Includes: Quintessential Photo Zone, Guardian House, Main Door & Plaza, Intihuatana Stone, Agricultural Sector, Sacred Rock
— Does not include: Temple of the Sun, Temple of the Moon
Suitable for: most people and fitness levels.

Condensed lower circuit (1.5 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
++ Includes: Temple of the Sun, Sacred Rock, Agricultural Sector
— Does not include: Quintessential Photo Zone, Guardian House, Main Door & Plaza, Intihuatana Stone, Temple of the Moon
Suitable for: seniors and low desire for physical activity.

Lower circuit (2.5 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
++ Includes: Main Door, Main Plaza, Temple of the Sun, Sacred Rock, Intihuatana Stone, Agricultural Sector
— Does not include: Quintessential Photo Zone, Guardian House, Temple of the Moon
Suitable for: most people and fitness levels.

Main Site with Additional Short Walks
Inka Bridge & condensed upper circuit (4 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
++ Includes: All attractions in upper circuit, plus access to Inka Bridge
Suitable for: most people with a low-medium desire for physical activity.

Inka Bridge & upper circuit (5 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
++ Includes: All attractions in upper circuit, plus access to Inka Bridge
Suitable for: most people with a medium desire for physical activity.

Huayna Picchu Mountain & lower circuit (5 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
++ Includes: All attractions in lower circuit, plus Temple of the Moon and access to Huayna Picchu Mountain
Suitable for: most people with a medium desire for physical activity.

Main Site with Additional Long Walks
Huchuy Picchu Mountain & lower circuit (6 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
++ Includes: All attractions in lower circuit, plus Temple of the Moon and access to Huchuy Picchu Mountain
Suitable for: fit people with a strong desire for physical activity.

Machu Picchu Mountain & condensed lower circuit (7 hours) — [P, HIST, ARCH, ACT]
++ Includes: All attractions in condensed lower circuit, plus access to Machu Picchu Mountain
Suitable for: fit people with a strong desire for physical activity

If you forgive the textual representation of data, we’ve got ourselves a list of features that’s rich in simplistic information. If I was selling a SaaS product, now would be the time to smash out a table and the job of selling would do itself.

Solution 5 – Distilled Descriptions

At this stage we’ve now answered four of the five selection criteria (five of five in a pinch). Though, I would argue they’re not quite articulated in their best form. With all of our differentiating factors, it’s highly possible that not all are required to make an informed decision. For instance, many people may be happy to utilise a one line description that encapsulates and distills this rich information more easily. Combined with the title, this should be close to reasonable options without the fluff. So let’s try it.

Main Site Only
Condensed upper circuit (2 hours) — A shorter, less physical circuit that will show you most of the attractions of Machu Picchu, including entering the site from above for the quintessential photo.

Upper circuit (3 hours) — Experience the traditional circuit walk through Machu Picchu, including entering the site from above for the quintessential photo. The recommended option for the majority of tourists.

Condensed lower circuit (1.5 hours) — A shorter, less physical circuit that enters from the lower gates. This is the recommended option for people with low mobility.

Lower circuit (2.5 hours) — Similar to the regular upper circuit, but entering from the lower gates and skipping the quintessential photo. This option is recommended for people who want a streamlined experience without need for photography.
(and continued…)

Once we have a single description that is representative of the granular information – one that more effectively achieves our goal of simplifying the right choice, we can utilise hierarchy to present the information in a more desirable way.

Solution 6 – Hierarchy

This is where design is highly important. Our goal is to be as informative and simplistic as possible at the base level, while providing options for further exploration nearby. In practice, it might look something like this (warning: I’m no designer).

^{Example 1: Sample options within the core archaeological site}

^{Example 2: Extended options within the subsection for longer walking}

And just like that, we’ve simplified a decision making process. Further improvements would include initial segmentation (ie. “Show options for additional sites or Machu Picchu only”), and showing pricing and ticket availability (seasonal information, specific ticket allocation and booking advancement required). And, obviously, much better design. But for the purposes of our exploration, by utilising some core UX principles, we’ve simplified the process of pulling our hair out into a selection process that’s much more clear and consumable. And when a poor experience is affecting 1.5 million people every year, doing so is a worthwhile venture.