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Places that limit tourists: quotas, time slots and bans

Kyoto closed alleys, Machu Picchu has a daily cap and Maya Bay shuts for two months a year. The rules in each place and how to plan so you don’t miss out.

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5 min read

A woman in a kimono walking along Hanamikoji Street in Kyoto’s Gion district
Photo by Jay on Unsplash

More and more famous places are limiting visitors, and not with polite requests. Machu Picchu sells a fixed number of tickets a day. A Kyoto district has banned tourists from its private lanes, with fines. A Thai beach closed for more than three years and now closes for two months every year. Turn up without knowing and you may find the gate shut.

The measures differ, but the logic is similar: when visitor numbers exceed what a place can take, the options are to charge, to require a booking or to close. Here are four cases, with the rules in force in September 2026, and how to plan around them.

Machu Picchu: a daily cap

Peru’s Ministry of Culture sets a daily limit for Machu Picchu. For 2026, the cap is 5,600 visitors a day in high season and on holidays: 1 January, 2 to 5 April, 19 June to 2 November and 30 to 31 December. The rest of the year, it’s 4,500.

Tickets are sold officially only on the ministry’s site, tuboleto.cultura.pe. With a fixed number of entries, leaving it to the last minute in high season means risking there’s no space left.

Maya Bay: the beach that had to close

Maya Bay, in Thailand’s Phi Phi Islands, became famous through the 2000 film The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Fame came at a cost. According to Time, up to 4,000 visitors a day arrived before the closure, and boats and anchors wrecked much of the coral. A Thai marine scientist estimated that only 8 percent of the coral was still alive when the bay closed in June 2018.

It stayed shut for more than three years and reopened in January 2022 with new rules: a limit of 380 visitors an hour, no swimming, and no boats inside the bay. Visitors land at a pier on the other side of the island and walk over. Since then, Maya Bay has also closed every year from 1 August to 30 September, during the rainy season, to let the reef recover.

Gion, Kyoto: private lanes off-limits

In Gion, Kyoto’s geisha district, the issue wasn’t numbers so much as behaviour. Residents and shop owners complained of visitors chasing geiko and maiko with phones and wandering into private streets. In 2019 came the first photography bans on private roads, with a ¥10,000 fine.

When that didn’t work, it went further. Since April 2024, tourists have been barred from Gion’s private lanes, with signs in English, Japanese and Chinese warning of the ¥10,000 fine. The district’s public streets remain open.

Cinque Terre: a path you book by the slot

In Italy, the Via dell’Amore, a cliffside path between Riomaggiore and Manarola in the Cinque Terre, was closed for more than a decade after a 2012 landslide. When it reopened on 9 August 2024 it came with rules: compulsory booking for a time slot, a limit of 400 people an hour, and one-way walking from Riomaggiore to Manarola in high season.

Access costs €10 on top of the Cinque Terre Card, the park’s trail pass. According to AFAR, you get 30 minutes to walk the stretch.

What these places have in common

The way I see it, all four reflect a change in thinking. For decades, famous destinations competed to attract more people. Now some are choosing to take fewer, or to take them differently. It isn’t isolated: Venice tried an access fee, Japan now charges to climb Mount Fuji, and the Faroe Islands even closed for maintenance.

For travellers, it changes the order of planning. It used to be flights first, details later. In these places, the ticket or booking comes first.

Planning around the limits

  • Get Machu Picchu tickets early. With a daily cap, high season carries the biggest risk of missing out.
  • Use the official site. For Machu Picchu that’s tuboleto.cultura.pe.
  • Don’t plan Maya Bay for August or September. It’s closed.
  • In Gion, stay on public streets. Obey the signs and don’t photograph geiko without permission.
  • Book your Via dell’Amore slot with the Cinque Terre Card. Walk-ups without a booking aren’t allowed.
  • Recheck the rules close to your trip. Limits and dates are revised often.

FAQ

How many people can visit Machu Picchu a day?

In 2026, up to 5,600 a day in high season and on holidays, and 4,500 the rest of the year, according to Peru’s Ministry of Culture.

Is Maya Bay open?

It opens from October to July and closes from 1 August to 30 September. Even when it’s open, swimming isn’t allowed.

Why did Gion ban tourists?

Because of visitors trespassing on private streets and chasing geiko for photos. The ban on private lanes has applied since April 2024, with a ¥10,000 fine.

Do you need to book the Via dell’Amore?

Yes. Entry is by time slot, capped at 400 people an hour, and costs €10 on top of the Cinque Terre Card.

Sources

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