Cusco sits at 3,400 metres (11,152 feet), which is higher than Lhasa and more than twice as high as Mexico City. It is also the first thing to think about when you plan a trip, because the altitude will shape your first 48 hours whether you want it to or not.
Altitude sickness, or soroche, usually shows up as a dull headache, trouble sleeping, mild nausea or shortness of breath on stairs. Spend your first day walking slowly, drink more water than you think you need, skip alcohol, eat light and ask a pharmacy for sorojchi pills if you want pharmaceutical backup. The coca tea in every hotel lobby is not a myth cure, but it does help.
Once you have adjusted, the elevation stops being a liability and starts being the point. The thin air sharpens the light on the colonial façades around Plaza de Armas, and the views from Sacsayhuamán or Cristo Blanco over the red-tile roofs are the kind you remember.
Cusco is also the base camp for everything higher: the Sacred Valley at 2,800 m, Machu Picchu at 2,430 m (lower than Cusco, which surprises most people), Rainbow Mountain at 5,200 m.
If you’d rather have the logistics handled, Peruways can bundle Cusco tours, trains and timed-entry Machu Picchu tickets.
