Machu Picchu sits on a ridge in the eastern Andes, 2,430 metres above sea level, roughly 80 km north-west of Cusco by road. The nearest town is Aguas Calientes (also called Machu Picchu Pueblo) at the base of the ridge, 400 metres below the ruins. There’s no road up — only the Consettur bus or the Hiram Bingham trail on foot.
The regional base is Cusco (3,399 m). From Cusco you can either drive down into the Sacred Valley and pick up the train at Ollantaytambo (1h40 by road, then 1h30 by train) or take the longer PeruRail service from Poroy station outside Cusco when it’s running.
The site is in the Vilcabamba range, bordering the Amazon basin — technically cloud forest, not altiplano. That’s why Machu Picchu feels so much greener than Cusco, with orchids, hummingbirds and the occasional spectacled bear.
Peruways handles the Cusco-to-Machu-Picchu chain (road, train, Consettur bus, timed entry) in a single booking.
Lock the pieces in at Peruways before you fly in. The logistics are the part most travellers wish they’d done ahead of time.
