At 2,430 metres (7,970 feet), Machu Picchu is high enough to be mistaken for Cusco altitude by anyone looking at it in a photograph, but it is actually a thousand metres lower. For visitors heading straight from the coast, that difference matters.
The citadel’s position on a saddle between Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain gives it the view that defines the postcards. Pachacuti built it around 1450 as a royal estate, and its temples — the Sun Temple, the Intihuatana, the Three Windows — mark alignments with the June and December solstices.
Give the body time. Two or three nights at Cusco or in the Sacred Valley lets you walk the citadel without a headache. The Sacred Valley at 2,800 metres is milder than Cusco at 3,400 and makes a better first stop if altitude concerns you.
Peruways handles trains, shuttles, entrance tickets by circuit, and the hotel in Aguas Calientes if you want an early entry. Their guides take care of the altitude questions along the way.
Book with Peruways for an unhurried first visit.
