What is the elevation of Machu Picchu in feet?

Machu Picchu is at 7,970 ft, which is 2,430 m, the figure published by Peru's Ministerio de Cultura on its official ticket site. Huayna Picchu, the peak behind the city, reaches about 8,835 ft (2,693 m), and Machu Picchu Mountain about 10,040 ft (3,061 m). Cusco, where most trips start, sits higher than all three at 11,152 ft.

Is Machu Picchu higher than Cusco?

No. Machu Picchu is 969 m (3,179 ft) lower than Cusco. The citadel stands at 2,430 m (7,970 ft) and Cusco's Plaza de Armas at 3,399 m (11,152 ft). That is why most travelers feel better at the ruins than in the city, and why altitude advice for a Machu Picchu trip is really advice about your nights in Cusco.

Do you get altitude sickness at Machu Picchu?

It is uncommon at the citadel itself. The CDC places the risk of altitude illness from sleeping altitudes of 2,450 m (8,000 ft), and Machu Picchu is just below that, with Aguas Calientes lower still. People who feel sick on a Machu Picchu day usually brought it with them from Cusco. If symptoms are severe or you are breathless at rest, see a doctor the same day.

How high is Huayna Picchu compared with Machu Picchu?

Huayna Picchu tops out at about 2,693 m (8,835 ft), roughly 260 m (850 ft) above the Inca city, and the climb takes about an hour on narrow stone stairs. Machu Picchu Mountain is higher, at about 3,061 m (10,040 ft). Each needs its own ticket, sold as route 3-A and route 1-A on the official site.

Should I go to Machu Picchu before or after Cusco?

Before, if you can. Sleeping first in the Sacred Valley or Aguas Calientes, both lower than Cusco, lets your body adjust step by step, and the CDC mentions sleeping below Cusco's airport for one or two nights. Then you spend the last days in Cusco, the highest place you sleep on a classic trip at 3,399 m (11,152 ft).

Machu Picchu Elevation: 2,430 m (7,970 ft) Explained

Machu Picchu sits at 2,430 m (7,970 ft) above sea level, per Peru's Ministerio de Cultura. That is 969 m (3,179 ft) lower than Cusco at 3,399 m (11,152 ft). Most visitors breathe easier at the ruins than in Cusco. The altitude to plan around is Cusco, not the citadel.

The bus from Aguas Calientes takes the last switchback and stops at the gate. You step off into warm, damp air that smells of wet leaves, nothing like the thin, dry cold you left in Cusco. Cloud is hanging in the Urubamba gorge below you. On the first flight of stone stairs your breath comes a little quicker, and a few landings later it settles.

Short answer: Machu Picchu sits at 2,430 m (7,970 ft) above sea level, per Peru's Ministerio de Cultura. That is 969 m (3,179 ft) lower than Cusco at 3,399 m (11,152 ft). Most visitors breathe easier at the ruins than in Cusco. The altitude to plan around is Cusco, not the citadel.

People look up the elevation of Machu Picchu because they are worried about it, and we understand why. The photos show a city on a knife-edge ridge with clouds below it, and it looks like the top of the world. It is far from it. The Inca city stands on a saddle between two peaks, well below Cusco, the Sacred Valley's high plateau and every day hike our guests do from Cusco. Below are the numbers for each point of a Machu Picchu visit and what they mean for your body and your plan.

How high is Machu Picchu?

The citadel of Machu Picchu is at 2,430 m (7,970 ft), the figure the Ministerio de Cultura publishes on its official ticket site. That height is for the main city, the plazas and temples you walk on a standard Circuit 2 ticket. The peaks around it rise higher, and the town below sits lower.

For an American comparison, 2,430 m is a little above the base of most Colorado ski resorts and well below the summit lifts. Denver, at 1,609 m (5,280 ft), is about 820 m (2,690 ft) lower. You will notice the thinner air on the stairs. You will not get the pounding headache that greets many people on their first night in Cusco.

Machu Picchu altitude compared with Cusco and the valley

Machu Picchu is the lowest stop of a classic Cusco trip except for Aguas Calientes, the town at its foot. Cusco is the highest place you sleep. The table lists every stop of a typical visit with its height in meters and feet and the difference from Cusco.

Altitude of each stop on a Machu Picchu visit
Place	Altitude (m)	Altitude (ft)	Compared with Cusco	Source
Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Pueblo), train station and hotels	2,040	6,690	About 1,360 m lower	Site value, Wikipedia infobox
Machu Picchu citadel	2,430	7,970	969 m lower	Ministerio de Cultura, tuboleto.cultura.pe
Sun Gate (Intipunku)	about 2,720	about 8,920	About 680 m lower	Operator figure, to confirm
Huayna Picchu summit	about 2,693	about 8,835	About 706 m lower	Wikipedia and PromPerú
Ollantaytambo, where the train starts	2,792	9,160	607 m lower	Wikipedia infobox
Machu Picchu Mountain summit	about 3,061	about 10,040	About 340 m lower	Published guides, no official figure
Cusco, Plaza de Armas	3,399	11,152	Reference	Wikipedia infobox (CDC: about 3,350 m)

Read it from the bottom of the valley up. Aguas Calientes at 2,040 m (6,690 ft) is where the train stops, beside the roar of the river. The bus climbs about 390 m (1,280 ft) of switchbacks to the gate in about 25 minutes. The summits of Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain add a real climb on top, and that is the only part of the day where the altitude bites.

Will you feel the altitude at Machu Picchu?

Most people do not feel sick at Machu Picchu. The CDC Yellow Book places the start of altitude illness risk at sleeping altitudes of 2,450 m (8,000 ft) and above. Aguas Calientes, where visitors who stay overnight sleep, is about 400 m (1,300 ft) below that line, and the citadel is just under it.

What you will feel is effort. The site is built on terraces, and every circuit has stone stairs, some steep and uneven. At 2,430 m your heart works a little harder than at home on each flight. Walk at a pace where you can still talk, stop on the landings and drink water. If you arrive after two or three days in Cusco, the citadel feels easy by comparison, and our guests tell us so almost every day.

The real risk is the order of your trip. Fly from Lima to Cusco, sleep there, do Machu Picchu as a day trip the next morning, and you reach the ruins tired, short of sleep and still adjusting to Cusco's 3,399 m (11,152 ft). In that plan the ruins are fine. The night before is the problem.

The altitude of Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain

Huayna Picchu, the peak behind the classic photo, tops out at about 2,693 m (8,835 ft), roughly 260 m (850 ft) above the city. Machu Picchu Mountain, on the opposite side, reaches about 3,061 m (10,040 ft), some 630 m (2,070 ft) above the city. Both climbs follow Inca stone stairs, and both make your lungs work.

Neither summit is high enough to cause altitude sickness in someone who has slept a few nights in Cusco. They are hard because they are steep, and oxygen has little to do with it. If you climb Machu Picchu Mountain, give it 1.5 to 2 hours up and carry a liter of water. Our Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain comparison covers the routes, the heights and the fear-of-heights question.

How to plan around the altitude

Plan your Machu Picchu trip around Cusco's altitude, and the ruins take care of themselves. The CDC notes that travelers flying into Cusco can sleep lower than the airport for one or two nights. In practice that means the Sacred Valley or Aguas Calientes.

Sleep low first if your dates allow

The Sacred Valley towns sit between about 2,792 m (9,160 ft) at Ollantaytambo and 2,972 m (9,750 ft) at Pisac, several hundred meters below Cusco. Sleep there first, then go down to Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu, and you reach Cusco last with three days of adjustment behind you. Our Sacred Valley altitude guide lists each town and how to build the order.

Put a night in Aguas Calientes in the plan

The Machu Picchu day trip from Cusco is a 15-hour day that starts before 5 a.m. On your second day in Peru it is the hardest version of the visit. A night in Aguas Calientes, at 2,040 m (6,690 ft), turns it into two calm days and gives you the lowest, easiest night of sleep in the whole Cusco region. Our Machu Picchu and Cusco package in 4 days, from US$774 per person, includes that night after a Sacred Valley day. The 2-day train tour with a night by the river, from US$597, is the shorter version.

Ask your doctor before the flight

This guide gives altitude facts, not medical advice. If you have a heart or lung condition, the CDC advises seeing a physician who knows altitude medicine before the trip. Bring your itinerary and its highest point, which on a classic trip is Cusco or a day hike from it, not Machu Picchu. Our Cusco altitude guide is the main page for symptoms, prevention and the CDC's advice, and it lists the altitude of every stop in Peru.

Why the Incas built at this height

Machu Picchu sits on the warm edge of the Andes, where the cloud forest climbs into the mountains. At 2,430 m the Incas could grow maize on terraces, a crop that does poorly at Cusco's height, and the ridge gave them spring water and a view over the Urubamba River on three sides. The same height is why the site is humid and green, with orchids growing on the walls, and why you will want a rain layer and sunscreen on the same morning.