Why Visit Machu Picchu?
When was the last time you felt awe?
How long has it been since you were amazed?
Are you ready to reclaim your sense of wonder?
Like no place else, Machu Picchu captivates. We know the power of this place. We’ve seen its effect in the smiles, gasps, and joyful tears of those who’ve made their way.
Machu Picchu is a city of gods: impossible, balanced, and pristine. Its form is reverent poetry—living rock sculpted by skilled hands, wrapped in cloaks of emerald and air.
It stands among the clouds, suspended between Amazon and Andes, hitched to the sun, moon, and stars. Here you feel limits slip away into waves of mountain and light.
Machu Picchu is an engineering marvel—a city in the sky, surrounded by sheer precipices. The site contains 140 known structures, including temples, palaces, ritual baths and dwellings. The city also includes agricultural terraces and over 100 flights of stone stairs.
Much of the stonework is so fine that it seems to spring organically from the ancient granite.
Machu Picchu—”Old Mountain” in the Quechua language— straddles a ridge at approximately 8,000 feet above sea level. Far below, the Urubamba River Valley carves sharp turns around the mountain’s base.
Huayna Picchu—or the “Young Mountain”—serves as the city’s principal backdrop. In the distance and across the river valley, rows of peaks add to the site’s sense of boundlessness.
In 1911, the American explorer and historian Hiram Bingham brought this masterpiece to the world’s attention. Bingham had been searching for the lost city of Vilcabamba when he was led to the site by a local farmer surnamed Arteaga.
In his excavations, Bingham found graves, copper, ceramic and stone objects. But he also uncovered a work of pure genius—perhaps the most beautiful city ever constructed. Here, engineering and art merge as nowhere else.
First light at Machu Picchu is an unforgettable experience, especially in the wetter months—November through April. At dawn, low clouds often conceal the site. As sun rises, the mists slowly dissipate to reveal walls and plazas—first in glimpses, then in majesty.
We invite you on this journey—this pilgrimage—to the apex of human creativity. We’ve got you. We know the way. You only need to take your body once; then you can return in memory whenever you need a dose of inspiration.
Dreaming of Machu Picchu? Download our Machu Picchu guide.
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