3 Essentials to Pack for Peru

Lifestraw 1 liter water bottle

The lifestraws were the best thing we brought for traveling through Peru. Lifestarws are able to filter bacteria, viruses and other nasty things in the water, so we could drink from any fountain, stream or tap throughout our trip. They also reduce your plastic waste and we doubt there was much recycling in many towns, so as a tourist, it felt good to not contribute to as much waste. We also recommend getting the liter size water bottle, so you have extra water when going on day trips or into the dessert. This is the number one thing we highly recommend packing with you because they are hard to find for purchase in Peru, but not impossible.

The shoes you want to wear

Maddi made the mistake of bringing a pair of bad walking sandals to Peru and after they broke, she could not find another comfortable pair of shoes for day walking. I'm not saying it is impossible to find good shoes, but from our experience, many times the sneakers, sandals and other shoes were stiff, plastic and uncomfortable. She ended up wearimg the broken sandals the rest of the trip and sewing them up.

If you're looking for shoes recommendations, Maddi brought 1 pair of (broken) Teva sandals (would recommend the Hurricanes) and a pair of La Sportiva Trail Running Shoes and felt that was sufficient footwear. Dylan brought Teva Hurricanes and Merril hiking boots and this was good footwear for him. There were never many opportunities to go out where black sandals would have been unfitting. If you're not a huge hiker, bring a pair of good walking sneakers you can use for the street and the trail.

One light weight down puffy coat

If you're going into the mountains, or even visiting the coast, the weather gets chilly. This is one reason why locals wear light down puff coats. Maddi just happened to bring one of hers, it packed well and was perfect for the trip. Often we found locals were wearing black down fill coats, so if you want to dress like a local, we recommend a light weight puffy coat. If you don't want a puffy coat, check out our post on souvenirs to see where to get good alpaca gear.