Peru travel question

I did a G Adventures tour with a similar itinerary. I honestly can't remember having baggage restrictions on the train from Urubamba to Aguas Calientes - and my trip notes don't say anything about having to pack a separate bag for that part of the trip. I do remember our hotel was on the top of the hill in town and our guide hired a porter with a small van to drive the bags up there.

As for the flights, nearly everyone checked their bags but I don't recall if that was due to carry on size restrictions (though we had people with ENORMOUS bags). I checked my bag but only because I knew we'd have to wait for everyone else's bags to come off the plane and it wouldn't save me time to carry on. I think we flew Latam airlines - they use Airbus A320 planes, but there are a couple other airlines that might be different setups. OAT should be able to advise you more specifically.

Enjoy the trip - Machu Picchu was simply spectacular.

My experience is some time ago, and just after the trains started running after major flooding wiped out sections of the train tracks. We had a limited train weight at that time. You have it right to think Personal Item size. Something soft sided to stick in overhead rack.
I think you may have confused the carry on comment to include internal flights, which I doubt is a requirement.
Plan to check the suitcase regardless of size. Just take a lock or two for when you are separated from your main suitcase.

I did this exact same OAT tour last year. I brought a very small, lightweight overnight bag that fit inside my other luggage, and that worked well for the Machu Picchu portion of the trip. Something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Travel-Foldable-Weekend-Checked-Luggage/dp/B074Y1TKHV/ref=sr_1_15?keywords=fold-flat%2Bovernight%2Bbag&sr=8-15&th=1

But wait to see what OAT tells you. They are a US-based company, so surely they know what you will think of as a carry-on.

And, by the way, this is a fabulous tour! Are you doing the one that also goes to Galapagos?

Thanks Lane - we are not doing the Galapagos extension. They were running a phenomenal deal on the Peru trip so we jumped on it. Glad to hear it's a good tour!

I am not sure how much thinking goes on at OAT lol - love their tours so far (this will be our 3rd), but their admin leaves much to be desired after you book. But hopefully they will get back to me. Not too worried about it - I have a backpack I often use as a personal item and it would have enough space for a 2-night stay. It's just with no baggage measurements, no airline/train info, and the way they are using the term "carry-on" in their materials, it's a little unclear.

We travel with carry-on only, and we brought our normal carry-on bags, as well as our normal personal items (purse/small backpack). Mind you, our carry-ons are on the small side. (Mine is a Samsonite small underseater.) We didn't have any problem.

Keep in mind that almost any accommodation is going to be uphill from the train station.

BB, we pack light and almost always do carry-on, so no worries about that. And OAT provides luggage service, so during the tour, we will not have to deal with bags - which is probably why, in our OAT experience, people tend to overpack on these tours, they don't have to lug their bag to the hotel! Was just seeing if anyone else had any experience in what size bag was actually allowed on the train and regional flights, since OAT did not provide enough info so I could look it up.

Also, @Lane - did you pack the watershoes recommended for the rafting trip?

We did this exact trip on our own. It was many years ago and I don’t remember what size bag we took ( it wasn’t huge). I suggest you pack a regular sized backpack or duffel with two changes of clothing and just enough toiletries for your two night stay. Wear one pair of good walking shoes and pack water shoes for the rafting portion.

First of all, I am not sure how to answer your question, we did Peru and Cusco and Machu Picchu on a different tour.

I do remember taking the train into Agua Calientes and we did have to downsize our luggage similar to what you have to do. Our tour allowed us to leave out main luggage at our Cusco hotel. We had another night there before returning to Lima.

By the way, we love Peru and found Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu to be fantastic. Our trip there was very cheap compared to other tours we have taken, but super.

Also, loved the dining in Peru. The food is excellent.

It was over ten years ago, but I believe the train may have only over-the-seat luggage racks, which are much smaller than most suitcases. Even though we had the most expensive hotel "in town", that is up at the ancient site, attire was very casual at dinner. This was over ten years ago, but Aguas Calientes had a real "frontier town" look, despite dozens of medium and large hotels.

I particularly noted that our (organized for a group of 20 or so, but still kind of Packaged) trip had an astonishing number of EARLY departures, either for the airport or for the train. It was quite normal for the (nominal, anyway) Hotel Checkout Time to be 9AM, but our (massive buffet with multiple stations, often) breakfasts started at 5:00 or 5:30, for "on the bus" at 7 or so. Be prepared for this. I don't want to go into too much detail, but we (55 or so at the time) would power walk around the hotel lobby and hallways after breakfast, so that we could use our bathroom before checking out.

When traveling by train to Aguas Calientes, there is very little room on the train for luggage. When we went to Machu Picchu, the tour company held our luggage for us and we packed some essentials for the two or three days in MP in something like the RS hide away tote. That weighs next to nothing and fits in your regular luggage until you need it. As I recall, our bags fit under our seats on the train. You don’t need to pack heavy.

Also, @Lane - did you pack the watershoes recommended for the rafting trip?

Maybe I wasn't on the exact same tour you are going on. Our Peru itinerary didn't include a rafting trip. But I brought water shoes for the Galapagos.