The Seven Most Important Things to Pack for a Multi-Country Trip in Europe

So you’re going for at least a couple of weeks and going to have a diverse range of experiences; dining at fancy restaurants in the South of France one day and exploring the Alps the next.  As an ex tour-guide who took adventurers just like you on multi-country tours of Europe, here’s my tip of what to bring and what to leave at home.

The Top Seven Items to Include in Your Suitcase:

1. A dress you can wear to the beach, in the city and out at night.  You know the one, this is the all purpose, doesn’t get wrinkled, dress that you throw on when you don’t know what else to wear.  It’s an ‘all occasions’ item and your vacation is such an occasion! If you don’t have one, go out and buy it.  Bonus points if it is fairly non-descript and and easy to change up with accessories to create different outfits – this will stop all your photos looking like you only brought the one change of clothes.

2. Comfortable black/metallic/neutral flats you can wear in the day or at night.  You will be walking WAY more that you realise, especially if trying to see a lot of places within a limited amount of time.  Chances are you aren’t renting a car in every city and even if you were, a lot of European centres have car-free city centres where the main attractions are, or such crazy traffic in the city centre you’ll want to avoid it anyway.  Therefore, you need comfortable shoes, even for night time.  Even if you were doing something where you wore sneakers/trainers all day, chances are your poor sore little tootsies won’t want to jump into a pair of stilettos at night.

Another reason you MUST pack flats is because in a lot of European cities, the cobblestone streets make every high heel wearer do a Cinderella and get their heel stuck between the cobbles and lose their shoe every two steps.  I should know, I’ve been there.  Plus, who wants to leave the club early on your one night in Paris because their feet are hurting too much in their heels?

3. An across-the-body bag that fits all your necessities for a day of exploring.  If you’re anything like me, you will be taking LOADS of photos, eating LOADS of gelati (I have been known to get gelati up to three times a day while in Italy), browsing through postcards and doing lots of other stuff with your hands.  You won’t want to have to worry about a bag sliding off your shoulder while you compose that great shot or fear how much of your stuff is being stolen from your backpack from the person behind you on the tube. You will also be wanting to grab stuff quickly from your bag, (mainly the camera again) and not have to stop what you’re doing to go through your things.

An across- the-shoulder bag you can wear towards your front is perfect because it’s at the front of your body where you can see it, easily check you’ve got everything in it and put your hand over it if you wish when in crowded places, which will give you peace of mind, but unlike a ‘bumbag’ doesn’t scream ‘I’m a tourist with my passport, money and life’s possessions right here.’

It’s also a lot cooler than a ‘bumbag’; cooler temperature-wise because it’s not sweating against your lower torso and cooler style-wise because you don’t look like a dork.

4. Bathers
No matter where you are going and what you have planned, bring bathers! It’s always the times you don’t pack them that undoubtedly they’ll be needed – like going to a ski resort and finding out they have an outdoor Jacuzzi, or going to a city with great beaches or baths that you didn’t know about beforehand, or staying in a hotel with an amazing pool.  I was once travelling through northern Italy and had a swim in the famous rooftop pool of a very famous hotel (I had to sneak in as I wasn’t staying there at the time).  The opportunity would have been missed had I been sans bikini! (Or if I had attempted it sans bikini, I probably would have most definitely have been kicked out).

Me in a bikini on a glacier with my foot in a freezing puddle helping our local Sno Coach guide win photo of the week. You never know when you will need your bathers!!

Bathers can also double as an emergency pair of bra and undies if you are struggling between visits to the Laundromat. Don’t look at me like that.  We’ve all been there.

5. Photocopies of your travel documents.  People so often don’t bother with making any copies of their documents.  And then something goes wrong.  And then the first thing Mr. Official. Embassy person asks is ‘do you have a photocopy of your passport?’  And then said people go red and mumble ‘No I didn’t get round to that…I didn’t think it would happen to me…my mum says I’m special…I thought I was a magical unicorn and this stuff wouldn’t happen to me.’

Keeping photocopies of your flights, passport, photo ID, travel insurance etc. somewhere in your suitcase is a no brainer.  Some tour companies and day trips will even ask you to give them a photocopy of your passport and you can be super speedy and front of the line before everyone else when you already have a copy. Also get travel insurance.  Always.  Don’t take the risk.  I have seen an out-of-the-blue asthma attack become a 5000 Swiss Francs hospital visit.  Lucky the person had travel insurance, or the whole experience would have been even more stressful than it already was for the sufferer.

6. A spare SD card.  You will take more photos than you plan to.  You will run out of memory.  Spending time looking for a souvenier shop that sells highly overpriced SD cards is not a fun way to spend your limited time in a destination.  They take up less room that a matchbox.  Hell, you could keep five in a matchbox.  Bring a spare.

7. 14 changes of underwear.  You read that right. 14 pairs of undies.  Now, I’m sure this sounds excessive but hear me out.  Time flies when you are having fun, which usually happens when you travel and for most people, the last thing they feel like doing is laundry.  Hotel laundry is expensive and even hostel and laundromat laundry is expensive, weighing it at about 10 euro a wash by the time you put your coins in the washing machine, dryer and get a 1 euro sachet of washing powder.

Usually, tops can be worn more than one day.  Same goes for dresses. Jeans can go potentially a whole trip without a wash.  But undies? I like them fresh daily, as do most people, especially when recycling other clothing items for a day or so.  That means, that if you packed an equal number of tops and undies, however many pairs of undies you packed would  dictate how often you have to do laundry.  14 pairs of undies means you can stretch your laundry visits to once every two weeks, or only one laundry session for a one month trip.

Underwear takes up barely ANY room and if you bring mainly pairs that are cheap you can potentially throw it out at the end of your trip to make a little more space for souvenirs and just wear the last pair home.  Furthermore, you’re much more likely to buy a new top or dress than new underwear while on holiday so even if you only started with a few tops you can easily buy more, but underwear shopping on holiday is less common.

Don’t Bring:

– Your stilettos.  They take up way too much space, will get limited use and are likely to get damaged in the cobblestones.

– Any scarves – scarves are great for travelling with but are also awesome souveniers and really cheap in most destinations if you are shopping in local markets. They make great gifts as well, no need to bring any with you.

– More than one or two items of jewellery. Again, you can buy this as you travel as its small and you can get great items very cheap.  Jewellery is also one of the easiest items to lose so taking sentimental or expensive pieces from home always comes with some risk. Anything super fancy or expensive looking screams ‘rob me!’ which probably isn’t what you are going for.

– Multiple coats. Coats are so bulky.  They take up valuable souvenier, other clothes and undies room.  Just bring your favourite.

– Too many hair and make up products. You will not, actually, spend much time painting your nails or putting on facemasks.  You will be busy doing far more once-in-a-lifetime things.  When you do have a break from sightseeing, you will probably be journalling or sorting photos or reading a book, but for me at least, things like facemasks and hair masks get brought on holidays with the best of intentions and come home afterwards unopened.  A total waste if weight and space.

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