How to Pack Light for Europe Using Only Carry-On Bags

If you’re anything like me, the first time I had to pack for a big European trip, I was like a deer staring into headlights.

I’m going to give you all the tips I’ve learned the hard way for packing light on an overseas trip.

Where do you even begin? What kind of luggage is best? How many outfits should I pack? Will I be able to wash clothes? What is the weather? Are clothing standards different there? What can be both comfortable and nice looking for all my photos?

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There are so many questions to consider! I’m going to do my best to answer all of these.

Let’s start with the why for packing lightly.

First off, it is $75 to check one bag per person on a U.S. to London flight. You also have to return home, so that is $150. Now times that by a family of five. Your total is $750, which you just saved by packing light!!

Any time you check luggage, you are risking your bag not making it to your destination when you do, especially if you have any connections whatsoever.

In the U.S. if your bag is late, no biggie. They will drive it to your hotel for you. Overseas, you may not be planning on even staying in the same country the next day. There may be a language barrier. Lost luggage is the last thing you want to deal with.

Also, chances are you are going to be using a mix of trains or taxis to get to your destinations multiple times during your European vacation. Toting a giant suitcase around is a giant pain. You want luggage that feels portable to you. It’s important for you to be able to handle all of your bags yourself at any given time or place on your vacation. You can load get it all on and off trains with ease, it fits into cab trunks, and it isn’t too heavy for you to manage.

Trains are bound to be a part of your European vacation. Walking will be too.

My favorite luggage to use:

A small carry-on size roller bag + a shoulder bag + a light crossbody purse tucked into your shoulder bag = travel perfection.

I’ve tried several different things over the years. For our Italy trip, I took nothing but a giant backpack and a purse. That worked, but I didn’t love my lack of clothing options. Also, the backpack was a little too heavy on my shoulders for long at a time. Plus, I was in Italy. In the big cities of Italy, where we were, pick-pockets are a concern. Backpacks are probably the least secure type of luggage you can use. Even a clumsy thief might successfully swipe something from bookbag without you noticing.

But mostly, I just hated carrying that backpack around. Sometimes my poor husband carried it for me. He’d have his on his back and mine strapped to his front, if we needed to get through a train station especially quickly.

So this is my absolute favorite way to travel. This works when you are going anywhere at all.

I especially like a roller bag with four wheels, but any carry-on size roller bag will do.

Then I choose a purse that is both lightweight and crossbody. My shoulders tire easily, so I put very little in my purse. In fact, for our last big trip I ordered a light weight wallet too. In my purse, I place only the little wallet, sunglasses, phone, hand sanitizer, and chapstick. Carrying a thermos around is too heavy, so unless I’m going somewhere like Pompeii, I buy drinks when I get thirsty and order free water with meals.

Every passenger on an airplane is entitled to two carry-on bags. This is important to remember.

You may place one under the seat in front of you and one in the overhead bins. (Many U.S. airlines now charge you extra for carry-on bags, so make sure you choose the right fare.)

To get around this “one personal bag and one suitcase” rule, I pack my purse into a larger shoulder bag that I will call my personal bag and place under the seat in front of me.

What kind of purse should you take?

I personally prefer a lightweight cross-body. It is harder to snatch your purse or anything in it if you wear it cross-body. You will probably be standing and walking more than usual, so keep it as light as you possibly can.

Now for What to Pack!

Most of us travel during the summer or at Christmas, and the weather does make it different. Either way, I try to limit myself to five basic outfits. You want a couple of pairs of your favorite pants/shorts/skirts that will go with all of the shirts you pack, or at least most of the shirts you pack.

Pick four or five casual tops and one top for dressing nice to go out at night. Or you can pack a dress to go out at night. Many dresses will work for day or night.

Don’t skimp on underwear! Pack five to seven pairs of those just in case. Summer vacations get sweaty, and you may want extra changes. When we were in Israel, I had to go to a store and buy more underwear because I was changing twice a day with the heat.

You want socks that will go with your outfits or at least to wear if your feet get cold at the hotel.

Even in the summer, I pack some kind of sweater or sweatshirt. The airplane ride across the ocean is always cold.

Please learn from my flip-flop lesson, unless you don’t care. Europeans do not approve of flip-flops for everyday wear. They are for the pool or the beach. Ha! Thankfully, I was too ignorant of the fashion rules to feel self-conscious.

They do dress better than us, in most of Europe.

I quickly felt out of place in Rome. It was obvious to me that I was under-dressed. Alan was fine, but I’d packed moisture wicking work out tops and flip-flops. Some of my shirts were okay, but I never felt well dressed when surrounded by so many pretty dresses!

For our UK trip, I was more experienced.

I packed two dresses, a blue shirt, a pink sweater, a teal shirt, a dark blue sleeveless shirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of hiking capri-length pants. Plus, I wore a pink shirt and a pair of versatile breathable black pants on the plane. I also carried a warm pullover for the plane. For the hotel, I packed two t-shirts to sleep in with sleeping shorts and my cozy slides. Oh! And a hat!

I went light on make-up too, I packed the same basic stuff I wear everyday and no extras. Plus, I got travel sized toiletries.

How I make four or five outfits work for even a two-week trip:

This may sound weird, but we wash our clothes in the sink! Soap is soap. You can even buy a small container of laundry detergent if it’s important to you. I use whatever soap or shampoo I have on hand. I scrub the clothes in the sink wherever we are staying and then hang the clothes to dry.

On our England trip, we were lucky. Even though there were five of us (which is so much laundry), we had two nights where we stayed at a nice apartment. That meant there were plenty of places to hang our clothes to dry.

At the very least, do this hack for your underwear. It’s so easy to wash your underwear in the sink.

Your hotel might even have laundry facilities or service, in which case you can use that.

The most important thing about packing for a big trip like this is comfortable shoes.

I vividly remember having to shop for shoes in Atlanta when I was on vacation with Alan because I was around twenty-five and had not yet learned the comfortable shoe when traveling rule.

Now that I’m in my forties and fighting plantar fasciitis, this isn’t even negotiable. I must wear actual sneakers with everything, even dresses.

For our last trip, I wore one pair of tennis shoes on the plane, and I packed a pair of rehab slides and a backup pair of sneakers. I wasn’t sure yet which tennis shoes would be the most comfortable.

These are my favorite shoes for traveling:

Any Dr. Scholl’s tennis shoes are awesome!! Make sure you size up because they run small, but the padding in these is so perfect. They are up there with Asics and Brooks in my opinion, while looking more like an outfit shoe than just a gym shoe.

I put more tips in this video I made. In the video, I show you how to pack your roller bag in a way that you can see all of your clothes, and I show you some more handy tips.

Last but not least, this inflatable neck pillow was a lifesaver on the airplane!

I couldn’t find this exact one online. I’m not sure where Alan bought it, but they sell similar ones on Amazon. We had the overnight flight from D.C. to London, and this thing was a life saver for me!!

I hope you get to take your trip and have a wonderful time!

There are few things more exciting than embarking on a new adventure. I hope these tips will help you pack and make your time in Europe, or wherever you are going, even better.