PACKING FOR SUMMER IN EUROPE | 25 Tips, Must-Knows & What NOT to Do!

spending summer in Europe is a bucket list activity for a lot of people but unfortunately before you get there and sip on your Abol spritzes you have to pack first which is unfortunately not the most fun activity but after a decade of living in and traveling around Europe I feel like I have kind of mastered the ins and outs of packing efficiently so in today's video I'm going to be sharing with you all the mustn and tips that you need for packing for your European summer in case you're new here hi I'm Christina from happyto wonder.com and this channel is all about practical travel tips from someone who's been there done that so if that sounds like your kind of thing be sure to like And subscribe and today I'm actually going to be packing for a trip of my own for a 3-we trip that covers a lot of different occasions and climates so I'm going to be going to Paris for the tayor S concert I'm going to be going to Venice and then traveling south to Southern Italy around pulia and Mata so a lot of different climates temperatures occasions but I'm going to show you the way that you can do that smartly without even needing to check a bag now we're going to get started with my first tip which sounds weird but please hear me out it's something that a lot of people don't mention so I'm going to do this one first and that is that during your summer in Europe make sure you pack a scarf or some kind of cover up now I know that sounds really counterintuitive but something that not a lot of first- timers realize is that in certain countries in Europe they do actually have strict dress codes for when you enter churches in countries like Italy and France for instance they often have a dress code where you can't show your shoulders or your knees so it really good trick around that is to just bring a thin lightweight scarf or a thin cardigan some kind of cover up that fits in your day bag and that way you never have to worry if you spontaneously see a cool Church you want to visit you know that you can go in in a respectful way because you have a cover up so yes in the past I've brought a scarf but for this trip in particular I'm going to be bringing a lightweight cardigan just because I feel like that's a bit more versatile so just something that I can throw in my bag really thin nice throw it over shoulders are covered and it looks cute the other reason bringing something like this would be important is because even during the hottest months of the summer it can still be quite chilly in the evenings and also if you're along any coastal areas then the wind can actually be really Fierce and a lot of people don't expect that especially when they're going to places that are known as beach destinations but honestly the wind can make it really really cold so it's always a good idea to at least have some kind of thicker layer and I would also recommend bringing a jacket of some kind as well so for me I tend to bring a denim jacket or maybe a nice oversized shirt that you can tie up something that can transition from day to night just because you're going to want to be packing versatile pieces of course whether or not you need to bring a cover up is going to depend on the temperatures and specifics of your destination so my next tip is really to when you're researching what to wear make sure you are being as specific as possible I think a lot of first timers will just Google what to wear to Europe not realizing that Europe isn't just one big identity that's the same all throughout there are actually a lot of variances within the continent itself so what you would wear in Paris isn't necessarily what you would wear in Dublin for instance so make sure you are being as specific as possible when you're researching what to wear and this goes for fashion Norms as well as temperatures generally speaking though I would advise packing clothes that kind of air on the dressier side of things so as you can see from what I've packed I haven't really packed any athleisure or t-shirts or anything like that and of course the most important priority is that you're comfortable but generally speaking I would say European casual is a bit dressier than North am American casual I know for instance back home where I'm from in Vancouver wearing a Leisure just out is incredibly common and of course I love that I love taking advantage of that when I'm home but in most European countries it's actually not super common to be wearing athleisure outside of the gym or outside of a workout class so I would say packing things that are a bit dressier overall is going to be better so for instance one of the tops that I'm bringing is like a little blousey thing like this in terms of bottoms what I'm bringing are these flowy long pants or trousers if you're from the UK rather than jeans just because I feel like they're more versatile they can work for day and night now speaking of airing on the dressier side an example of that would be if you're choosing sunglasses personally I would only bring one pair if you had the choice between either dress your ray bands that can work even with a dress or a cute outfit if you're going out whatever these compared to sporty ones like these ones that I would probably bring on a hike or something again air on the dressier side so that's how I would make my decisions another another example of this would be Footwear for instance I don't actually ever pack flip-flops unless it is just 100% a Beach vacation instead what I'll pack are sandals like these that are a little bit dressier and can work as kind of like walking through town and also work for the beach and trust me when these are on they can also pass for dinner shoes as well if you're not going to an overly fancy place so I just feel like something like that would be a better use of space compared to flipflops which are only really good for one purpose which is the beach all to say airing on the dress here side is definitely key the one major exception to this though is actually nightlife so again this depends on where you're going but I would say overall European NTI is more casual Compared to North American NTI where you're very likely if you're going clubbing to dress up to the nines where really tall heels or glittery dresses things like that whereas in a lot of European cities that I've been to it doesn't seem super common to be dressed like that unless you're going to a big event again it depends on where you're going though so what you would wear for a night out in London would be very different from what you wear to a night out in Berlin so be sure to look into that now besides the Aesthetics one thing to really really keep in mind with packing for summer in Europe is the material as well so depending on when you go summer in Europe can really be quite hot and you're going to be doing a lot of walking you're going to be spending a lot of time Outdoors which means you want fabric that's going to be breathable and so something you really want to avoid are synthetic fibers like polyester or anything like that that's going to trap heat in and not really allow your sweat to kind of Wick off you and not allow you to really breathe now I know that linen is a very popular choice when it comes to Summer Fabrics especially for Europe because it looks very put together it's very airy Breezy Etc but for me I don't actually tend to pack it very much for instance I have this pair of linen pants that I love they're super cute but having traveled with them a few times they're just not going to be practical for a long trip like the one that I'm doing especially because I'm changing hotels every few days and as you can see you know this is straight out of the wash right it gets really really wrinkly and so it's not necessarily the most resilient uh fabric to be bringing on your trips instead a very unconventional fabric that you should look into is wool and I know that sounds weird because Summer and wool don't really go together but hear me out if you've been on my channel before you have probably heard me talk about Marino wool and I've talked about this in my winter packing video because it makes such a great face layer but actually Marino wool can be a really great material for the summer as well so on that note this week's video is brought to you by Unbound Marino a really great Canadian company that specializes in Marino wool products like these and again a lot of people think that wool is a thick fabric but as you can see these two tops are 100% Marino wool they're very thin very lightweight and very breathable and so what's really great about Marino wool is that it Wicks moisture it's wrinkle resistant it's resistant to bacteria mold and mildew which means that you actually don't need to wash it very often which I I know sounds gross but is such a lifesaver when it comes to packing light and I'm excited that they actually come in some pretty cute colors as well so for this trip I'm going to have two of these Unbound Marino tank tops as well as a pair of their travel shorts and also their Marino wool t-shirt dress which I'm very excited to wear so thanks again to Unbound Marino for sponsoring this week's video if you want to try them out you can use the code Christina 10 to get 10% off your first purchase now another important to keep in mind when you're packing is to pack things that go well together so as you can see from the items on my table I've packed mainly black and white but that's just a purely stylistic choice in the past I've also done neutrals with an accent color but it's very important that you make sure all your tops match all your bottoms so that you can create a bunch of different looking outfits and as much as I love a good summer dress unfortunately I do think if you're show on space for summer in Europe it does make sense to pack more tops and more bottoms rather than just dresses because a dress is kind of like an outfit on its own but if you have different tops and different shorts different skirts Etc then you're basically able to create a lot of different outfits that said I am inevitably going to pack some dresses because I love them so when you're packing dresses what I would say is to pick a color that is maybe a little bit different to the rest of your color palette before that I'm going to have this bright yellow dress and I also again have this bright blue dress from Unbound Reno as well so those are two of my little Colour poops as well as this Orange Tain top which I think is going to look quite nice against the Italian Landscapes speaking about versatility as I mentioned before one of the things that I'm going to be doing on this trip is I'm going to a Taylor Swift concert so as you can imagine the clothes that I would wear to that wouldn't necessarily be what I would wear frolicking around southern Italy so instead of packing a really glittery get up which is honestly what I've ideally would have done I chose something else that would be able to be worn for other occasions throughout the so instead what I did was I was super extra and I designed my own skirt I'm not going to go into too much detail but basically it's inspired by her latest album tortured poets department and yeah so it's got lyrics and stuff printed on but again it's black and white but because it's quite subtly Swifty I can just match it with another one of my tops accessorize it a bit differently and I can get away with wearing this as well so just keep that in mind bringing versatile pieces is really going to be key now on a similar note it is important that you do pack your suitcase based on your itinerary so I think a lot of people aren't necessarily type A people who have an itinerary put together but for the sake of efficient planning you really should have some idea of what you're going to be doing day-to-day and with that in mind then you can choose the items that you're packing the last thing that you want to do is pack things just in case which I know is very common and so having an itinerary prepped is going to prevent mistakes like packing six swimsuits when you only have one pool day or one beach day scheduled so make sure you are looking at your itinerary and planning according to that now a very common question I get is about Footwear and whether or not you should bring hiking boots on your trip to Europe and my answer to that is only if you're hiking honestly you're not going to need hiking boots to just walk around a regular European city you'd only need them really if you're planning on actually doing some hiking so remember pack according to the different occasions that you know you have planned and then if the just in case pops up I mean you're in Europe it's not going to be difficult for you to buy things just in case and I've kind of hinted at this throughout the video but another important tip really is to just make sure you're packing as light as possible and this is something that I tend to do for every trip I tend to say Pack Light don't check a bag it's better that way but especially in the summertime I think this is important because there's something about that European heat that makes carrying a suitcase absolutely miserable okay and you don't want to be stuck bringing a giant suitcase onto the Metro onto the ubon wherever you are because it's just the worst you know dragging a suitcase across cobblestones is not fun any time of the year but it is infinitely worse in peak season crowds when the sun is bearing down on you so definitely pack light as much as possible and again packing versatile pieces packing lightweight Fabrics all the tips that I've given you previously is going to help with that now I should also mention it's not enough to just pack light as in pack in a small suitcase it is increasingly important these days to actually pack light as in weightwise to not go over over the limit that they State and Once Upon a Time you know that limit seemed to just be a suggestion they very rarely weigh cabin bags especially but these days airlines are starting to crack down and they're starting to do it so worrying about the weight of the suitcase is more important than ever which is why I'd recommend again not packing as much next let's talk about shoes so it's a very common question I get what type of Footwear to bring for a summer in Europe and to be honest with you because I am packing light I actually tend to only bring two Ty of shoes the first is a pair of really comfortable trainers or walking shoes this is a pair of Nike Air Force Ones I would bring something like this that is white so that it matches all your outfits and something that can go just as well with shorts and dresses as with more casual outfits and I would also bring a pair of dressier sandals so again I don't bring flip-flops I bring sandals like these that look nice enough and are still very comfortable to walk in so they're suitable for the beach but also just walking around the city and as you can see they're looking a bit be up so you know I use these religiously and these ones are from Sketchers I find their shoes really really comfortable you'll want something that's quite thick and has like good tread and grip as well which I find these shoes really do so generally those are the two types of shoes that I would bring again I wouldn't bring high heeled shoes unless you know you're going to a fancy event and that's just because European cobblestones are no joke you want to be prioritizing Comfort above all else so that also includes not wearing brand new shoes that you haven't had a chance to break in yet just because you want your shoes to be comfortable so that is the number one priority if you wouldn't walk hours in those shoes do not bring them now in terms of other things to bring for a summer in Europe one I would really recommend is a water bottle and that's because a lot of major European cities actually have refillable water stations where you can go and get free water and if you go to big cities like Rome or Paris they actually have sparkling water fountains which just blew my mind the first time so make sure you're bringing a refillable water bottle if you're packing really light I would advise one of those collapsible ones or if you don't think you have space for it then at the very least get a bottle of water and use that just because there are so many free water fountains in a lot of places another item worth bringing is a portable charger so portable chargers are really handy because you need juice for your phone when you're on the go and especially in the summer I've noticed that batteries are quicker to deplete so having this I have this really thin one from Inu I don't know if that's how you pronounce it but this is the one that I use and because when you're traveling you're going to be using your phone a lot more you're going to be taking photos using your phone to navigate Etc so you're going to want to have a portable charger as a backup for sure another thing you'll want is an adapter so a European adapter is necessary for you to use any of your electronics to be able to charge them so I definitely recommend getting a universal one like this one and on top of that I would make sure any electronics that you're bringing are dual voltage so a really good example of a tool where you need to check the voltage is is hair appliances so often times if the voltage is different then if you plug it in without a power converter what'll happen is this can actually fry and stop working so you don't want that to happen luckily I've got my Dyson hair straightener which is dual voltage so no problems there but depending on what you're bringing with you make sure you are checking that it is dual voltage or is compatible or otherwise you're bringing a power converter to make sure that you're not frying all your gear another good item for summer in Europe is a big tote bag so I'd recommend bringing a good day bag like a backpack but as well as that a nice tote bag is very ideal for summer in Europe if you're going to be going to the market getting picnic food going shopping going to the beach it's great to be able to just throw it all in a big sturdy tote like this this one's from daun books in London really nice bookstore and finally I should emphasize the importance of bringing enough underwear and socks because honestly you can rewear all of this but re-wearing underwear is a little bit dicier so make sure that you are packing enough of that generally what I'll do for longer trips is I will pack enough for one week and then I will plan to do laundry and you know you can either use the laundry service at your hotel or a more cost-effective option is finding a laundromat or even more costeffective is getting something like a laundry sheet so that you can wash your laundry in the sink and then hang it up to dry which during the summer shouldn't take too long but again having Fabrics that dry quickly can be really helpful for this so than was like Marina wool for instance all right thank you so much for watching I hope that was helpful and if you want more practical travel videos just like this one be sure to like And subscribe I'll see you guys next week bye

Channel: Happy to Wander

Views: 22,881

Keywords: how to pack for europe, packing for europe, pack for summer, summer packing

Id: lSkacWBFHy8

Length: 16min 41sec (1001 seconds)

Published: Fri May 24 2024