Packing for Italy: Two weeks, one backpack, and four Italian cities in the spring

What, more packing content?!

*surprised Pikachu face*

For some reason, the posts I write about packing always do really, really well around here.

In fact, my last post about packing for two weeks in Europe remains my most-viewed post, week after week.

EVERYTHING I packed in one backpack for 10 days in Europe

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Apparently I’ve found a niche. And it’s packing.

Which means…

…you’re all subjected to packing posts over here. For the rest of eternity!

I recently returned home from a two-week trip through Italy (that included Venice, Rome, Florence and Pisa) with my sister, and — as per usual — I challenged myself to fit all my belongings into a single backpack*

*I actually brought three bags, but I’ll elaborate on that a little more below.

I’ve gotten extremely good at fitting everything I need into a single backpack. So good, in fact, that single-backpack travel is now the norm for me.

After close to seven weeks in India with a single backpack, I’m fully convinced I can travel almost anywhere for almost any amount of time with just a trusty backpack.

Ironically enough, I actually think I overpacked for my trip to Italy, since I didn’t use everything I ended up packing.

(Spoiler alert: it was the shoes.)

I know a lot of people get really, really into the whole concept of one-bagging, and are constantly looking to whittle packing lists down and trade in things like denim and cotton for quick-dry technical fabrics.

However, I’m not quite as devoted to the art of one-bagging as Reddit is, and while I’m happy to forgo things I used to pack (like hair tools, just-in-case outfits and full-size cosmetics) I can’t imagine limiting myself to three pairs of underwear and doing laundry every single day.

*Me with all of my luggage (and my sister’s roller bag in the background) on a train from Venice to Rome.*

I’ll spare you the long-winded explanation of how I strategically pack my three bags to swap out and nest (nothing has changed since I first committed to my Russian Nesting Doll packing method, which you can read about here) and instead, I’ll just share my packing list.

Coincidentally, a lot of what I packed for my 2025 single-backpack four-city Italy trip was actually a lot of the same stuff I packed for my 2018 single-backpack four-city Europe trip.

I updated some of the clothing (traded my skinny jeans for mom jeans, swapped my heeled booties for Chelsea booties, ditched my tunic tops for crop tops) but for the most part, a lot of my packing list was the same.

I even brought several of the same articles of clothing — including my decade-old Barbour jacket, a cardigan, a striped shirt and some bags.

my packing list

*Please note, some of the following links are affiliate links.

bags

Starting with the bags, I brought my L.L. Bean Continental Travel Pack (not pictured), my foldable nylon Longchamp Le Pliage backpack, my leather crossbody purse (similar) and a small leather change purse.

Again, I went heavily into it in the post about my 2018 trip, but I like having the three bags so I can shuffle things around at any point whenever it’s convenient to do so.

My Longchamp Le Pliage backpack, my Cuyana crossbody and my Cuyana change purse.

clothes

(I wore my Chelsea boots, hiking socks, black leggings, long-sleeved cropped t-shirt, sports bra, chunky cardigan, Apple Watch and Barbour jacket on the plane, so those items aren’t listed below.)

Seven tops: Two short-sleeve cropped tees, one cropped sweater tank, one plaid flannel, one long-sleeved shirt, one three-quarter striped shirt and one short-sleeved collared shirt, plus one t-shirt for sleeping.

From left-to-right: Orange short-sleeved crop tee, striped shirt, long-sleeved tee, sweater tank, white short-sleeved crop tee, collared shirt, flannel, t-shirt for sleeping.

Two pairs of pants: One pair of mom jeans, one pair of cropped black pants, plus one pair of running shorts for sleeping.

I didn’t pack anything super nice knowing that if I really needed a nice outfit for dinner, I could always buy it.

Everything I packed, clothes-wise, ended up being more than enough — and I probably could have ditched a top or two and been fine.

I didn’t take photos, but I also packed a bra, a few pairs of socks, and some undies.

In addition to the Chelsea boots I wore, I also packed three pairs of shoes: My trail runners, my Birkenstock sandals, and a pair of white sneakers.

*My trail runners, white sneakers and Birkenstock sandals.*

I packed two extra jackets: my rain jacket and my beloved Patagonia puffer jacket.

And, finally, I packed a swimsuit and a Turkish towel.

toiletries

*My Travelon Wet-Dry toiletry bag and its contents.*

I’ve raved about my Travelon Wet-Dry toiletry bag before (if you travel often and don’t get it, GET IT NOW.

Between that and a small Dyneema pouch, I packed:

Liquids: Sunscreen, body lotion, hair oil, prescription Tret, perfume, toner, face lotion, Vitamin C serum, face soap, toothpaste and conditioner.

Cosmetics: Mascara, eyeliner, lipliner, lipstick, eyeliner/lip liner sharpener, eyelash curler.

Misc.: wide-toothed comb, deodorant, toothbrush, razor, tweezers and nail clippers, contact solution*, soap bar**, shampoo bar**, spare contacts, cotton balls, cotton swabs, foldable hairbrush, exfoliating gloves, hair ties.

*as a medical liquid, this doesn’t have to be packed in a designated liquid bag
**my Matador dry-through soap bags are incredible for packing soap bars for travel

tech and everything else

I packed a small mesh zipper bag full of cords (USB-C to USB-C x2, USB-C Apple Watch charger, cord adapters (USB-C to USB, lightning, micro-USB), a 30W Apple block with both a US and European adapter, a USB-A/USB-C European adapter, a spare iPhone and magnetic silicone ties to organize it all.

I also packed my MacBook and a MagSafe battery pack, in addition to a few other various things:

My journal, a travel tripod, my inhaler, Loop earplugs, my Kindle, my glasses case (with my contact case inside of it), my passport, my wallet, sunglasses, a Tide-To-Go pen, ChapStick and a travel med case with bandages inside it.

Also, I forgot to include them in the photos, but I packed a collapsible travel umbrella (stowed in one of my Barbour’s pockets), my AirPods, a Nalgene water bottle (clipped on the outside of my pack with an S-biner), a buff, and a thin-shackled travel lock (also on my pack’s zipper).

*More tech, and some miscellaneous things.*

a packing analysis

the best things i packed

My change purse. I use cash a lot more while traveling than I do here in the U.S., and a change purse is always a fantastic way to wrangle loose Euros.

My umbrella. It rained a few times during the last week of our trip, and I was super grateful to have had this.

My Chelsea boots and my white sneakers. Both of these are from Birkenstock, and I alternated between both pairs for the whole trip. Both pairs are super comfy but also cute.

My Barbour. I love, love this jacket for travel. I wore it every single day.

My crossbody bag. This was perfect for days exploring cities. It fit everything I needed (umbrella, wallet, cash, lip balm, souvenirs collected along the way, etc.) perfectly.

Multiple chargers. I’m always on the fence about bringing a second charging block and cord, but every time I have two blocks and two cords, I’m glad I have them.

My CapitalOne credit card and Schwab debit card. My CapitalOne Venture is the best for international travel, and I love that my Schwab card lets me withdraw local currency from ATMs without a fee.

what i packed that i didn’t need

My Turkish towel. I usually bring this everywhere I go because it has so many uses, but all the hostels we stayed at offered us towels in our private bathrooms, so I didn’t use this once.

My swimsuit. I always bring a swimsuit just in case since they take up so little space. I didn’t think I’d use this, but better safe than sorry.

My bar of soap. All of our hostels had complimentary soap, so mine was completely unnecessary.

Some clothes, including: 1. My short-sleeved collared shirt. I love this shirt back home, but I didn’t realize how badly it wrinkled until I packed it to travel with. I only wore it once as a result and probably could have just left it at home. And 2. My white t-shirt, which I only ended up wearing once.

My trail runners. Because Kelly and I didn’t have the second week of our trip planned, I packed these just in case we decided to do some hiking. We didn’t, so these ended up unworn my entire trip.

My puffer jacket. Same reason as the trail runners.

My Birkenstocks. I wore these once around our hostel in Florence during laundry night, but I would have been totally fine without them.

My Nalgene. I rarely used this since we usually ended up with bottled water everywhere anyway.

My travel tripod. We never left the cities and it was easy enough to find people willing to take photos of the two of us.

*All of my luggage at the Detroit airport, waiting for my sister but otherwise ready to go.*

what i didn’t pack that i didn’t miss

Jewelry. I usually bring a necklace or two, but this time I didn’t. I ended up buying a few pieces of jewelry during my travels, so it worked out.

A hat. Never ended up needing it.

Athletic wear. I didn’t bring extra sports bras, leggings or running shorts, which worked out because I definitely didn’t have time to work out.

Merino wool base layers and sun shirts. I was fine the entire trip in my street clothes.

・・・

Already can’t wait for my next trip (nothing planned yet, but hopefully soon!) so I can get back to packing.

And, yunno… the travel part of traveling. Love that too.

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