Pack smarter for your next European city trip
Practical packing advice based on real trips, real mistakes and what we actually use.
Pack less. Learn from real trips.
Planning a city trip? Start here.
Packing for 3 days
Find out what you actually need for a short European city break — and what can stay at home.
Travelling carry-on only
Learn how to travel comfortably with less luggage, from personal-item trips to cabin bags.
Packing for a destination
Weather, season and destination matter. Find packing advice for specific European city trips.
We don’t want to guess what works. We test it.
4 / 4
Trips where we packed a second pair of shoes
0 / 4
Trips where that second pair was actually needed
4 / 4
Trips with unused clothing
Our first reconstructed European trips already showed a clear pattern:
- We packed a second pair of shoes on 4 out of 4 trips.
- We needed that second pair on 0 out of 4 trips.
- We packed clothes that went unused on every trip.
- Smaller toiletries consistently worked better than full-size bottles.
This is a small personal dataset, not a universal rule. Future trips will be measured more systematically.
Explore City Trip Lab
City Trip Packing
Practical packing lists for short European trips, focused on what you actually need.
Carry-On Travel
Personal items, cabin bags and practical ways to travel comfortably with less luggage.
Packing Gear
Travel products compared for usefulness, real-world practicality and value — not marketing claims.
Destinations
Packing advice shaped by destination, weather, season and the realities of a short European city trip.
Packing Lab
Does it actually work?
Do compression packing cubes really save space? Is a 20L backpack enough for three days? Do you actually need two pairs of shoes?
We test common travel advice instead of simply repeating it.
Latest real trips & tests
Our newest packing experiments, destination tests and lessons from real European city trips will appear here.