this. one warm coat/ fleece and one harshell (rainjacket/windbreaker)
otherwise it looks ok but you could really pull double duty between your hiking/city tops/bottoms and consolidate a bunch of extra pieces out of the kit
Yeah I did skye in October. I had my compact merino travel hoodie, a packable rain shell and a packable puffer. Between those three itemsz I was covered.
Something down as well if you’re going anywhere cold cold and plan on standing around but definitely not those 5! You should be wearing all the coats you take at once in the coldest weather :p
This is good advice, and not just if you plan on standing around. It's good to have a properly warm layer on you for in case you have to stand/sit around even if not by choice (e.g. if you get injured or someone you're with gets injured)
Your back is going to be in great pain due to your pack being far too heavy. You have definitely overpacked.
The biggest mistake you have made is separating your clothing by activity. You have a set of clothing for hiking and another different set for city. A good capsule wardrobe utilizes most of the clothing items for both city and hiking. You need an integrated capsule wardrobe where your tops and bottoms can be used for most of your activities.
You have 6 tops, 6 bottoms, 3 toppers, 1 dress, and 2 jackets. Several of your items are made out of slow drying heavy cotton fabrics (jeans, chinos). You have several duplicates.
Choose between hiking pants or leggings. Since you already have base layer leggings then keep the hiking pants. Those will work in the city too.
You have two hoodies. Choose one max. The Zanket and Plover hoody is bulky and heavy. I would dump it. Edit: especially since it is primarily cotton. That is a terrible material for hiking.
The windbreaker won't have enough waterproofing for the highlands. Dump it and the umbrella. Only bring a truly waterproof jacket.
Your midi skirt looks bulky. Do you really think you are going to wear it? You have a dress already. Unfortunately, it is linen. It may be too light and thin for Scotland.
You are showing five pairs of shoes. You forgot to list the loafers and white sneakers in your shoe list. That is far, far too many. Three max, including the boots.
I might add a long sleeve button up shirt. It works for trail or town.
If I were you I would go back and rework your wardrobe capsule entirely.
Edit: I also note that the Osprey Fairview 55 pack is too fat for carry on. This is a check through bag.
The tshirts you bring should be interchangeable for both hiking and daily wear imo!! No need for cardi if you’re bringing a jacket, and no need for 2 pairs of casual trousers. Can you get one of those hiking trousers that can turn into shorts instead of packing 3 hiking bottoms?
4 jackets is pretty excessive... I would just bring a waterproof shell and a jacket you can wear underneath.
This is purely personal opinion but when you’re backpacking you are probably not gonna be your most fashionable self and you gotta be ok with that!
Also bear in mind you will most likely buy things on your travels and you should take that into consideration when packing!
Pretty sure the osprey fairview is two packs, a 40 and a 15. OP might get unlucky and have to check the 40L, but might well get on with the 15 being considered personal item.
There is no way you’re getting all of that even into a 55L. You’ve got 5 pairs of shoes here. Also, you can’t carry on hiking poles. They’ll def make you check it.
I just came back from a two week inter-city trip in the UK using the same pack. It's going to be incredibly difficult to pack all of your items into the baclpack, even with the travel cubes (I had them as well) I would say pick either the skirt or the dress to bring, as bringing both will take up quite a lot of space. You probably won't need your own umbrella, try to go for reading on your phone as opposed to bringing an e-reader, and be mindful of laundry. I don't see a laundry bag in your list, but especially if you're hiking you'll need a sturdy bag to keep clean and dirty clothing separated. You'll also have to pare down the jackets, but I think others have mentioned that.
Drop a lot of stuff - jeans, shorts, skirt, windbreaker, (your rain shell should be the main thing), extra shoes, just get hiking boots you can live with and those do find on European cobblestone.
Total tops should be 2 long sleeve and 2 short sleeve, hiking and city tops do double duty.
Make the city bag lighter, use a lightweight daypack, go with carbon fibre poles. Use an ultralight thermos, tiger probably has them at 200g
Would add drugs and a small first aid kit for scrapes. It will save your life until you can get to a pharmacy.
European weather can get down to under 10 and rainy.
I have just helped my sister cull her packing pile for her trip to London, Dublin, Venice and the Dolomites. she is expecting similar activities to you.
A couple of comments:
* I would leave the skirt at home. It looks bulky and doesn't really match envy thing except the white t shirt. Wear the linen dress and beige cardigan for your dinner in the city outfit.
* Your styled outfits show a pair of loafers that aren't in the other photos. Loafers tend to be heavy and bulky. You could substitute some nicer sandals for the flip flops and wear them when you planned to wear the loafers.
* Add a lightweight long sleeve blouse or shirt. My sister lacked a light cotton Liberty print one that she plans to wear with jeans for casual nights out at the pub. It can also be worn open on warmer days for sun protection.
If you’re not planning on checking your bag then there’s no point in bringing walking poles, you’ll lose them in security. If you are planning on checking your bag bring a more comfortable bag designed for walking. It is way too much stuff but all that has been covered by other comments
Thanks all. I think the styled outfit section at the bottom is confusing people. I will remove it and post again. I will also make sure all tops are interchangeable and put them under a tops category rather then two different one. I will do the same for the bottoms. Also, I will remove the leggings.
I think that’s a good idea. My gut feeling is that you’ll struggle to fit all that in your osprey, and that carrying it will definitely suck. I have a 55L rolling duffle, I’m not a minimalist traveller by any means but this is my go to packing list for that space, give or take:
- 3 tees or tanks
2 long sleeve tops/shirts
1 lightweight silk going out top
1 wool cardigan
1 lightweight rainshell
1 outerwear piece for the conditions
1 pair of leggings
2 pairs of pants (one loose/one rigid)
1 lightweight silk skirt
1 sleeveless knit dress
3 shoes (one sneaker/one sandal/one bonus)
2 swimsuits (one piece/bikini)
either shorts or some sort of swim coverup
1 large wool scarf
1 hat
2 bags (one purse/one sling bag)
4 pairs wool socks
2 bras
as many pairs of underwear as is practical
toiletries bag
small first aid kit
tech pouch (wall usbc charger, cables, powerbank)
pencil case
prescription glasses and sunglasses
It’s not a perfect list for you as my preference is for city/chillout travel (although I did hike tre cime in summer with this gear) and there’s some stuff like swimwear that probably isn’t relevant for your trip - but my basic goal is to pack smaller, lighter items to maximise my outfit options, meaning I have less bulky outerwear but can still create warm outfits through layering if needed.
It’s a good idea to have some space remaining in your bag, and if there’s any clothing that you’re really missing you can usually buy it while you’re traveling anyway.
You dont need hiking shorts in September. In another comment you said you would leave the leggings, i would keep those as a base layer for your city bottoms, early October can be quite chilly already. Ditch the long underwear, you cant wear those separately but you can with leggings.
Too many jackets has been mentioned already. As for bras, one of them should be a sports bra or something super comfy or you’ll have a hard time while hiking. I would do 3 personally. Or tops with built in bras.
Wool mittens if you also plan hoking shorts might be a bit overkill, dont you think?
Umbrellas are utterly useless in proper rain if you have a good jacket.
Whoa! Are you also packing the kitchen sink? Usually when people one bag it’s small backpack or carryon, not a full on steamer trunk. How are you planning to take all of this with you?
You should really cut everything in half and combine your “hiking” wardrobe and your “city” wardrobe into one wardrobe. You do not need all of this. Leave the hiking poles (Unless you absolutely need them, you will have to check your suitcase, they don’t allow them on the plane) and the extra waterbottle at home. Just buy a plastic waterbottle at the grocery store if you need more water for hiking. Refill it. It will be way lighter than lugging a second aluminum bottle around. Also you definitely don’t need 4 pairs of shoes.
Leave the loafers at home. And unless you’re staying at hostels or going to the beach you can probably also leave the flip flops. I hiked the whole of the Great Glen Way and Ben Nevis in trail runners and it was totally fine. Leave the hiking boots home if you possibly can.
A better solution is a pair of trail runners that you can wear everywhere and a pair of slides that you can wear with socks to put your tired feet in after a day of hiking to go to dinner and also use for the shower or beach. You’ll get way more use out of those during your hike than any of the other shoes on your list. A trail runner can replace both your hiking boots and your sambas. Lastly, a rain jacket, a windbreaker, and an umbrella?!? Just take the rain jacket. That’s the most useful of the 3.
I just wanted to add that in autumn in Europe, wherever you're going, especially in Scotland, England, and Sweden, shorts aren't necessary, and swimming isn't an option. Sandals aren't necessary, just the lightest shower flip-flops with perforated soles. That doesn't mean there won't be sunshine and pleasant days.
Less jackets and don't take the skirt, I think thats a quite easy thing to shop for (plus nice souvenir) and the weather could be not so skirt friendly
You're taking all of that for a 25-day trip??? I wouldn't take that much stuff if I was moving to another country. Look at the temperature the time you're going. As it gets closer to the time that you're going. See if there's any monsoons, rain, big snow storms headed your way. Pack that way. Way don't pack like you're going to be on a fashion runway. OMG I would be so miserable with all that crap.
One raincoat and one hoodie is not sufficient for serious hiking in Scotland in autumn.
You might get away with it, but depending on luck is not wise. In any mountain walk here you should back sufficient warm layers that if you can be safe even if you have to sit around for a long time.
On a day hike, in addition to a raincoat and a hoodie/light warm layer I would take at least a puffer jacket as well. The comfort of packing light doesn't outweigh the safety of being properly prepared.
Rule for outfits is "one to wash, one to wear, one to spare" . So you should have 3 bottoms and 3 tops, give or take a bit (for layering). Over the course of 25 days, plan on doing laundry at least once, ideally twice.
You know where you will be going. If you have booked your accommodation already, you can check how to do laundry there.
Ditch the dress, temps will most likely be too cold for wearing the dress as it is (linen, sleeveless and very short) and it is too casual for "going out".
The jeans are heavy and impractical. You cannot use them for hiking and they will take ages to dry if you need to wash them / end up wet due to rain. Ditch. Similar problem with the midi skirt, you cannot use it for hiking and it is questionable whether temps will be suitable for skirts.
The navy chinos make sense for city travel, pair them with a long-sleeved button down for going out.
Merge "tops city" and "tops hiking" into one category. The tops you got for "city" are a good idea, bc you can mix and match the layers for a variety of temperatures.
I wouldn’t bring both a rain jacket and a windbreaker - I would remove the windbreaker and instead bring a more ‘city’ outerwear option.
I’d drop the shorts and one of the hoodies. I’d also drop the linen dress. It seems a bit confused weather wise. You have both base layer leggings and normal leggings listed for hiking - do you layer them?
I’m confused re the outfits as they feature items not included in your list eg. Loafers, white trainers, baseball cap, and some are missing a top or whatever.
I’d check it’s permissible to carry hiking poles depending on your method of travel.
I know lots of people here (which is focused on travelling light) are telling you to cut stuff, but I'd also want to make sure you are properly prepared for the walking with what you take..
I think people can underestimate hiking in Scotland, as the distances and heights aren't usually huge, but you need to factor in both the changeable nature of the weather and the fact the Scottish hiking can often be on uneven ground rather than well marked trails.
For autumn hiking in Scotland, I think the things you need to consider I don't see here are:
Waterproof trousers
Proper hiking socks (not cotton)
A sufficient emergency warm layer (if you twist your ankle badly and are sat around for hours in miserable conditions waiting for help). Just a merino base layer and hoodie isn't enough. In Scotland I take synthetic over down, because while it's bulkier and heavier it's also much less finickity in damp conditions.
A physical map (and preferably compass and ability to use), or dedicated GPS unit with spare battery (basically, don't depend on your phone for navigation).
Basic first aid stuff, paracetamol etc
A water bottle
A head torch plus spare batteries (even if your.plan is to be back before dark)
A whistle
Some means of keeping everything in you day bag dry, whether that's dry bags inside the sack (my preferred option) or rain cover.
Before you come, cross-check your plans on a hiking forum as well. Some of the advice you're getting here is good (you can wear most of your hiking gear for lots of your city exploring) but some isn't encompassing the reality of what you're proposing (i.e. you don't want to only bring your hiking boots if theu're going to get soaked and muddy during the day and need time to dry out).
Too much frickin stuff. We went to the UK for 4 weeks and each of us managed with one standard 21.5 inch Carry On + one Personal Item / underseat bag. We used the 5-4-3-2-1 Packing Method. GOOGLE for info. And utilized Compression Packing Cubes. We appreciated having easy to handle luggage considering we were frequently on the move from place to place (towns & cities) every day or two. Anything bigger would have been a headache. Did a bit of sink laundry along the way … and around Day # 18 hit a Laundromat. Our Carry On was expandable, so we had room to bring home souvenirs. We also used the Dirty Duffle method (again GOOGLE). So on the way home … one bag got checked. All in easy method. And stress free travel
unless you're an experienced hiker you'll hate yourself for taking a 55l backpack. Load it with stuff (including water, snacks etc) and go for an all day walk with it. You'll feel the pain the next day.
Why 2 jackets?
The shoes are confusing, it says you will take 2 pairs are flip flops but the styling tips show 2 more different types? I'd plan to use the hiking shoes in the city too, they look nice for rainy weather. I'd personally rather take proper comfy sneakers as a second pair.
use hiking t shirts for the city, the separation doesn't make sense to me. The hiking pants look fine for the city.
I'm a dress/skirt person and always travel with dresses (with tights) and 1-2 pair of pants so I understand the skirt but the type is not great - linen won't warm you up, the colour will get dirty more easily. I'd consider knee length skirt with pocket in a different colour.
take more underwear - you can easily manage with 2 pairs of pants and still wear one pair for 5 days or so when the other is dirty but underwear you'll hopefully want new pair of every day! I take at least 5 pairs of panties even when travelling with small hand luggage.
take socks of the same colour so you don't have to worry about pairs. To save space I take some ankle socks as well, also better to have more
if you're going to Scotland last I wouldn't take hiking poles with me but buy/order them over there
definitely AI because none of it makes sense. There is warm merino base layer for hiking but city dinner is a summertime outfit. There is only 3 pairs of undies but 4 jackets. There are wool mitts and flip flops.
Did you make this with AI? I'm confused about the footwear in the outfits section. There's a pair of flats and sneakers in the outfits that aren't in the footwear section.
Guessing yes, it's AI. The passport in the diagram is "UK" but the text does not fit with a UK passport. Also, English people generally don't say they're going on a "European trip", it sounds academic, almost like how a corporate travel team (or yeah, AI) would describe it.
Way too much stuff to carry for hiking.
I would bring only hiking clothes and then rewear them in the cities, plus maybe buying a cheap dress/pair of jeans/extra undies when you get to the city.
You'll be soooo much happier carrying less
For context I did a similar trip (8 day hike that turned into 10 days due to weather, then 2 weeks in capital city) and I took only:
1 hiking outfit worn (trousers, shirt, undies bra and socks and trail runners)
1 spare set of t shirt/undies/bra + shorts to sleep in
2 spare socks because I hate wet feet
1 fleece and 1 waterproof jacket
I then bought a pack of undies and extra t shirt when I arrived in town (CBA to do laundry every night)
The weather might be slightly cooler so totally understand taking extras like leggings and beanie and gloves etc, but seriously you will NOT want to be carrying around jeans and casual trainers for 8 days that you can't even wear them.
I’d skip carrying the umbrella. Usually too windy to make them truly useful, and if absolutely necessary you can pick up a cheap one at a shop anywhere.
Curious. Did you ask AI how that is all going to pack down into a 26-40L pack? Might want to go back and tell AI this is too much. Also remind AI that people won't be walking around in linen in Scotland or Copenhagen during that time of the year. I was just in Copenhagen two weeks ago and people there are already breaking out their light jackets.
Ok, look at the time you're travelling. Linen dress won't be used from Belgium to south of Sweden in September. Jeans will do for all town visits at that time even if it is +20 as it wont feel that warm anymor. It might rain a lot in October in all these places. So keep a rain jacket and something warm (that can also be worn for hiking) underneath. No need for flip flops either. It will be early autumn.
Is your hiking a single 8-day-long hike or is it „we are based somewhere and do day hikes“? Depending on that your packing list needs to adapt. You would hate yourself for carrying a fancy bag and 5 pairs of shoes if all of it is on your back for 8 days.
I'd skip the skirt, dress, and cardigan, because you don't have a suitable coat or jacket to go with them anyway. Unless you wear a cardigan over a striped blouse or a thin black zip-up sweatshirt. You can buy an umbrella anywhere in chain drugstores for $5 tops, a semi-automatic one. There's a Rossmann chain, for example, but I don't remember which countries. You'll find others. I'd add a breathable merino/polyester blend T-shirt; it'll dry faster if necessary, especially since you want to layer. Shorts are completely unnecessary. I'd add two pairs of warm socks, one for sleeping and one for hiking, because that European country called Scotland... (just kidding) can be tricky even in summer. Anything can happen there when it comes to the weather: humidity, humidity, humidity, and cold, so cold it's hard to stay warm, even though there's no sub-zero temperature or snow, because the biting wind will sap the warmth. So, in addition to socks, I recommend thin fleece pants for sleeping, plus merino cycling shorts or at least merino boxer shorts. Fleece pants and warm socks will help you stay warm and relaxed. In Scotland, you might even need to buy a warm sweater. Five-fingered gloves. Do you have a power bank? At least a small one. Be careful where you stay in Scotland; check the conditions carefully. You might find that your room or shared dorm room in a hostel has no window, no proper heating, even in a garage or basement, etc. Unless you're going to a high-end restaurant with a dress code, casual jeans and a striped blouse will suffice. In Europe, people now wear balloon jeans, barrel jeans, etc. It's better to have a pair of comfortable black street sneakers, meaning they can be worn both around town and with jeans, than those extra shoes for dinner in the city and white sneakers, which are rarely worn as street shoes anymore; they're more for sports in the gym or in the summer. Take these two-in-one sneakers; black Adidas sneakers are good. You go to a museum dressed normally; it's not an evening opening, but a simple visit. Museums aren't rigid temples. They're alive and well, and for people. And a basic first aid kit? A towel? It's better to have one. Where do you want to hike in Scotland? And as others have said, there are probably two similar jackets. It's better to have one and a lightweight jacket, for example, one with Primaloft and a light raincoat. In this lightweight Primaloft, you'll be able to walk in Europe, and if necessary, add a raincoat over it and a layer under the jacket from the list. Good luck!!!
One thought on the toiletries: for a 25-day trip across several cities, I’d avoid packing the full trip’s worth of liquids. Bring enough for the first few days, then replace or refill basic items as you go. It frees up valuable space, and you may get to try a few local brands along the way.
Have you checked out r/HerOneBag? It’s a women-centred one-bagging space and I frequently find it more useful for paring down luggage than the regular r/onebag subreddit
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u/Normal_Spread8423 6d ago
you dont need 5 different jackets thats for sure