Earlier this summer, we went on a two week trip to Europe! We opted to travel with carry-ons only, because I’ve heard too many horror stories of lost luggage and also wanted to travel lightly. Our two week trip had four stops (Lake Garda, Italy + The Dolomites + Croatia + Venice, Italy). For the most part, it was hot and typical ‘summer in Europe’ weather, but our time in the mountains was a little cooler, so we did need some layering pieces.
Without further ado, here’s a huge brain dump of what we packed for our two-week trip to Europe with two kids!
THE BAGS
I used my Away ‘Bigger Carry-on’ for myself (in Black) and the girls’ shared the Away ‘Bigger Carryon’ in Pink. For the girls, they each had one side of the suitcase. I used Packing Cubes to help organize both suitcases! For the plane, I had my Black leather tote with leather tote insert that I used to hold my items including toiletries, a sweatshirt, cozy socks, water bottle, laptop, Kindle, etc. I kept all of the girls’ stuff for the plane in this BAGGU Cloud Bag, including their snack containers, water bottles, iPads, headphones, coloring supplies, small bag of toys, pajamas, etc. We used the CLOUD Bag to hold their gear and also as a beach/pool bag throughout our trip.
Bag 1: Andi Carry-on Suitcase / Bag 2: Kids Carry-on Suitcase / Bag 3: Eric’s Carry-on Suitcase / Bag 4: Kids Tote Bag (Personal Item) / Bag 5: Andi Tote Bag (Personal Item) / Bag 6: Eric Backpack (Personal Item) / Two Carseats / One Stroller
WHAT I PACKED FOR MYSELF
Dresses: I packed 6-7 dresses, including this pink ruffle sleeve dress, a midi black puff sleeve dress, and this short white puff sleeve dress with cut-outs. Some of the dresses were the versatile ‘exercise style’ dresses with built-in shorts/bras including the Abercrombie exercise dress (in green) and the Old Navy exercise dress (in black and slightly longer/more ‘modest’ than Abercrombie version). I knew dresses would be what I wore the most, and wore each dress at least twice on our trip!
Tops: I didn’t bring any ‘fancy’ tops and kept it super simple, which basic tanks/t-shirts and some layering pieces for travel days and evenings. I packed Target’s $8 ribbed tank top (brought it in 2 colors), H&M’s $8 ribbed tank top (brought in 2 colors), two shrunken t-shirts (one black, one white), an oversize t-shirt, a couple Free People crop tops, this oversize striped tunic that I’ve been wearing over and over, a white pullover sweater (perfect layering piece for evenings on the patio!), and an oversize white button-down / swim cover
Bottoms: I opted to keep bottoms pretty simple too, knowing I’d mostly wear dresses. I packed these quilted shorts (they look super cute with the t-shirts/tanks shared above) and can be dressed up or down and also wore with a layering piece, like a sweater or cover-up. The rest of the bottoms were more lounge-y/for hiking/travel days including these tan lounge pants (wore for both travel days!), one pair of black leggings, black biker shorts, and these black joggers (I’ve have had these for almost years – obsessed!).
Shoes: I decided to bring four pairs of shoes! I could have narrowed it down to three, but I like options! I packed my black Birkenstocks, ‘elevated’ cut-out sneakers, sporty black sandals and Veja sneakers
Bags:I wore wore the BAGGU Fanny Pack every single day for adventuring! It fits a surprising amount of stuff, including snacks for my kids and small toys lol. I also packed my Black leather tote with leather tote insert, but probably didn’t NEED to bring this bag, but liked having my own bag for travel days separate from kids stuff.
Other: Youswim swim suits, bras, undies, socks, toiletries, jewelry, sunglasses, etc!
WHAT I PACKED FOR THE GIRLS
Lucy and Winnie are four and two, and shared the Away ‘Bigger Carryon’ in Pink. Here’s a high-level overview of what I packed them!
Shoes: for each of the girls, I packed three pairs of shoes – sneakers, a pair of waterproof Natives, and a pair of sandals.
Tops/Bottoms/Dresses: I can’t remember exactly, but I packed approx. 7-10 t-shirts/tank tops for each plus 5-6 or so pairs of shorts. I packed 3-4 slightly nicer dresses/two-piece sets for each of them and one pair of leggings for colder days.
Layering Pieces: I packed them each an oversize sweatshirt (mostly used for travel days) and a lightweight rain jacket (used when hiking!)
Other: I packed each of the girls three swimsuits (love the quality of these Hanna Andersson suits), three pairs of pajamas, plus socks and undies. And two (small) stuffed animals each!
TRAVEL/ENTERTAINMENT BAG
Here’s what we in our kids travel/entertainment bag! Everything fit inside of this cute and versatile BAGGU Cloud Bag. Almost everything we brought two of, one for each of the girls. A lot of these items we would bring with us for car rides between our destinations, as well as to dinner each night.
iPads + these kid headphones
Melissa and Doug Puffy Sticker Sets
Stickers, small bag of crayons, mini notebooks
Small bag of Paw Patrol figures and little animals
Plus snacks, including this kids travel snack container hack!
KIDS GEAR
Here’s some of the ‘bigger’ items we packed for the flight and vacation!
Inflatable Foot Rest Pillow x 2
Travel Stroller (Mountain Buggy Nano)
Travel Convertible Carseat (Cosco Scenera Next) – For Winnie, age 2.5
Travel Carseat (Cosco Finale DX 2 in 1) – for Lucy, age 4.5