To think we could get away with just one 20 kg...

[42isthemeaning]

...suitcase for a family of four going on a 5 day city break visit? Dh thinks we can; I'm not so sure. The dc are 8 & 11 if that helps!

Many thanks for your thoughts on this!

If course you can. It's probably going to be warm so only light clothes needed. You can buy toiletries at the airport after security. And I am assuming you will all have hand luggage too?

No chance in our house.

City break is tough because you need slightly more formal clothes than a beach holiday. We usually take 2 x 20kg and use every gram of it

We've just had a week away with one suitecase and 4 items of hand baggage. All of us wore one pair of shoes and took a spare pair. We had a change of clothes for each day as it was very hot. There was Me, DH and DC aged 15 & 12.

It was easy so i'm with your DH on this one.

Depends on temperatures, what you want to do (are smart clothes required or just outfits that will take you from daytime to dinner) and, if my kids are anything to go by, gender 😊 DD wants options for different outfits, the boys couldn't care less. Tbh if you are doing it to save paying for another suitcase I would say pay the money to save the stress, if it is more practical e.g. you will be wandering round a city with your luggage as you can't check in to your hotel for hours after you arrive I would probably try and make do with the one case.

Of course, especially with hand luggage too.

Willow 40kg of luggage for a city break? Are you packing suits etc?

If you're all allowed 10 kg carry on as well, you're going somewhere warm and will wear your heaviest clothes and shoes on the plane, yes it will be easy.

You could get away with hand luggage only, but the hold case means that you have a bit extra room and can take your own toiletries without having to buy at the airport.

We are currently on a 6 day city break, travelling between two cities so have packed backpacks and travelling light. Me, DH and DC, 8&6. DH and I have a backpack each, each weighing about 8kg. It's hot where we are so no bulky clothes. Shorts/t-shirts and a hoody each for when we go inside and they have chilly aircon.

Yes v easy since you all have hand luggage as well.

I'm dreading this too. We're going to Spain for 6 days on Sunday, there's 3 of us (me, Dh and Dsd (11)), dsd will want to take a million thing and I don't exactly travel light. Dh is convinced we can do it & it was ridiculously expensive to check in bags anyway. Good luck op,

I am in awe of people who travel light. We need 1 x 20 kg for each of us and it is still a push. Part of the pleasure of being on holiday - for me - is getting "dressed up" or at least changed at night. Then there is the beach stuff. And the day stuff. And the toiletries. And the books. You get the picture. When we took our sons they had a case each too.

I hope.

We did a city break last Easter for DH, me, DS and DD with two hand luggage suitcases for 4 nights and all was fine.

Planning on one checked in suitcase and various hand luggage for a week away in August (will hopefully be consistently warm which should help)

If each of you has a maximum size hand luggage case that'll be enough surely? DH travels a lot for work and I've finally bought in to his habit of hand luggage only - much easier when you don't have a baby or toddler. That smug feeling of breezing past the carousel while everyone else hangs around for hours is worth all the decanting of toiletries.

This is very interesting, thank you. We have already booked an item of hold luggage and we can have one cabin bag each. We're going to Prague and not planning on too many formal dinners. It's the shoes that worry me...

There's a lot of cobbles in Prague so bear that in mind when you're thinking of shoes. And lots of walking to be done.
Love Prague, I'm jealous.

Just been for a week away. We only took hand held bags full of clothes.
Bags didn't weigh more than 7kg.
Means we didn't have to wait to get bags.
We did stay in an apartment so we had a washing machine.

Shoes:
one pair of Converse/similar (wear on plane).
one pair of sandals/similar, pack in bag.

So only four pairs in the case (or even in the hand luggage).

And if they don't squish, stuff them. It's amazing how many pairs of knickers and socks you can fit in shoes.

Also, roll rather than fold - fewer creases and takes up less space.

We also wouldn't even need the hold case. We do tend to book apartments rather than hotels though which give the option of a quick mid-week wash of of clothes and means you need half as many. Like others have said, we wear one pair of decent, walkable shoes and coat each and just a spare light pair of sandals in bag. Prague will be pretty hot at the moment so you can get away with lightweight outfits.

I think you could easily do it, if you're all taking hand luggage. If you wear your heaviest shoes there and back, its just shorts, tshirts, a dress or two and an extra pair of shoes. Wear a hoody and thats you sorted. Toiletries can be the make or break , but pack your must haves in the hold then buy deodorant etc airside or buy minis and put in carry on. We're just back from Spain and had two hold luggage booked for the 5 of us, me, husband 12,9 and 6 year old for a week. We had loads of room, were very light & that included toys that the 6 year old couldn't be parted from, vast quantities of suncream and pool inflatables apparently lilos couldn't possibly be left behind.

We've just come back from 10 days in Denmark. We had 12 kg hand luggage allowance each and that was plenty, we didn't book any hold bags.

If I was going to Prague, I would wear converse on the plane, take some 'walking sandals' that are reasonably dressy to my admittedly low standards and some flip flops (it is hot in summer in Prague isn't it?).

I'm sure you can fit in a couple of pairs of dressy heels in the generous luggage allowance you have if that's your thing (honestly it's loads for 5 days).

I do keep all my books on a kindle so that does help.

It's suncream that I struggle with - I'm pale so need loads and I normally buy it at home from Asda/Aldi in the sale so always have a stock of 200 ml bottles I've paid a quid or two for.

If I have to pay Boots or abroad prices for it, that's nearly the cost of carry on case there and it's quite liberating getting rid of most of your luggage as soon as you get to the airport. You can then just get on the plane with a small rucksack and opt out of the fight for the overhead locker. And I've never waited more than 10/15 minutes for luggage to emerge at the other end.

My partner and I do quite a few short breaks and we share a small suitcase (20k type). Works okay for us. Comfy shoes most important, but certainly no formal wear!

One suitcase in the hold and 4 sets of hand luggage for 5 days is definitely doable! Especially as you can just share one large set of toiletries (eg no need to pack half a dozen bottles of shampoo when one will be more than enough for the four of you for a week) that can go in the hold bag, 5 sets of clothes each (wearing your bulkiest things on the plane) and then anything extra can go in hand luggage. You're only going for a week, you don't need to take your entire wardrobes.

I have just come back from 3 weeks in Spain taking only one hand luggage case and a handbag, it is entirely doable. I was working as a director at a summer camp so I couldn't swan around in swimsuits and flipflops the entire time but had to be casual enough for the day to day activities and also be "smart" enough for arrival/departure day when all the parents were around. I managed to get 3 pairs of jeggings/leggings, 3 pairs of shorts, 2 skirts, 10 t-shirts/vest tops, a couple of swimsuits, a couple of light cardigans/cover ups, beach towel, two weeks worth of underwear & socks, a pair of flip flops and a pair of sandals into my case. Then used my handbag for my laptop, tablet, phone (and all the cables), toiletry bag (with the bare minimum of make up in because I use Boots click and collect to order full sized products to the airside store in the airport, so I save on space in my case and it actually works out cheaper if they have offers on), purse, phone, keys, passport, headphones and other bits and bobs. I wore my jeans, walking shoes, lightweight jacket and hoodie on the plane

I flew with Easyjet that have no weight limit on hand luggage, as long as it fits, and paid a little extra for up front seating so I could get the second hand luggage piece. The airport were doing a "hands free service" where you could check your hand luggage in for something like £4 (rather than having to lug it round the airport and potentially gate check it last minute) so I checked my case which ended up weighing only 13kg and just kept my handbag with me.

We did, including 2 bottles of wine

we are about to go away (driving though) for two weeks, three of us. We will be taking 3 x big suitcase. Golf clubs. A bag full of shoes. A bag full of wash stuff/toiletries. Buggy. A bag full of gym/swimming stuff. God knows what else...I am in absolute awe of you light packers.