New to city breaks, how do I go light please?

[Coughingalotiscrap]

Just looking for some advice on European city break.

If I just want to travel with carry on luggage presume I need one of those hard cases on wheels? What sort of weight are we looking at and please can you take toiletries or do they still all need to be less than 100ml etc .

Many thanks!

Buy a suitcase specifically sold as carry on- they are made to the airlines dimensions. Ans yes, wheel is good. Go for 4 wheels rather than 2.

Toiletries must be under 100ml. Travel.sizes or.decant to travel mailed containers. Takes up less space and weight too.

Depends on airline. If its BA or similar then you are fine with a case on wheels. If Ryanair or similar, then basically a small handbag or rucksack.

Depending on the airline, you may have to pay extra if you are taking a hard case which goes in the overhead lockers. Certainly with the budget airlines then your "free" allowance is just for one bag that will fit under the seat in front of you.

Yes, liquids/creams still need to be in 100ml containers.

Go for a soft lightweight bag that can fit/squash under a seat.
DH has a hard, wheeled bag, & it often gets put in the hold - mine never does.

You can pay for a carry on case with Ryanair (usually maybe £20? Each way). You need to look at your local airport and see what the main carriers are. E.g. my local airport is Stansted and the main carrier is Ryanair. So there's no point in me buying a carry on case that fits easyJet's dimensions.

I have a set of 3 packing cubes which I use for all my clothes. I can fit a week's worth of clothes in those and they take up half my suitcase. The other half gets filled with things like goggles/ spare glasses/ coat/ medications/ spare shoes etc.

Toiletries need decanting into little bottles. I use bar soap while I am away, have an 8ml bottle of perfume, and use 37ml silicone bottles for shampoo and conditioner that I got off eBay. Suncream is probably the most annoying thing. I don't really wear makeup or have much of a skincare routine. If you did I think this would make life more difficult.

Liquids can only be 100ml, and only one clear plastic bag full. I find a soft rucksack or hold-all much better, you can fit more in and the airline staff don't check it so closely. You can usually squash this under the seat, and avoid paying for any baggage (some airlines charge you for any carry on baggage). wear your heaviest clothes and shoes.

Wear all your clothes on to the plane.

(only semi joking here, but do wear the bulkier items like hoodies / big shoes)

I agree with this OP. I do a lot of city breaks and only take a ‘squishy’ weekend bag - a Brics one, just larger than a Longchamps tote.

You can use packing cubes to keep your clothes neat. I also have the perfect packing list for a city break with a carry on bag!

Ok you need to be careful here because every airline has different rules.

Budget airlines like Ryanair, Easyjet, Vueling will only allow you a smallish rucksack sized bag for free. Then you pay to be allowed a bigger carry on (wheeled type). The permitted dimensions for the rucksack and the bigger type of bag are different for each airline (Ryanair smallest of course…) and are often enforced.

Non budget airlines like BA usually allow the bigger type of carry on for free but do check the dimensions.

Personally I can manage a city break on a small rucksack type bag. I wear on the journey any bulky items like jeans, coat, trainers, jumper. In the bag, neatly rolled, goes underwear, a non bulky evening skirt or dress, another pair of trousers, a few nice tops, thin jumper, some flat sandals (if warm). Toiletries if not provided at the place I’m staying - shampoo/conditioner/facewash decanted into 100ml bottles (can buy at Boots or amazon) plus make up and medication.
Towels tend to be provided there, even in air bnbs, so does hairdryer. I take a charger and some ebooks on phone. That’s all I need. I also have a compression packing cube but can manage without it.

If you go for the larger size of carry on then the world’s your oyster!

Yes soft bags are better for fitting more in as with a hard case, the case itself is using up a lot of space.

Depends what airline eg Ryanair the free option is one small underseat bag. You have to pay if you want a 'carry on' case. They check. The bag size is perfectly doable for a few nights. I got a cheap one from Amazon. You need to fit you handbag into the small bag as well so I just take a slim cross body bag that squeeze in on top.

100m max, all must fit in a 1 litre (10x10cm) zip lock bag. Buy a "cabin max" 40cm bag (widely sold on amazon etc if travelling by Ryan air et al as then you avoid all luggage fees. Wheels take up space and weigh more so personally I don't have a wheeled cabin case.

If I need more luggage than the smaller carry on, I tend to book a checked case between us as that works out cheaper typically than two larger hand luggage and means no lugging around the airport. Checking a bag means no toiletries issues

Soft bag all the way, you can get loads in the cheap bags off Amazon

I'm doing Ryanair and got a cheap "ryanair sized" backpack to take. Planning to squash in some clothes that pack small, toothbrush/toothpaste, passport, phone, purse, charger.
Accommodation provides towels and toiletries.

Prescribed liquids, gels and creams are exempt from the 100ml rule btw, but you must be able to prove that they are relatively recently prescribed in your name, eg pharmacy printed label, prescription receipt, GP letter. You can find these rules on the airlines' and airports' websites.

You are all so brilliant! Thank you so much for invaluable information x

This is exactly right, there are the categories now on ryanair, either it can fit under the seat, or you can have 10kg luggage in overhead locker, or you can check in 20kg. Each priced separately

I'm going on a short city break with Jet2 in a couple of weeks. They give you 10kg cabin baggage allowance that has to be a certain size, PLUS a handbag or laptop type bag or the bag you've bought duty free in that will fit under the seat.

The last time I was at Manchester they gave out the plastic bags to put toiletries in.

I'm going somewhere warm so will travel in leggings, trainers and a sweatshirt and just take maybe two t shirts, a pair of shorts, some lightweight trousers, underwear and minimal toiletries. I really don't care if I am wearing the same outfit more than once.

Check the airline's web pages to see what their rules are.

I take a small rucksack as it can go under your seat. Wear your heaviest clothes eg jeans and a top and jumper/hoody. I don't take liquids or aerosols. I just buy what I need like deodorant and toothpaste over there. You really only need clean underwear and socks and 2 or 3 tops to wear with your jeans and a skirt for evening wear and sandals for evening. If you are only going to be away for 2-3 nights that's all you will need. People often take too many things and never even wear them.

I’ve just come back from a city break flying with Ryanair. I used a small rucksack ( exact dimensions) for my personal item which went under the seat and a hold-all for the 10kg additional bag which we paid for ( I used a Foldie which has pros and cons but I didn’t want to waste any of my 10kg on the mechanism). I used some great compression cubes and ended up with more than enough space. I had some silk trousers and t shirts for evening and some seersucker items which proved to be the lightest and most useful items.

For cosmetics I decanted into silicone bottles but I also saved small sample pots for cosmetics for items where I just wanted a little product. I have a more rugged version of the clear plastic bag you get given at the airport so I don’t have to change it over. A lot of my make up was in stick form so I didn’t need to squeeze it in this bag - Jones Road and Nudistix were useful brands. What else? I had a smaller insulated water bottle.
I reckon I could have packed for a couple of weeks with the space I had. The smaller of the two bags could have worked for a long weekend if I didn’t have another pair of shoes or if I just packed flip flops.

Right, I shall check which airline and have a peruse of their page. It's funny, I've travelled long haul so often but never a city break!

Repeating a lot of what has already been said;

A squashy bag is best to fit stuff in without breaking the rules. If you're going to be going regularly, it might be an idea to get a bag of the particular dimensions - e.g. Cabin Max do them in specific sizes for different airlines.

I have a clear plastic wash bag that I put all my liquids in. You can get travel sizes of toothpaste, and of spray deodorant. Decant your shampoo, conditioner, face wash, mouthwash, etc. into smaller bottles, and put them all in the wash bag. Put the wash bag at the top of your luggage so you can just take the whole thing out to go through security. All hotels will have some form of soap and towels.

Packing cubes are an option, but I usually find it's just as easy to roll clothes up small, rather than folding them. Just to state the obvious, if you're packing an extra pair of shoes, you can put rolled up underwear/socks inside them to save space.

Plan your wardrobe, and add an extra set of underwear, just in case, and possibly a small top/t-shirt in case you get sweaty in the afternoon and want to change before going out in the evening.

Don't forget a plug converter for your destination country if you're taking any electronics. You can often find USB sockets in hotel rooms, or even on the back of the TV in the hotel room for charging phones (don't forget your charger cable).

Are you staying in a hotel? There are usually toiletries in the bathroom. If not shampoo bar which doubles as soap. Or hit the supermarket when you get there.

Also ziploc bags. Amazingly useful for many things.

And finally, thank goodness for klm who have rules but don't seem to care. My dd lives in amsterdam and has come with 3 bags and duty free and they never bat an eye.