05/19/2026
Solid list! 🇮🇹
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Packing for Italy? If you don’t have these 10 things, repack.
Everyone thinks packing for Italy is simple until they arrive and realize the country is beautiful, but not always easy on your body.
The cobblestones are brutal. The summer heat can feel like it is coming from the pavement and the sky at the same time. Churches may ask you to cover your shoulders. Public bathrooms may not have what you expect. Your phone battery dies faster because you are using maps, tickets, photos and translations all day. And somehow, even after packing too much, people still forget the things they actually need.
So before you close your suitcase, check this list.
1. Comfortable walking shoes that are already broken in
Do not bring brand-new shoes to Italy and “break them in” on vacation. Italy will punish you for that immediately.
Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, Siena, Assisi, Matera, Bologna — these are not soft cities. You will walk more than you think, often on cobblestones, uneven stairs, old stone streets, museum floors and hills. Even a short day can easily become 15,000 or 20,000 steps.
Bring shoes you already trust. Not just cute shoes. Not just “they were comfortable in the store” shoes. Real walking shoes that have survived a long day before.
And bring blister plasters. Not normal band-aids. Proper blister plasters. You may not need them, but if you do, they can save the entire day.
2. A power bank
Your phone will work harder in Italy than it does at home.
You will use it for Google Maps, train tickets, museum tickets, restaurant bookings, WhatsApp, translation, photos, videos, payment, and probably five things you did not expect.
By 3 PM, many tourists are walking around with 8% battery and panic in their eyes.
Bring a proper power bank. A small one is better than nothing, but if you are out all day, get something strong enough to recharge your phone at least once or twice.
Also bring the right charging cables. One cable is not enough if it breaks, gets lost, or your partner “borrows” it forever.
3. A plug adapter for Italy
Italy uses European-style plugs, but not every socket is exactly the same. You will usually see Type C and Type L outlets.
Bring a good universal adapter, preferably one with USB ports. Better yet, bring one adapter per person, because at night everyone suddenly needs to charge a phone, camera, headphones, power bank and watch at the same time.
Do not wait until you arrive and then buy an overpriced adapter from an airport shop.
4. A refillable water bottle
This is especially important for Rome.
Rome has public drinking fountains called nasoni all over the city, and the water is drinkable. In summer, this can save you money and keep you alive when the heat starts to feel personal.
You do not need a giant bottle that weighs half your backpack. A small lightweight bottle is enough because you can refill it often.
In Florence, Venice, Naples and other cities, refill points are not always as obvious as Rome, but having a bottle is still useful. Just check whether the water is marked drinkable before filling.
5. A light scarf or cover-up for churches
Italy is full of churches you will want to enter, sometimes unexpectedly.
You may be walking in Rome and suddenly decide to visit Santa Maria del Popolo. You may pass Santa Croce in Florence. You may step into a small church because it looks quiet and beautiful. But many religious sites expect shoulders and sometimes knees to be covered.
A lightweight scarf, linen shirt, or thin cover-up solves the problem without taking space.
This is especially useful in summer, when people are wearing sleeveless tops, shorts or dresses and then get surprised at the entrance.
6. A small daily bag that closes properly
Do not walk around Italian cities with your phone, wallet or passport hanging out of an open tote or back pocket.
For sightseeing, bring a small crossbody bag, sling bag, waist bag, or compact day bag with zippers. Keep it in front of you in crowded places, especially on metro lines, buses, train stations, busy piazzas and tourist routes.
Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan and Naples are not “dangerous” in the dramatic way people imagine, but pickpocketing is real. The easiest tourists to target are the ones carrying open bags, backpacks with outside pockets, phones on tables, and wallets in back pockets.
Your bag does not need to be ugly or paranoid. It just needs to close.
7. Medicine you already know works for you
Yes, Italy has pharmacies. Italian pharmacists are usually helpful, and you can buy many useful things here.
But when you are sick at 11 PM, tired, jet-lagged, and trying to explain your symptoms in another language, you will wish you had brought the basics from home.
Bring a small kit with the things you already trust: pain reliever, allergy medicine, stomach medicine, cold medicine, anti-diarrhea tablets, motion sickness tablets if you need them, and any personal medication.
Also bring electrolytes if you are traveling in summer. Heat, walking, wine, salty food and long sightseeing days can hit harder than people expect.
You do not need a pharmacy in your suitcase. Just the essentials.
8. Mosquito repellent
People forget this one constantly.
Italy has mosquitoes, and in some places they are not polite about it. You can get bitten badly in summer and even into autumn, especially near water, gardens, countryside, coastal areas, lakes and outdoor restaurants.
Rome, Florence, Venice, Tuscany, the Amalfi Coast, lakes, countryside villas — mosquitoes can show up almost anywhere.
You can buy repellent in Italy, but bringing a small one saves you from discovering the problem after you already have ten bites.
Also useful: something for after-bites.
9. Tissues and wet wipes
This is not glamorous advice, but it is very real.
Public bathrooms in Italy can be hit or miss. Sometimes there is no toilet paper. Sometimes there is no soap. Sometimes you pay €1 and still wonder where the money went.
Keep a small pack of tissues and wet wipes in your day bag. Add hand sanitizer too.
You will use them in bathrooms, trains, beaches, parks, food markets, after gelato, after touching metro handles, and probably in some situation you did not plan for.
This is one of those tiny things that feels unnecessary until the exact moment it becomes very necessary.
10. Space in your suitcase
This may be the most important one.
Do not pack your suitcase full before coming to Italy.
You will want to bring things home: olive oil, balsamic vinegar, ceramics, leather goods, paper, small food items, clothes, wine, gifts, maybe something you did not even know existed until you saw it in a shop window.
Many travelers say the same thing after Italy: they did not wish they had brought more. They wished they had brought less.
Pack your suitcase, then remove some things.
You do not need seven “just in case” outfits. You do not need heavy clothes in summer. You do not need three pairs of uncomfortable shoes. You do not need to dress like you are moving to Italy permanently.
Bring less, walk easier, climb stairs easier, take trains easier, and leave room for the things you will actually want to take home.
One extra tip: think about the season.
For summer, add a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, breathable clothes, linen if you have it, and maybe a small fan.
For spring and autumn, bring layers, because mornings and evenings can be cooler than the middle of the day.
For winter, remember that old buildings, churches and museums can feel cold in a different way, especially when you are standing still.
Italy is not difficult to pack for, but it is easy to pack wrong.
Bring what helps you walk, charge your phone, stay hydrated, enter churches, avoid blisters, survive bathrooms, protect your belongings and handle heat.
Everything else is optional.
And please, leave space in the suitcase. Italy has a way of sending people home with more than they planned.
