Free, Printable Kids’ packing list for spring in Europe (baby/toddler, child, teen)
Free, printable packing list for kids (baby/ toddler, primary school and teens) for spring in Europe, with all essentials to keep you all comfortable while traveling.
Spring is a wonderful time to travel to Europe but one of the hardest when it comes to packing as the weather is all but consistent.
You will find potentially very significantly different weather in different locations, the same place is likely to have different weather from one day to the next and each year seems to be different form the one before, so there is little to go by.
We live in Italy and Ireland and travel around Europe in spring all the time (it’s school holidays) and we have had anything from very hot days to freezing cold ones, and not necessarily where you think – the coldest was Sicily!
Despite che challenges mid-season throws to packers, however, we have eventually come up with great packing lists that have allowed us to travel light and be ready for all types of weather and situations.
Today, I am happy to share them with you! Today, I share my kids’ packing list for spring in Europe and how we go about traveling carry on with kids.
How to travel carry on with kids: our two rules
We always try carry on only and we do it without compromising on comport and style by following two rules:
Only pack for five days, then do laundry at your destination (super easy and even fun, it’s a good way to have a local experience)
Pack clothing that match in color and patterns so you can have different outfits with a limited amount of items
If you follow these two principles, you can easily hop around Europe with minimal luggage and have you kids comfortable and cute for vacation photos with no effort!
Carry on only packing list for children: best luggage
- Length of stay: any, we only pack for 5 days and then do laundry on the road
- Type of holiday: city break/ cultural tourism
- Season: Spring
- Toddler bags: Trunki
children luggage for little ones (if you are unsure about it, read my full Trunki review here) + Kikki Deuter
daypacks (review here) for daily essentials.
- Older kids’ backpack: Osprey 26L
- Teens backpack: Osprey Carry on 40L
Packing for the season
Europe doesn’t have consistent weather patters across its different areas so how warm clothing you need depends on where you are going.
As a general rule however, you want to have long pants (or skirt and tights), short sleeve tops, good sweater, a great jacket, scarf and good walking shoes that can take the rain.
This is the case also in Souther Europe for most of spring.
Our spring in Europe packing list for kids
I always start from what to wear on travel day.
For the plane, my kids wear sweater, long sleeve top short sleeve t-shirt, comfy pants / leggings for my girl, socks, and underwear, mid-season jacket (hence the layering of the two tops), sneakers.
And in the bags we are going to have (each):
- 2 pairs of trousers
- 5 t-shirts
- 1 long sleeve top
- 1 sweater
- Underwear and socks (7 pairs of each)
- bathing suit/goggles/crocs/swimming hat if going to a hotel with indoor pool
- 1 pyjama each
- 1 teddy
- 1 sticker book
- Toiletries and medicines: kids shampoo, hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste and basic medicines (we normally bring paracetamol, antihistamine cream + syrup and disinfectant wipes only, but this list does get revised every time and depending on our destination). Toiletries and medicines are usually in my carry on with the rest, to avoid opening too many bags at airport security, but I list them here as toothbrushes are something we always tend to forget!
As you can see from the photos, the kids are a boy and a girl and the colours of what they are gong to wear are very different (they like it this way) but in both cases, all pieces can be worn together in different combinations.
In terms of type of pants, my kids tend to prefer joggers and active wear and unless I have reasons to fight them on this (for instance if there is an event we are attending), I let them.
Joggers are very popular with kids everywhere and while they are a dress down type of attire, they are perfectly acceptable on kids in all but the most upscale places.
I also like that they dry fast when washed!
I usually do not bring shorts for them in Europe as the temperature usually doesn’t allow to wear them day to night and I don’t want to be forced to go back to the accommodation because they are cold.
They are however such a small item that if your kids want to bight them, you ca easily stash them into their bag!
Spring in Europe shoes for kids
When it comes to shoes, we usually opt for sneakers. No matter where you go in Europe you’ll find the kids will walk a lot so comfort is paramount.
You don’t need any special brand of type shoe but make sure they are well used to them and can be several hours in them without developing blisters or finding the shoes too heavy.
Strollers and carriers
If you have young kids I recommend to bring both a stroller and a carrier.
The carrier, especially soft structured ones, will be invaluable in crowded museum and stroller unfriendly attractions while the stroller will save legs (and shoulders!) on the long walks sightseeing.
Our Europe spring packing list for baby/ toddlers:
Packing list for kids – tweens and teens
When it comes to teens, I follow very much the same principles, although of course personal taste comes more into decision as my teens are of course super opinionated on what to wear and what they won’t, no matter what I say!
I find that in the vast majority of cases teens can wear very much what they want in Europe.
They do not need to dress up unless you are going to an event and once they are suitably covered for visits to religious places like churches, they can very much express themselves as they please.
The biggest struggle I see with teens is that they often underestimate how cold spring can be. Spring in Europe historically is not a time for beach, sun dresses and shorts so I highly recommend to get them to research the actual temperature so they know what to expect.
Should the water be hotter than expected, you can always buy lovely local fashion!
