keano

As my wife and I will be spending 7 days 6 nights in Spain in late November, I am wondering what type of clothes I should pack. I will check the weather prior to leaving, but still wanted to hear your thoughts.

Also, as we might be leaving our suitcase in bus/train station lockers, I wonder if we can fit all in one or two carry on suitcases only.

How big a re the lockers at the station. Can we fit a regular size suitcase or can it only fit carry on ones?

Any light packers that have done such trip can chime in with thoughts?

Thanks,

CathyM

I have fit my large suitcases (26 inches) in luggage lockers in several cities in Spain - Cordoba, San Sebastian, Bilbao, and they have fit, no problem. I'm a heavy packer and haven't had an issue.

Robert2533

You should be able to do 7days/e nights with a standard roll aboard if you pack right. What you pack is up to you and where you will be in Spain, but if you're not changing hotels every day, you can usually have laundry service in about 4 hours.

yorkshire

I do it, but rarely in cold weather with bulkier clothing. That said, I find wool sweaters and pants need less laundering than summer clothes.

keano

Do hotels offer laundry service or is it public laundry mats like in USA?

We have 2 nights Barca, 1 night Granada, 2 nights Sevilla and 1 night Madrid.

qwovadis

onebag.com great site do it all the time no worries

pack a lot of drip dry and layers...

CathyM

And get plenty of rest for this fast paced trip...4 cities in 6 nights. Whew

Robert2533

All of the hotels we've ever stayed at offered laundry service, some in less than 4-hours (AC hotels).

ekscrunchy

Maybe you will find some help on this thread that I began before my first carry-on-only trip to Europe in 2010. I've since taken a few more European trips of a week's duration, using only carry on.


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...p-to-italy.cfm

psy_dr

My husband & I travel all the time with carryon only...even in cold weather. Here is how I packed for 7 nights in France in December:
2 jeans
1 dress pant
1 leggings
1 casual skirt
4 short sleeve nice tees
4 long sleeve tees
1 dressy top
2 sweaters
1 light hoodie
1 long jacket
PJs
2 scarves

I pack 2 purses - 1 small cross-body leather purse for evening dinners & 1 more casual messenger LeSportsac purse for the day (they are roomy & lightweight).

Shoes - flip-flops, pair of slim sneakers (like converse) & a pair of flat, comfy boots

*I try to have everything to match with either brown or black - so if I take brown boots, I'll try to take clothes that match best with brown instead of black - this way I avoid packing both brown & black shoes & I know everything matches.

My husband packed about the same as I did - but no skirt! .

Miscellaneous items:
Toiletries - We only take what we know we can't find in Europe - ex: my contact lenses, specific saline solution, etc - but not body soap, body cream, shampoo/toothpaste. Also, with only carryon on a plane you'll be limited to how much liquid you can take.

A few more tips:
-My carryon luggage has a zipper that makes it expand - this is great for the return trip when we have more stuff with us due to purchases. We just check it in on the return.
-Usually everything will fit in my luggage except for my long coat, so I carry this in my hand as I board the plane (so does my hubby with his coat) & when we get on the plane I take out one of those small nylon bags that fold into a small pocket-sized square & put the jackets in there for the rest of the flight.
-I wear my bulkiest shoes on the plane.
-For the personal bag I'm allotted on the plane in addition to my carryon suitcase, I usually take a larger messenger bag or back-pack & I put in there my purse with my wallet, my book & book light, laptop/iPad, camera, my light sweater/hoodie & an extra pair of socks to be more comfortable on the plane.

I packed like this on our last trip & I ended up overpacking!

Hope this helps!!!!

keano

@ psy_dr I am impressed with your packing set up. Did you both fit everything in a 22 incher carry on or did you each have one?

Carlux

You can do whatever you set your mind to do. We travelled for 4 months last year - North America in November, Hawaii, NZ, Australia and Burma, with carry on. I didn't believe it could be done, but we did it. (The other option was to be waiting for luggage in 17 different airports, and that didn't have much appeal either.

psy_dr

We each had 1 carryon and 1 personal bag (my husband had a backpack & I had a large messenger bag). And we were able to fit my 5 yr old sons clothes & shoes in our 2 bags!

As I pack, I divide up clothes, shoes & miscellaneous items into 2 piles - 1) Definintly need & 2) Maybe need. I then pack in the suitcases what is in the definitely need pile. If I have room, I'll add items from the maybe need pile.

easytraveler

Yes, you can , if you do it right.

Lay everything out on the bed and reduce by half.

Do not take an entirely different outfit for each day, but do a mix and match. Several different tops can go with one pair of black pants (I don't like skirts when traveling especially in the cold months). Also do layering - the maximum you will need is 7 different shirts/blouses, but you don't need 7 different sweaters.

If you're doing 4 different cities in 7 days (wow!), the chances of anyone seeing you in the same outfit will be next to nil, so you could wear the same sweater throughout your trip - or bring just one more sweater.

Think simple. The less you carry, the better. 3 or 4 shirts/blouses is better than 7. Do you have these in a material that washes and dries quickly? Take those.

Learn how to pack in order to save space (rolling up your clothes instead of laying them flat, tucking spare socks into empty shoes, etc)

Wear your heaviest sweater, coat, and shoes onto the plane.

I can do a month-long trip with a rollalong and a small backpack and even then I still bring too much.

Reduce. Reduce. Reduce.

Lay everythng out on the bed and reduce by half. Pack into suitcase and you'll find that you'll be reducing again. That's good!

Have a fine trip!

Bethterry

I will be traveling for 2 weeks in the winter in Europe with a carry-on. There are laundromats, one day cleaning services and traveling light and in layers is the way to go. I never check luggage anymore. Take one rolling bag and a backpack stuffed and you should be fine!

Egbert

They don't really have laundromats like in the US. If you find one they're expensive.

november_moon

Carry-on for 1 week should be very easy. You shouldn't even have to do laundry - maybe wash out a few small things, but that's it.

I spent a week in Spain last November - combo work and fun, so I had work and casual clothes to pack, plus my computer and work materials. I packed everything I needed in my computer case and a 21" roller board and had room to spare. I took a small handbag, which I slipped inside my computer case for the flight.

For clothing, I took:
2 slacks
1 skirt
2 jeans
1 yoga pants
1 jacket - to dress up with slacks/skirt, down with jeans
3 tops for under the jacket that could also be worn alone
1 sweater
1 fleece
2 scarves
1 rain coat
1 pr trouser boots
1 pr pumps
1 pr low profile black sketchers tennis shoes

Just about everything went with everything else - I went with black, brown, cream, and teal colors. The scarves added more color - I had a tealy-blue one and a red and black one.

On the flights, I wore the yoga pants, one of the tops, the fleece, and my tennis shoes.

I always bring all my toiletries because I have sensitive skin - but for trips up to 3 weeks, I can fit everything I need in the carry-on limits - except sun screen, which I buy if I need it.

greg

I found lockers getting harder to find. Even if there were lockers, there were less number of larger lockers. So taking smaller luggage always have advantages in this area.

Laundry services vary in offering depending on where you are staying. It ranges from rush few hour service at large business hotels to one full day service only (meaning you need 2 nights stay.) Often, there is no laundry service on weekends.

chapla

After many trips to Spain w/month long stays,I find I pack less and less each time. It's a mind set we have-especially Americans, that we have to wear/wash different clothes every day!I'm going back to the States in a few days and starting to pack up clothes I never wore!
I am glad I packed/wore a raincoat, umbrella,gloves, scarf.Next trip I'm determined to carry on!

Cowboy1968

I had not problem to find laundromats in Spain.
When in doubt, google "lavanderia <i>name of the city</i>"
Self-service laundromats will be called lavenderia autoservicio, while regular lavanderias are more like drop off/pick up full service places.

In Barcelona, for example, the small Bugamatic chain got three locations in the city center. Soap dispensers, Machines and Dryers work as anywhere else. The locations are usually not staffed, but have bill/coin changers and the instructions are fully tri-lingual incl. English and very fool-proof.
Expect to pay € 4 for a cycle in a decently big washer, and around € 3-4 for 1-2 cycles of drying. Soap is maybe a € 1 or 2. So the whole trip should not cost more than € 10.