What to pack while backpacking through Europe
 

I'm planning on backpacking through Europe for about a month next summer, so I was wondering what are the essentials to pack. I realize that I can buy certain necessary items like shampoo, tooth paste, soap, etc, in Europe, and that I shouldn't bring large, cumbersome items that I will probably never use (like a tennis racket). My main concern is clothes. How much should I pack? Should I only pack casual clothes, or should I also pack clothes suitable for going out at night (I also have no idea what European nightlife is like). Thanks for you help, everyone.

Angelo, not many backpackers use this board, I don't think... you can get a lot of info from the www.ricksteves.com site, and espec. http://www.eurotrip.com/ which is targeted specifically to backpackers. Otherwise, do a search on this board for "backpacking" and see if you can retrieve any tips...

We did this three years ago (for our honeymoon) six weeks in Europe. We started in Athens and when up to Scotland. We had a blast and I was glad that I had packed light. The trek in Athens to the hotel (we got off at the wrong bus stop and in the Czech republic in the country trying to find my ancestral home town about killed me.) And every city we were in had a laundry mat. <BR> <BR>Do not bring jeans bring khaki's for pants. They are lighter and cooler in the hot weather. <BR>I brought one dress that wouldn't wrinkle, and <BR>two skirts (I broke down and bought a skirt in Italy as well), <BR>with tops (5 or 6) that could go with shorts or skirts, <BR>two pair shorts, <BR>a weeks worth of undergarments, <BR>walking shoes and walking sandles, <BR>a thin long sleeve button down sweater for cooler evenings or churches, <BR>very thin raincoat ours folded up into their pockets (picked these up in Germany), <BR>lots of film <BR>plastic ziploc bags for laundry and to put keepsakes, <BR>a journal, <BR>address book - to mail postcards, <BR>no blowdryer (cuts down on weight) <BR>swimsuit (for Greece), <BR>socks - bring a weeks worth, <BR>room for your keepsakes. <BR> <BR>Have a great time. We are not "backpacking" in our upcoming trip to Italy (Amalfi coast and Sicily) but I think we are taking the backpacks easier to carry and be self sufficient and it keeps you from packing too much stuff. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Check out Tilley Endurables - www.tilley.com. They have great, rugged travel clothes. It is a bit pricey, but worth it. <BR> <BR>The only way to really know how much totake is to stuff what you think you need in a backpack and carry it everywhere you go for a weekend. <BR> <BR>I think you can get by with what you are wearing plus 2 pr underwear, one pr pants, two shirts, two socks, a long sleave shirt, and a windbreaker

I second the advice to check www.eurotrip.com where a whole board is dedicaced to the "what to pack?" question.

Now Steve is a light packer.