Italy Packing List

The quick answer

Pack for walking on uneven stone and for getting into churches, and most of the rest follows. Italian sightseeing is done on foot over cobbles, steps and polished marble, and the greatest buildings in the country will turn you away at the door if your shoulders and knees are bare.

Shoes, first and most important

Bring shoes you have already walked a full day in, with a real sole and some grip. Roman sampietrini, the black basalt setts, are beautiful, uneven and slick in the rain; Venice is bridges and steps; the hill towns are ramps and stairs. Smooth-soled dress shoes and brand-new sandals are the two most common packing mistakes here. Two pairs, so one can dry, is better than one good pair.

The church dress rule

Major churches, including St Peter’s Basilica, the Duomo in Florence and St Mark’s in Venice, require shoulders and knees covered for everyone. This is enforced at the door by staff who turn away dozens of people a day, and no amount of heat is an exception. The solution is trivial once you know: a light scarf or pashmina in the day bag covers shoulders instantly, and trousers or a longer skirt or dress solves the rest. Hats come off inside.

Clothing

• Layers. A stone basilica in August is genuinely cold, and a piazza in October is warm at lunchtime.
• A light rain shell in every season except high summer, and in the north even then.
• One smarter outfit. Italians dress well and notice, and some restaurants, theaters and hotel dining rooms expect it. This is not formality so much as self-respect, and it costs you very little space.
• Swimwear if the coast or the lakes are on the route, and remember that walking around a town in beachwear is frowned on and in some resorts is actually fined.

The adapter, which is the one people get wrong

Italy uses 230 volts at 50 hertz. Sockets take the standard European round-pin plugs, but Italy also uses its own three-pin-in-a-line socket, type L, which a plain two-pin European adapter will not always fit. Buy an adapter that covers type L as well as the usual C and F, or carry a multi-country one. A small power strip turns one awkward socket into four, which matters in older hotels where there is exactly one by the bed.

The day bag

Something that closes properly, worn to the front in crowds. Pickpocketing is the main crime a visitor meets in Italy and it is opportunistic, so a zip and a hand on it is most of the defense. Add a refillable water bottle, because public drinking fountains are widespread and safe, and in Rome the nasoni run all day.

Documents and small practicalities

Carry your passport or a clear copy, your insurance details, and prescriptions in their original packaging. A paper copy of your bookings is worth the weight when a phone dies at a station. Leave space in the case: Italy is a country people buy things in, and the leather, ceramics and food are the reason.

Planning with LABUSA Travel

We send a packing note tailored to your route and month, because what a Dolomites walk needs and what a Sicilian September needs are not the same list.

Sources

• ENIT, Italian National Tourist Board: the official destination, region and practical visitor information for Italy. italia.it. Accessed 11 August 2026.
• Musei Vaticani: visiting arrangements, dress requirements and accessibility at the Vatican Museums. museivaticani.va. Accessed 11 August 2026.