Carry-on only: how to pack one bag for a week

Travelling with only a carry-on changes a trip in small ways that add up. You walk straight off the plane, you can take a train or a bus into town without wrestling a suitcase up stairs, and if your flight is cancelled and rebooked, your bag stays with you. The catch is that a cabin bag is small, and a week is long enough that you cannot simply bring everything. The trick is not clever folding. It is deciding, before you pack, that your clothes will work together, that you will wash a few things on the road, and that most of what you usually bring will stay at home. These twelve steps take you from the airline’s rules to a closed zip.

1.Start with your airline’s cabin bag rules, not your bag

There is no universal carry-on size. Each airline sets its own maximum dimensions and, on many airlines, a weight limit as well, and the rules can differ between fare types on the same flight. Some fares include only a small bag that fits under the seat, with the larger overhead bag sold as an extra. Before you pack, read the baggage page for every airline on your itinerary, including the return and any connecting flight, and pack to the strictest one. If you are flying a low-cost carrier, measure your bag with wheels and handles included, because that is how the sizer at the gate measures it.

2.Choose a bag you can carry, not just one that fits

A soft-sided bag or a travel backpack gives you a little forgiveness in a sizer and is easier on cobbled streets, buses and stairs. A small wheeled case is kinder to your shoulders on long airport walks. Either way, a bag that opens flat like a suitcase, rather than from the top like a hiking pack, is far easier to live out of for a week. Whatever you choose, check its external dimensions against the airline rules from step one, and remember that a full bag is heavier than it looks when you lift it into an overhead bin.

3.Know the liquids rule before you buy toiletries

At most airports, liquids, gels, creams and aerosols in cabin bags must be in small containers, each within the limit shown at your airport, and all of them must fit inside one clear resealable bag that you take out at security. Some airports with newer scanners have relaxed this, but the rule still applies at many others, including the one you fly home from, so pack as though it applies everywhere. Decant what you need into small refillable bottles, and remember that toothpaste, sunscreen, lip balm and mascara all count. Solid alternatives, such as a shampoo bar, a stick deodorant and a bar of soap, take no space in the liquids bag at all.

4.Build the wardrobe around one colour family

The single most effective packing decision is choosing clothes that all go together. Pick one base colour for trousers, skirts and outer layers, such as navy, black or grey, and tops in two or three colours that work with it. When every top goes with every bottom, a small number of pieces produces a lot of different outfits, and you never arrive to find that the one thing you wanted to wear does not match anything clean. Leave anything that only works in one combination at home.

5.Plan on washing, so you pack for half the trip

For a week, pack roughly three or four days of underwear, socks and tops and wash them once midway. Many hotels and rentals have a laundry service or a machine, laundrettes exist in most cities, and anything small can be washed in a sink with a little travel detergent and hung to dry overnight. Quick-drying fabrics, such as merino wool and the synthetics used in sports and travel clothing, make this painless and also resist smells, so they can be worn more than once between washes. Jeans and heavy cotton take a long time to dry, so wear your one pair of jeans rather than packing them.

6.Pack in layers instead of packing for every forecast

Layers cover a wide range of weather with few pieces. A typical carry-on set is a couple of light base layers, one warm mid-layer such as a thin fleece or a wool sweater, and one outer layer that keeps the wind and rain off and packs small. Together they handle a cool morning, a warm afternoon and a wet evening without a separate outfit for each. Check the usual weather for your dates on the destination guide before you decide how warm the mid-layer needs to be. Our multi-city Europe packing guide covers how to dress for several climates in one trip.

7.Limit shoes to two pairs, and wear the bulkiest

Shoes are the heaviest, bulkiest items in any bag, so two pairs is the practical maximum: one comfortable, broken-in pair for walking all day and one lighter pair for evenings, the beach or a smarter dinner, chosen to work with every outfit. Wear the bigger pair on travel days. Stuff socks and chargers inside the packed pair so the space is not wasted, and put them in a shoe bag or a plastic bag to keep soles away from clothes.

8.Use packing cubes and roll what you can

Packing cubes turn a bag into drawers. One for tops, one for bottoms, one for underwear and socks, and you can find anything without unpacking, then lift the cubes straight into a hotel wardrobe. Rolling t-shirts, knitwear and casual trousers saves space and keeps creases down. Fold stiffer items such as shirts and tailored trousers flat along the back of the bag. A compression cube squeezes bulky knitwear smaller still, but it does not reduce weight, so it helps most on airlines that limit size rather than weight.

9.Wear your heaviest items on the plane

The clothes you are wearing do not count towards the bag, so travel in the outer layer, the sweater, the jeans and the walking shoes. A coat with large pockets can also carry your phone, a charger, a paperback and a snack through the gate, and it goes in the overhead bin or on your lap once you are seated. If the airline weighs bags at check-in or the gate, this is also the simplest way to stay under the limit.

10.Keep the toiletry kit small and buy the rest there

Take only the toiletries you use every day, in travel sizes, plus any medication you need, in its original packaging with a copy of the prescription if it is prescription-only. Everything else, from a razor cartridge to sunscreen for the beach, can be bought cheaply wherever you land, and a pharmacy visit in a new city is a small adventure in itself. Pack medication and anything hard to replace in the bag that stays with you rather than in a pocket you might empty at security.

11.Cut the electronics down to what you will actually use

A phone, one charger, one power bank and a single universal travel adapter with a USB port cover almost every trip. If a laptop or tablet is coming, make sure it fits in an easy-to-reach pocket, because many airports ask you to take it out at security. A short, light cable for each device weighs nothing; spare cables and backup gadgets you have never needed add up quickly. Downloading maps, tickets, books and a few shows before you leave means you do not need extra devices to stay entertained or find your way.

12.Do a final pass: take out a third and leave room for the way home

Lay everything out before it goes in the bag and ask of each item whether you will definitely wear or use it, and what would happen if you did not have it. Most people can remove a quarter to a third of what they first laid out and never notice on the trip. Pack the bag so it closes without force. Space is useful: a gift, a bottle of olive oil or a market find will need to come home, and a bag that was stuffed on the way out will not take it. The “just in case” items are the ones to cut first, because a shop in your destination can sell you almost any of them if the case actually arises.

Packing carry-on only is mostly a matter of trust: trust that your clothes will work together, that a sink and a bit of detergent will get you through the second half of the week, and that the shops at your destination will cover whatever you forgot. Once you have done it once, going back to a checked bag feels like carrying someone else’s luggage. Walk off the plane, skip the carousel and start the trip.

Disclosure: Voyaggora earns a commission if you buy through some of the links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Cabin bag sizes, weight limits and liquids rules change and differ by airline, fare and airport; always check the current rules for every flight on your itinerary before you pack. See our affiliate disclosure.