While trying to figure out what to pack for London and Paris in the winter, I can’t help but feel like the sculpture of Méditerranée by Aristide Maillol, on display at the Musée d’Orsay (below). Buck naked, in utter despair, on the floor next to an empty suitcase wondering, “Why can’t I look cute when I travel like all those bitches on Instagram?!” I don’t even need to look cute necessarily, just less like a sewer dweller than I usually do.
My standard wardrobe consists of tops from Target, jeans or leggings, and a pair of Vans sneakers. This should illustrate that I’m not exactly “fashion forward” to begin with, but that I am a real person and real people sometimes wear clothing from discount retailers. Bring it.
Read on to find out what I, as a *real* traveling woman, not an Instagram model, packs for London and Paris in the winter. (And why this is such a chore!)
Also read: Why Paris in the winter is the best (but also why it’s not)
Packing for London and Paris in the winter
When researching what to pack for London and Paris in the winter—the latter being the fashion capital of the world, mind you—the word “chic” kept popping out at me. Like a demon child in a horror movie about my lack of fashion sense, there it was. But my question is: How does one look “chic” while touristing around Europe in the winter?
So, I did the first thing that came to mind dumbest thing possible and consulted Pinterest. And while Pinterest is fine for some things (like planning trips), it’s absolutely useless when planning what to pack for those trips. Unless you’re a runway model, which my collection of crew neck sweatshirts proves I clearly am not.
What to pack, for real people
The problem with using Pinterest for fashion advice is… that shit ain’t real. No one dresses like that in real life, especially not tourists. If your Instagram is full of photos of you looking fabulous in front of famous landmarks or looking effortlessly chic on a beach or mountain, you’re doing travel wrong!
Where are all the real people, with real advice for real travelers? The ones covered in cat hair? The ones accidentally saying “Gracias” to their French waiters?
Search for “cute winter outfits” or something similarly embarrassing and this is what you get (see below). Would someone please tell me, in what winter are they living? I’ll never understand a world that mixes sweaters and coats with bare legs, and stiletto heels with icy cobblestones.
Dressing for winter in London and Paris
Don’t let the stems and stilettos fool you into underestimating what you’ll need to add to your packing list for London and Paris. Contrary to what Pinterest would have you believe, wintertime, outdoors, in Europe, is actually cold.
There’s also a good chance it’ll be raining, snowing, sleeting, and windy from all directions. In short, those new suede stiletto booties that cost more than your trip may get ruined.
Thing is, you’re going to be outside a lot in London and Paris, even in the winter. You’ll walk across the Tower Bridge and ride on top of an open-air double-decker bus. You’ll go to the top of the Eiffel Tower on the wettest, coldest day of your entire trip. (No? Just me?) You’ll tour the Tower of London, walk up the Arc de Triomphe, and take a river cruise down the Seine. Chic is out dahling, not contracting hypothermia is in.
You’ll need to cover every inch of your body and, no, it won’t be sexy; it won’t be chic. It won’t be Insta-worthy but you’ll show yourself off anyway because a terrible picture of yourself in Paris is still better than a great picture of yourself behind a desk. *drops mic*
Clothes to pack for London and Paris in the winter
Here’s all my best advice for what to wear in London and Paris in the winter, including base layers, bottoms, tops, shoes, and everything else.
Base layers
Before you put your actual outfit on, you may want to consider putting on some underlayers first. These could be “long underwear,” heat gear, or some fleece-lined leggings. Basically, the same concept as Spanx only you’re desperately holding in your body heat, not the fact that you love Double Stuf Oreos.
We can layer as much as we want on top, but the legs always get neglected! Why should I wear six layers on top and then just… a pair of jeans? No ma’am. Definitely add some thermal leggings to your bottom half. These will keep you warm in any kind of pants you want to wear, so wear pants! (I can’t believe this is something I actually have to address here.)
Consider packing at least two pairs of these so you can alternate. You can usually find them in two forms: with feet and footless. If I’m wearing them under jeans or other pants, I always go with the footed version because it’s just easier to get dressed this way.
Note: If you’re someone who likes to wear dresses and skirts even in the winter, thermal leggings ensure you can still do that. They even make fleecy warm leggings that look like regular translucent tights.
Bottoms
I typically travel in the winter with simple jeans and fleece-lined leggings. You’re right; none of that is chic. Eek maybe, but not chic. But I don’t care; I’m wearing pants! Pack whatever pants you like to wear according to your own style, but here me out:
If you wear jeans
If you wear jeans, you need to wear something under them. Jeans are the coldest pants; they’re like those blue things you freeze to keep the beer in your cooler cold, just holding in the cold with a relentless denim grip. Definitely wear some warm leggings underneath. As far as jeans go, American Eagle and Gap are my favorite, and both are on the warmer end of the denim spectrum.
Cute, comfy pants
I also have some pairs of pants from Halara which I’m obsessed with. They’re so comfortable, stretchy, and perfect for wearing warm leggings underneath. Plus, they can even border on—dare I say—chic. In some circles at least. Some are even water repellent!
Keep it tight
On a related note, winter is wet. Don’t pack any pants that’ll drag on the ground. (Millennials know what I’m talking about. No one wants this.) Also, why OH WHY is “Muddy/wet bellbottoms ideas” a Pinterest board? Lord help us all.
Rain pants FTW
Consider packing rain pants. (I never claimed to be chic; I told you upfront!) Hear me out, if you’re going to be outside for a while and it’s raining or snowing, you’ll thank me. I do not mess around when it comes to staying dry when I travel, and even though that sounds like the start of an ad for adult diapers, what I’m talking about are rain pants. This is my next-level travel pro tip. I wear these thin rain pants from Columbia (also available on Amazon).
Tops
For tops it’s all about thin layers, which I’m sure you’ve heard a thousand times. But there’s a reason for that! For me, there’s usually a tank top base layer and a thin long-sleeve layer on top of that. This is perfectly adequate for indoor activities, and when I’m outdoors I have my big coat on. I’m a huge fan of American Eagle’s t-shirts and long-sleeved layering tops.
Leave the sweaters at home. Sweaters may do some good on the open top deck of a tour bus, but the minute you head indoors you’ll sweat your fish and chips off. Plus, it’s almost impossible to even get a warm coat on over a sweater and they take up so much suitcase space. Just say no.
Shoes for London and Paris in the winter
For touring around London and Paris in the winter, you really just need one really good pair of boots. For the past few years, I’ve been a dedicated Sorel wearer. I have several pairs of Sorel boots and I absolutely love them all.
And with boots you’ll need some good winter socks as well. These boots are pretty warm so you don’t need to go super thick. Maybe just some simple boot socks like these or these.
Outerwear for the winter in London and Paris
In the spirit of covering up your entire self in order to maintain a healthy basal body temperature, you’ll want to bring:
Travel gear to pack for London & Paris in the winter
Besides my literal arsenal of safety gear I bring on every trip, this one calls for some specific items, like:
See my entire list of travel safety gear here for everything else I bring.
How to pack for London and Paris in the winter
This picture makes me laugh so hard. “Ready for Paris!” All I can say is I hope she means she’s moving here. Because no. Instagram really be leading people down all sorts of paths. Here are a few helpful tips though for traveling to London and Paris in the winter with all your stuff.
Packing cubes – They make packing so easy and keep it all so organized. I use this 5-piece set. They even have compression cubes that help really pack those sweaters down that I told you not to bring.
Vacuum bags – In a related sense, these vacuum packing bags also work great for really compressing all your stuff. I use these when I need to pack all my dirndls up for Oktoberfest and they’re really easy to use. They come in manual versions or one with a tiny little rechargeable vacuum sealer.
Wear your boots on the plane – And don’t bring any others. That will save you so much room in your suitcase already.
Things to keep in your purse at all times while traveling in the winter – Tiny hair brush (because wind), plenty of lip balm, and some rich hand cream for all the dryness. I also pack a couple of dryer sheets to rub all over my head when the static gets out of control. I told you I am not a runway material!
One main thing to remember!
However, if there’s one thing you take away from this blog post, let it be this: As long as you’re warm and comfortable, it really doesn’t matter what you wear because every single picture you take is going to look like this:
When deciding what to pack for London and Paris in the winter, you can pretty much pack whatever you want as long as you have a cute coat because that’s all anyone is really going to see. Maybe pack a couple different scarves so it doesn’t look like you toured all of London and Paris in a single day?
More info for your trip to London & Paris
Like this post? Have questions about visiting London and Paris? Let me know in the comments below. Have fun!
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