How to pack

Hi, Stephanie Blake! Welcome to this forum! The very kind folks here have helped me so much over the past several years as I've learned how to plan, pack, explore and enjoy traveling in Europe - especially in Italy! How fabulous that you will be going with your son and daughter-in-law and sharing the adventures with them. Re. your packing question: There are some wonderful, useful short articles about packing, on the "home screen" of this webpage. Here's the link to one article that might begin to answer some of your questions: https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/packing-light/packing-tips-clothes
As you start to build your packing list, one factor to consider will be if you will be traveling by train, bus, or rental car, and how much you will be needing to handle your own luggage. I usually use trains in Italy, and thus need to be able to lift my luggage up several steps into the trains, and also need to pull it along sidewalks for many blocks to and from the train station (and up and down stepped bridges in Venice). Thus, I have learned (the hard way!) that I really enjoy my traveling much more if I pack pretty light, so that I can manage my luggage without too much effort. For me, that means (among other things) foregoing extra dressy shoes. My black lace-up walking shoes (Merrills) do fine with black slacks and a nice top and sweater for every possible restaurant scenario I've encountered thus far, and that has included some fairly nice ones in, yes, Venice, Florence and Rome.

Great point jmauldinuu, you beat me to the punch. I was about to post that link for the traveler seeking how to pack.

Dresses are rarely necessary anywhere. I even used fancy trousers in Cunard cruise formal nights and felt just as appropriate as the ball gowns. However, if you want to take a dress....and many do....you need shoes thst will survive a variety of surfaces, including cobblestones, bricks, gravel and tarmac. Wedges always hurt my feet, so I don't use them, but I would be concerned that a solid large sole could be rather teetery on rough surfaces like cobbles. Venice, in particular, requires a lot of walking including bridges and steps, so you want comfortable well broken in shoes.....unless eating in hotel restaurant where walking is minimal.

My daughter wears dresses a lot and has brought them on two trips to Europe. But she wears flat, comfortable sandals with them. I think shoes are what you need to focus on as you will likely find yourself walking even to dinner a lot more than at home.

stephanie,

I'll leave it to the ladies on the forum to suggest specific clothing items. However, if you plan on visiting Churches such as the Vatican, there's a strict dress code so you'll need to keep in mind that clothing with bare knees or bare shoulders will be a problem.

Hello, we just returned from two weeks in Venice, Florence and Rome. I wore skorts with a pair of new trail running shoes almost everywhere! I was glad I dressed for comfort and did not feel like I should have worn dresses or nicer shoes anywhere. I did make sure I wore something that covered my knees and shoulders when visiting churches.

Thank you so much everyone! I've been bouncing all over with dressing for warm weather or cool. I've read how they change for dinner in several things so I didn't know if dressing up was necessary. We are not hiking but walking to as many sites as we can. Any input on best shoes. Again thank you so much you are all helping greatly!

For any significant walking, I highly recommend shoes with good cushioning and grippy soles. You may have rain. You will almost certainly encounter cobblestones. You will definitely be walking and standing on hard surfaces for many hours a day.

Shoes are a very individual thing. Some folks can manage with well-constructed walking sandals. I need klutzy lace-up shoes. You may have something in your closet that would be suitable. If you think you do, wear those shoes for a morning or afternoon at your local shopping mall; that will give you an idea of how workable they are.