Travel Size Toiletries

I can't answer about Italy, but in Scotland in June we found the full size to be almost the same price as the travel size. We just left it behind at our last hotel with a note to the maid that she could have it if she wanted.

How picky are you? I didn't see any for sale in the Italian cities we've been to. Most hotels will have shampoo and soap...even our Airbnb did. I've never found small conditioners in hotels. For two weeks, I'd just bring it. Maybe you could get a shampoo/body bath bar. They don't take much room.

I bought travel size empty containers at The Container Store that are great for a 2-3 week trip.

What do you need?

Soap bars and shampoo are always provided by hotels and are complimentary. Toothpaste can be bought at any store in Italy, including popular American brands like Colgate, however a travel size toothpaste tube or two should be enough for two weeks. Q-tips are often provided by the hotel, but they take little space if you take them from home. Everything else (dental floss, deodorant stick, razors) I carry from home. You can find anything you need there but I stay away from Italian pharmacies if I can. Their prices are many times over the supermarkets. Italy has a crazy licensing law that limits the number of pharmacy licenses. It has created a monopoly (or better, an oligopoly) where the few pharmacies allowed to operate charge exorbitant prices. Every year I go to Italy I have to carry a lot of over the counter meds (like ibuprofen) for friends and family, due to the ridiculous prices pharmacies charge there for over the counter drugs.

I have looked for and failed to find travel-size solid anti-perspirant in Europe. I would not count on being able to buy that, and roll-ons are heavy.

I buy plastic 100 ml/3 oz. squeeze containers for about $1 each. You usually find them in the travel size section of stores like Target and Walmart. They come in several colors. Take empties for however much you think you'll need for 2 weeks. Buy full size shampoo, conditioner, hand cream, etc at your first stop, and fill them up (or if you're checking luggage, just fill them up at home). I use one color for each type of toiletry. This is what they look like. I've tried the silicone ones, don't like them as much and they cost more. I find a 75 ml tube of toothpaste is enough for 2 weeks, or maybe 100 ml. Take it from home. That can go in your 3-1-1 bag. It's hard to find travel size anything in the supermarkets and as has been said, you will likely pay more for them.

I just got back from spending two nights in Siena, five nights in Florence and one night in Rome. With the exception of Siena (a nice NH Hotel), the other two were fairly well rated small two star hotels. Since I was going solo, I decided not to bring shampoo or conditioner with me with the thought of not having to share the hotel toiletries with anyone. At the hotel in Florence and in Rome, I was very surprised to see that the shampoo was an individual sized 10 ml bag of shampoo/body wash. I have long and fairly thick hair and this didn't work for me at all. I ended up buying a bar of regular soap at a fun store called Flying Tiger Copenhagen for one euro and a bar of solid shampoo at a drugstore for four euros. I didn't see "travel sized" toiletries at grocery stores or drugstores, but might have missed them. I would suggest decanting your shampoo in a smaller bottle or buy travel sized toiletries at Target or even Dollar Tree and bringing what you need with you.

Thank you, everyone, for the replies. This has helped my planning a lot.