Travel Smart: Packing for Naples with Only a Backpack

Tomorrow we’re flying off to Italy to spend a couple of days in Naples. The plan is to eat too much pizza, visit Pompeii, and soak up the atmosphere of Italy’s infamously most chaotic city!

Visiting Italy in the summer can be expensive, but not so if you visit in the off-season! By visiting in February, we’ve only spent £56 per person on our return flights with RyanAir. Beloved RyanAir, the airline everyone loves to hate!

But actually, RyanAir is affordable, they have a HUGE network, and they’re reliable too. As long as you follow the rules and play the game right! And that means packing your backpack like a complex jigsaw puzzle.

Here’s how we fly with RyanAir’s very small carry on bags only, and what we’ll be taking with us for this trip!

What Are RyanAir’s Baggage Rules?

If you don’t want to spend any extra on taking luggage with RyanAir (for example you can pay extra for a hold suitcase or to take a larger bag on the plane with and put it in the overhead lockers) then the bag you can fly with is SMALL.

RyanAir call this a personal item and the maximum dimension for this is 40cm x 20cm x 25cm. This is a little smaller than a standard backpack. And you can only take one of these bags: you can’t take a small backpack and a handbag, for example.

But it is possible to pack everything you need for a couple of days away into this.

(In fact, we once flew to Fuerteventura for 4 nights, and only took these small backpacks! You just have to be creative).

What About Toiletries and Make Up?

One of the trickiest parts of flying with only a small backpack for hand luggage is packing your toiletries and make-up. I’m all for packing light, not so much for walking around new cities looking grubby and feeling unclean. But don’t worry, I’ve got you!

There are two main tips here: The first is to take advantage of what your hotel will provide for free (I never pack shower gel for example, I’ve never been to a hotel that doesn’t provide it).

And the second and most important is to pack miniatures of the products you can’t live without. For me this means make up and skincare products! I’ll be taking:

• Edinburgh Natural Skincare Company’s Lavender and Frankincense Anti-Ageing Whipped Body Butter. Body butter is essential for me because my skin gets so dry when I travel, and this smells amazing while also hydrating my skin. It’s made with virgin organic unrefined Shea Butter, Coconut Oil, eco-sustainable Palm Oil, virgin organic Hemp Oil, and Beeswax so it’s incredibly hydrating and amazing for you at the same time. Plus because it’s only 15ml it doesn’t take any space in my bag!
  
• Edinburgh Natural Skincare Company’s Amber Oud Botanical Purfume Oil. This is one of those products where a little goes a long way! It smells incredible and lasts all day, so there’s no need to keep topping up. And its roller ball applicator means it can be applied in seconds. As an added bonus, Amber Oud doesnt contain perfumers alcohol or any other nasties, so it has moisturising qualities when applied to the skin. A decent scent like this one is the one thing I would never travel without!
  
• Chanel Les Beiges foundation. I’ve worn this every day since we got married, so I won’t leave it behind when I travel! I wear a shade 020 beige. I also pack the matching powder, and because this isn’t a liquid it doesn’t count towards my liquid allowance.
  
• Eyebrow gel, to tame my brows. This can also double up as a clear mascara.
  
• Elizabeth Arden hyaluronic acid ceramide capsules serum. Another product I can’t live without, these capsules serve as a night cream, and after a long day of travelling and exploring they plump and smooth my skin. (As an added bonus, each capsule is dosed for a single use, so you don’t have to take the whole tube for a short trip).
  
• A roll-on deodorant. You can’t take aerosol deodorants (my personal preference) in your hand luggage, so I always hand a roll-on to hand for travelling.
  
• Toothpaste. it goes without saying really! But I do get a travel-sized on so it takes up less space.

To maximise the amount of make up you can take, look for products that aren’t liquids: pressed powder and lipstick don’t count as liquids, for example, so you can just pop them in your handbag.

All toiletries have to be under 100ml, and they all have to fit inside one clear plastic bag. So the key is to pick the 7/8 products you can’t live without! This is the amount of product bottles you can comfortably fit inside the plastic bags provided by the airport.

I pack mine into a small make up bag (this one is from the Galleries Layfayette) so its all in one place to transfer to the clear plastic bag when I get to the airport.

What The Boys Are Packing For Our Trip To Naples

Kids get the same luggage allowance as adults, but we try to make sure the boy’s bags are as small and compact as possible. After all, they have to carry them all day!

They have Loungefly mini backpacks which are the perfect size for kids (they were a bit of a splurge price-wise but the quality is good and the boys love them, meaning they’re more inclined to carry them around).

For our one night/two day trip we have packed:

• Clean socks, pants, and t-shirts (they can wear the same jeans and jackets for the second day to save precious space)
• A bobble hat and sunglasses (it will be 15 degrees Celsius and sunny in the daytime but much cooler at night, so we’re covering all the bases!)
• Toothbrushes
• Wallets
• Small teddy bears
• In the small zip pocket at the front of their bags, they have Lego figures (to play in the hotel room)

What Am I Packing For Our Trip To Naples?

Wondering what i’m taking for our two night trip to Naples? My bag is a little bigger than the kids, but i’ve still packed as streamlined as possible. The approach here is less is more: ask yourself if you can live without it, and if the answer is no then leave it at home!

Of course i’ll be packing the obvious stuff such as my passport and wallet. But in addition my bag includes:

• Underwear, socks, and a t-shirt
• A miniature hairbrush and hair tie
• Tooth brush and floss
• Clear plastic toiletries bag (containing all the essentials listed above)
• Phone charger
• Travel adapter
• Powerbank
• Earrings (I always pack earrings and a red lipstick. Then wear jeans and a black t-shirt. Adding the accessories takes me from day to casual dinner without having the bulk of packing a change of clothes)
• Medication (including calpol tablets for the boys, just in case!)
• Sunglasses
• Pocket guide book (a non-essential, but I love one to read on the plane!)

We’re so EXCITED to explore Naples, and have also booked tickets to see Pompeii, which was the main reason for booking this trip. I’ll be sharing all the details when we get back!

This post may contain ad/gifted products and/or affiliate links, but as always all opinions are my own.

WANT MORE POSTS LIKE THIS STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX? JUST HIT SUBSCRIBE BELOW