Europe in March: What I Wore
Now, I know we’re deep in the summer months when I am writing this, but it’s never too early to plan a European vacation for early spring. I am pulling this packing list together because it’s the list I wish I had when I was packing. To be honest, all of the lists I found were helpful, but not very stylish. At least not for a girl in her late 20s. So I’m posting the list I wish I had found. It’s cute, trendy, but classic, and easily replicated on a budget.
What I Packed for europe in Early March
Click below to shop the items above, or similar items if mine are no longer available! If I linked a similar item, the original place I bought mine is listed next to it. If it’s not linked or listed, I got it on Poshmark!
gray coat (Abercrombie) | blue shacket | turtleneck bodysuit | half-zip bodysuit (Abercrombie) | white chunky sweater (Abercrombie) | brown long sleeve (H&M) | white cardigan (T.J. Maxx) | white thermal crewneck (Uniqlo’s HEATTECH line)| white thermal turtleneck (Uniqlo’s HEATTECH line) | leather pants | black ankle jeans (Abercrombie) | blue ankle jeans (Abercrombie) | sling bag | pink beanie (H&M) | tan beanie (H&M) | black boots | white sneakers
I want to start by saying, there’s nothing wrong with being practical while packing. In fact, you should be practical, after all, you have limited space. But for some reason most of the packing guides I’ve seen leave out the fashion girlies who love to look chic and put together. Who love to look like they belong in that city whilst taking cute photos. The girlies who are up-to-date on trends, but still keep it classic. That’s who this is for.
AND I didn’t stuff my suitcase either. I wore almost everything that I packed multiple times and was able to shop a little too. Now was I able to fit everything into a backpack? Lol no. But that’s just not who I am. I packed light enough for me to still have adequate options.
A little backstory: I went on a tour group vacation with EF Ultimate Break in March (more on that in another post) and it was a total of 10 days including travel days. The cities I visited were London, Paris, and Barcelona. My original trip was for New Years of 2022, but Covid changed that. Because my original trip was for the dead of winter, I had already started collecting cold weather clothes. And to be honest the only thing that changed about what I packed for March was that I packed less heavy sweaters than I would for December/January. Onto what I packed:
A coat and a shacket - A coat for obvious reasons. It was the very beginning of March and London and Paris were very much coat weather still for this desert gal. In Barcelona, I might’ve been able to get away without it during the day had it not been raining. I wore this coat everyday. I wore the shacket as a layer under my coat. Again, I am a desert girl, so I found this extra layer to be helpful for me to be comfortable and not cold all of the time. This is a thicker, felt-like shacket too, so it wasn’t a flimsy layer by any means. My layering went like this: my top of choice or base layer, then the shacket, then the coat as my outermost layer. I also want to add that I wasn’t worried about it not having a hood, as I packed a travel umbrella in case of rain.
Tops and bodysuits - I am a bodysuit girl. I love them! So I packed my two favorite knit ones knowing I would wear them. And I did, multiple times. Then I packed a thin button up sweater as well as a thinner long sleeve top. I wore my heaviest/thickest sweater on the plane. I included that in what I packed above because I also wore it a few times during non travel days. After having outfit changes for dinners or other events, I ended up wearing each top multiple times and don’t regret packing any of them.
Bottoms - In total I packed 3 pairs of pants, not including the ones I wore on travel days. I brought a pair of my favorite ankle length blue jeans, my ankle length black jeans, and skinny leather pants. The reason I brought all ankle length pants is because of how they looked with my boots. They hit right above where my boots did and were the perfect length for the look I was going for. Once again, I regret nothing and wore everything multiple times.
Thermal layers - I didn’t wear thermal layers everyday, but when I did, it was usually the turtleneck on it’s own or the crewneck underneath something else. These might not have been necessary, but I had already bought them for my original trip in December so I brought them anyways.
Sling bag - I expressed my love for this bag in My Amazon Travel Essentials post, but I wear this on the front of me so I have eyes on my belongings at all times. I also wear it underneath my coat. So I put it on over my shacket and then put my coat on. I rotated between this and a smaller one I bought at Primark while in London.
Accessories - I brought two scarves and two hats with me. I wore a scarf everyday in London and Paris. Mostly at night in London, but during the day and at night in Paris. Being on the Seine is quite literally bone chilling lol. And then for the beanies, I brought two but only wore one. I don’t, however, regret packing both because I didn’t know which one I’d want to wear more and I like having options. I also brought a pair of gloves, which I did use multiple times!
Shoes - I brought three pairs of shoes, but really only wore 2: my weather proof boots and my white Reeboks. For rainy days or at night I wore my boots and then for everything else I wore my Reeboks. It’s a great thing white sneakers are timeless, because everyone was wearing them and walking miles upon miles per day can be rough on the feet.
And that’s what I packed for London, Paris, and Barcelona for early March! Of course I also had other things like pajamas and underwear and socks, but those are obvious and don’t define what your outfits will look like. I also had smaller accessories like sunglasses and jewelry, but I feel that those are dependent on the person.
I’ll also put my airplane outfit below! A tip I have to packing lighter is to wear your bulkiest items on the plane. So I wore my coat and my bulkiest sweater, then packed my thicker scarf in my carry-on. One thing I also did was pack a separate pair of pants just for my travel days. I chose a stretchy black pant that could be dressed up or down as opposed to leggings. that way I could still look somewhat put together, but also could be comfortable too.
If you’re planning a trip to Europe, I hope this list can be of some help to you!
