Pack two pairs of comfortable shoes, three thin layers instead of one thick coat, and a bag you can wear across your body all day. Almost everything else that goes into a suitcase for London comes home unworn, and the case itself has to go up the stairs at a station with no lift.
The weather is the obvious starting point, and our guide to London's weather has the Met Office averages and a list for each season. This page assumes you have read that and answers the next question: what actually goes in the case, what to leave behind, and how the way London works, on foot, on the Tube, in and out of heated buildings, should change the packing.
The short version is that London punishes two things: heavy luggage and bad shoes. Everything below follows from that.
The things that earn their space
- Shoes
- Two pairs, both already broken in, at least one that copes with wet pavement
- Layers
- T-shirt, long sleeve, light jumper, packable waterproof. Not one heavy coat
- Day bag
- Cross-body, zipped, big enough for the waterproof and a water bottle
- Adapter
- One UK three-pin plug adapter, and a multi-socket extension from home if you have several devices
- Water bottle
- Refillable. Tap water is free and drinkable everywhere
- Power bank
- If your phone is your ticket, your map and your wallet, a flat battery is a real problem
Pack for seven days, whatever the length of the trip
Beyond about a week, the extra clothes cost you more than washing does. A service wash in a London launderette runs at roughly £13 to £19 for a full load, done the same afternoon, which is less than most airlines charge for a second bag. Our page on doing laundry in London covers the prices and where to find a shop.
There is a second reason, and it is more persuasive than money. Ninety-five Tube stations out of more than 270 are step-free, so the odds are against you finding a lift at the station you need. Escalators are long and busy, and staircases at older stations are steep. A case you can carry up a flight of stairs without stopping is a different holiday from one you cannot.
Transport for London's conditions also require that luggage does not block seats, aisles, doors, stairs or lifts, which in the rush hour means a large case is genuinely difficult to travel with. Our page on taking luggage on the Tube explains which stations and times to avoid, and our guide to left luggage in London covers the last day, when you have checked out but your flight is at nine in the evening.
Leave a third of the case empty. London is a shopping city and you will bring something home. There is no tax-free shopping scheme for visitors in Great Britain any more, so nothing is refundable at the airport, but the books, the tea and the things from the markets still need somewhere to go.
Shoes: the decision everything else depends on
Visitors consistently underestimate the walking. A single museum adds two or three kilometres on hard floors, and interchanges at stations such as Bank or King's Cross St Pancras involve several hundred metres of tunnel before you reach a train. A normal sightseeing day is ten to fifteen thousand steps.
The rules are boring and they work. Bring two pairs so you can alternate, because wet shoes do not dry overnight in a hotel room. Both pairs must be broken in: a new pair bought for the trip is the most common reason a day ends early. At least one pair should have a sole with some grip, because London pavement, wet stone and the painted metal of a bridge walkway are all slippery in rain.
Heels are a specific problem in a specific place. Covent Garden, parts of the City, Borough and the lanes around Spitalfields are cobbled or set with uneven stone, and narrow heels catch in them. If you want to dress up for dinner, carry the shoes and change.
Our page on walking in London lists the trips that take less time above ground than below it, and there are more of them than the map suggests.
Layers, because buildings and streets disagree
The thing people get wrong is bringing one warm coat. London's problem is not cold; it is variation within a single day.
A museum is heated in winter and cooled in summer. A pub is warm. The Tube in July is genuinely hot, particularly on the deep lines, where there is no air conditioning on older trains. Then you come out at eight in the evening and the temperature has dropped several degrees. A single coat cannot handle that; three thin things can.
The working kit for most of the year is a t-shirt or shirt, a long-sleeved layer, a light jumper or fleece, and a waterproof that packs into its own pocket. In December and January add a proper warm layer and a scarf; in July and August you may carry the jumper more than you wear it, and you will still want it after dark.
Waterproof beats warm. Average rainfall at Heathrow is between 38 mm and 67 mm in every month of the year, spread across eight to twelve days a month, so rain is frequent rather than heavy. A jacket that keeps a drizzle out for twenty minutes does more work here than a thick coat.
The umbrella you will lose
Bring one, assume you will leave it behind somewhere, and do not spend much on it.
A small folding umbrella that lives in the day bag is the right answer, because London rain arrives without warning and stops again. A large golf umbrella is unusable on a crowded pavement and turns inside out on the bridges, where the wind off the river is stronger than anywhere else in the centre.
In wind, a hooded waterproof wins outright, and it keeps both hands free, which matters on a crowded train and when taking photographs. Plenty of Londoners own no umbrella at all for precisely that reason.
If yours does blow apart, replacements are sold on every high street and in most station kiosks the moment it starts raining, at a price that reflects the weather. For a properly wet afternoon, the better answer is indoors: our page on what to do when it rains has the options.
The bag you carry all day
This is a security decision as much as a comfort one. A bag worn across the body with a zip, carried in front of you in a crowd, defeats almost every method a pickpocket uses; a rucksack on your back does not, as our page on how pickpockets work explains.
Size it for the things you will actually carry: the waterproof, a water bottle, a power bank, and whatever you buy. A bag that is too small means carrying the jacket in your hand all afternoon.
A refillable water bottle is worth the space. Tap water is drinkable everywhere in London, licensed premises must provide free tap water on request, and there is a public refill network; our page on tap water and refill points has the details.
What visitors bring and never unpack
After the shoes, this is where most of the weight goes.
- A hairdryer. Almost every London hotel room has one, including budget chains. Check, then leave it at home.
- A travel iron or steamer. Hotels lend irons; hostels have them; a hot shower and a hanger fixes most of it.
- Towels. Provided everywhere except some hostel dorms, where they cost a pound or two to hire.
- Five adapters. Bring one UK adapter and a multi-socket extension lead from home. That converts one British socket into four of your own.
- A voltage converter. Phones, laptops and cameras all cope with British mains without one. Read the label on anything containing a heating element before you pack it, as our page explaining British plugs, adapters and voltage sets out.
- Full-size toiletries. There is a chemist on every high street and a Boots in most large stations.
- Formal clothes. One smart outfit covers almost every occasion a visitor will meet.
- Printed guidebooks and maps. Heavy, and the free paper Tube map at any station does the essential job.
Two things must not come at all. Self-defence sprays, whether pepper or CS, sit on the list of goods prohibited at the British border no matter how legal they are at home. And since April 2025 meat and dairy from EU and EEA countries cannot be carried into Great Britain for personal use, which takes in the sandwich and the cheese in your hand luggage. Both are covered in our guide to UK customs allowances.
The dress codes that actually exist
London is informal, and the number of places that will turn you away is small. But the list is not empty, and it is not where visitors expect.
The theatre has no dress code at all. People go from work in whatever they were wearing, and jeans in the stalls are completely normal, as our guide to West End theatre notes.
Where a code does exist, it is usually at a small number of grand hotels for afternoon tea, at a handful of private members' clubs, at some fine-dining restaurants, and at rooftop bars and clubs in the evening, where "smart casual" generally means no sportswear, no beachwear and no trainers on some doors. Check the venue's website; every one that cares publishes its rules.
Religious buildings are the other case. Cathedrals and churches ask for shoulders and knees covered, and mosques and temples have their own requirements, including removing shoes and covering hair. A light scarf in the day bag solves all of it.
Medicines, documents and the small print
Bring prescription medicines in their original labelled packaging, with enough for the trip plus a few days, and carry a copy of the prescription or a letter from your doctor if the medicine is unusual or controlled. Some medicines that are freely available elsewhere are restricted here.
Pack a small kit for the things pharmacies solve but not at two in the morning: painkillers, blister plasters, and anything you take regularly. Pharmacies are everywhere and pharmacists can advise, as our page on healthcare for visitors explains.
For documents, bring the passport, a photocopy of its photo page kept in a different bag, and evidence of your ETA or visa if you need one; our guide to UK entry requirements explains who does. A contactless bank card is effectively a required item, because buses take no cash at all.
Children, babies and the things that are hard to buy in a hurry
Everything a baby needs is sold in London, so the case does not need to be full of nappies. What is worth bringing is the specific brand of formula or the food your child will actually eat, a rain cover for the pushchair, and a carrier for stations with no lift, because folding a pushchair on a staircase with a toddler is a miserable business.
For older children, a refillable bottle each, a power bank, and one spare set of clothes in the day bag on days that involve fountains or playgrounds. Our guides to London with kids and London with a baby go into the practicalities.
Packing for the journey home
Two things catch people at the airport.
The first is weight. London shopping is heavy: books, ceramics, tea, bottles. Weigh the case at the hotel if you can, because excess baggage charges at the gate are punitive.
The second is the absence of a refund. Great Britain has had no tax-free shopping scheme for visitors since 1 January 2021, when the VAT Retail Export Scheme was withdrawn, and the airside VAT-free concession went at the same time. Anything you read about claiming VAT back at a British airport is out of date. The one route that survives is a retailer shipping the goods themselves to an address abroad, as our page on tax-free shopping in the UK explains.
Leave space for the things you were given, the umbrella you bought in the rain, and the jacket you are no longer wearing because the weather changed again.
Frequently asked questions
What shoes should I bring to London?
Two pairs of comfortable, already broken-in walking shoes, at least one with a sole that grips on wet ground. A sightseeing day is commonly ten to fifteen thousand steps on hard surfaces, and wet shoes do not dry overnight in a hotel room. Narrow heels are a poor idea on the cobbled streets around Covent Garden, Borough and Spitalfields.
Should I bring an umbrella to London?
A small folding one earns its space, although a hooded waterproof does the job better: both hands stay free and nothing turns inside out in the wind on the bridges. The rain here comes often rather than hard. Met Office averages for Heathrow show between eight and twelve days a month with a millimetre or more falling, in every month of the year.
Do London hotels provide hairdryers and towels?
Almost all of them provide both, including budget chains, and hotels will lend an iron on request. Hostel dorms sometimes charge a small fee for a towel. Check your specific booking, but do not pack either by default; the space is better used for a second pair of shoes.
Is there a dress code for London theatres and restaurants?
West End theatres have no dress code at all. A small number of grand hotels, private clubs, fine-dining restaurants and rooftop bars do, usually meaning no sportswear or beachwear and sometimes no trainers. Any venue that cares publishes its rules on its website. Religious buildings expect shoulders and knees to be covered.
Can I claim VAT back on shopping when I leave the UK?
Not in Great Britain. Both the VAT Retail Export Scheme and the airside tax-free concession ended on 1 January 2021, leaving nothing to reclaim at the airport. The one arrangement that survives is having a retailer send the goods themselves to an address abroad.
Sources
- Met Office - Heathrow long-term averages 1991-2020 (checked September 2026)
- GOV.UK - Bringing goods into the UK: allowances and banned items (checked September 2026)
- GOV.UK - Bringing food into Great Britain (checked September 2026)
- GOV.UK - Tax-free shopping (checked September 2026)
- Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002, regulation 27 (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Conditions of Carriage, section 9 (luggage) (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Step-free access (checked September 2026)