What to pack for London

Pack for a changeable city, not a season

London’s climate is temperate and unpredictable rather than split into a dry season and a wet one, which is the single fact that should shape a packing list more than anything else. Average temperatures run from around 8°C in January to about 23°C in July, but the day-to-day range within any given week can swing further than those averages suggest, and cloud cover is common even in the middle of summer. Nobody packing for London needs to plan around monsoons or heatwaves. They need to plan around a morning that starts cool and grey and an afternoon that turns warm and bright, sometimes on the same day. For a fuller seasonal breakdown, see best time to visit London; this page stays at the general, whole-trip level and points to the destination guides for local detail.

The layering system that actually works here

Three thin layers beat one thick one for London. A base layer (a t-shirt or long-sleeve top), a mid layer (a jumper or fleece), and an outer layer (a compact waterproof jacket) let you add or remove warmth as the day shifts, which happens more often here than in most cities people are used to visiting. This matters whether you’re walking through Bloomsbury’s museum quarter, standing outside Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard, or on an open-top bus. A single heavy winter coat is the classic overpacking mistake: it’s too warm for most of an average day, and it takes up a third of a case for something you’ll end up carrying rather than wearing. If your trip runs through winter specifically, read London in winter for what changes; if it’s a summer trip, London in summer covers the adjustments the other way.

Rain gear, realistically

Pack a waterproof jacket with a hood, not just an umbrella. Wind funnels along the Thames and through streets around Westminster and the City, and umbrellas lose that fight more often than they win it. A packable jacket also means both hands stay free, which matters for holding an Oyster card at a gate, a phone for directions, or a coffee on the walk between a museum and a station. If you’re planning anything active outdoors, from a walking tour to a bike ride along the river paired with a Thames cruise, the same jacket does double duty; check rain in London: what to know for how often it actually comes down and for how long.

Shoes: the item most first-time visitors get wrong

London rewards comfortable, already broken-in shoes over anything new or stylish but stiff. Expect more walking than a typical city break: station platforms are often a longer walk from the street than visitors expect, many older Underground stations have stairs rather than lifts, and central neighbourhoods like the City and Covent Garden still have real cobbles. One well-worn pair covers museums, markets and evening plans without a mid-trip blister forcing a change of scenery. If a walking-heavy day is on the itinerary, whether that’s a market crawl through East London or something more unusual like a themed walking route through the city’s older layers, the shoes matter more than anything else on this list.

Electronics and adapters

The UK runs on 230V with Type G sockets, the three rectangular-pin standard used across Britain and Ireland, which is different from the two-pin Type C or E sockets used across most of continental Europe. Travellers arriving from the EU sometimes assume their existing adapter works here; it doesn’t. One Type G adapter, ideally with a couple of USB ports built in, covers hotel rooms, Airbnbs and most trains. A portable charger is worth the extra weight for long days out on day trips to places like Windsor or Oxford, where outlets are less predictable than in a hotel room.

Money, cards and documents

The currency is the pound sterling (GBP), never the euro, and it’s worth saying plainly because visitors arriving from the eurozone sometimes pack as if conversion happens automatically somewhere. It doesn’t; card machines and the Tube gates read pounds. Contactless cards and phone wallets cover almost everything day to day, from Oyster-style transport taps to a coffee, with the transport system’s own fare capping working out the best daily or weekly price automatically. The one limit worth knowing is that banks, not Transport for London, cap single contactless transactions (currently £100), which only becomes relevant for a large one-off purchase, not for a week of tube and bus taps. Full detail on how the money side works is in money, tipping and costs in London and Oyster card vs contactless payment; a card-versus-cash breakdown by scenario sits in pounds or cards in London.

On documents: most visitors, including EU nationals, need a UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) sorted before departure, applied for only through gov.uk/eta, never through a third-party site. There’s nothing physical to pack for it since it links electronically to your passport, but it needs to be done in advance, not at the border. The full entry-rules picture, including who’s exempt, is in UK ETA and entry rules for London.

If a day trip is on the itinerary

Day trips change the packing calculation slightly, because you’re further from a hotel room to change or dry out in. Stonehenge and the Cotswolds involve standing outdoors on open, often windy ground with limited shelter; Oxford and Cambridge mean a lot of walking on college grounds and cobbled lanes; Bath and Canterbury are more walkable city centres but still call for the same broken-in shoes. Pack the same layering system in a smaller bag for these days: a base layer, something warm, and the compact waterproof jacket, rather than assuming the weather will hold because it’s clear when you leave central London. Day trips by train from London stations covers which station serves which destination, which matters for timing your morning around a specific platform rather than a specific forecast.

Packing changes slightly depending on which airport you land at

London isn’t served by a single airport, so the first hour of a trip looks different depending on where you land. Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and London City each run their own dedicated rail service into the centre rather than sharing one terminal or one line, and the ride ranges from under twenty minutes on the Elizabeth line from parts of Heathrow to closer to an hour from Stansted or Luton. Whichever one your flight lands at, keep a change of layer, any medication, and your ticket or contactless card for that first journey in your carry-on rather than checked luggage, since the walk between an arrivals hall and a rail platform can be long and lifts aren’t guaranteed at every station along the way. London airport transfers and from Heathrow to central London cover the specific routes and journey times in more detail than this general page needs to.

Accessibility and step-free travel

Not every Underground station has a lift, and older stations in particular still rely on stairs or long escalators between the street and the platform, which matters as much for a heavy suitcase as it does for a wheelchair or a pushchair. If step-free access is a requirement rather than a preference, plan routes around it in advance rather than assuming any given station will have it, and favour a bag you can carry up a flight of stairs over one you can only wheel. Accessible London guide covers which stations and attractions are genuinely step-free, which is worth checking before booking accommodation near a station rather than after arriving.

A seasonal packing reference

Season	Typical daytime temp	What to prioritise
Winter (Dec–Feb)	roughly 2–8°C	Warm mid layer, waterproof outer layer, gloves, waterproof shoes
Spring (Mar–May)	roughly 8–15°C	Layers with a light jumper, packable rain jacket
Summer (Jun–Aug)	roughly 15–23°C	Light layers, one warmer layer for evenings, sunglasses on the rare clear day
Autumn (Sep–Nov)	roughly 8–15°C	Same as spring: layers plus a reliable rain jacket

These are averages, not guarantees; a July week can still run cool and overcast, and a January week can have a run of dry, bright days. That’s the point of packing in layers rather than for a single expected temperature.

A general packing checklist

Category	Item	Why it matters here
Outer layer	Packable waterproof jacket with hood	Handles wind and rain better than an umbrella
Footwear	One broken-in walking shoe	Stairs, cobbles and longer walks than expected
Electronics	UK Type G adapter	Different pin shape from continental Europe
Money	Contactless card or phone wallet	Covers transport fare capping and most purchases
Documents	UK ETA confirmation (digital, via gov.uk/eta)	Required before travel for most nationalities
Extras	Reusable water bottle	Tap water is safe to drink everywhere

What to leave at home

A single heavy winter coat is the item overpacked most often; it’s too warm for most of an average day and awkward to carry once removed. A second and third pair of shoes rarely gets worn once the first pair proves comfortable. A continental European travel adapter won’t fit UK sockets, so it’s dead weight rather than a backup. And a large amount of cash sits unused when contactless and phone payments cover almost every transaction from a Tube gate to a market stall; keeping only a small amount for the odd cash-only stand is enough. If you want the wider list of first-timer missteps beyond packing, London travel mistakes to avoid covers the rest.

Packing for specific plans

A few common types of days call for small adjustments rather than a different list. A relaxed food-focused day, like joining a guided walking tour through the city’s markets and food stalls, mostly needs the same comfortable shoes and a layer you can tie around a bag between stops. A themed evening out, such as a guided route through the city’s Cold War-era sites, is often indoors or under cover, so the priority shifts to a warm mid layer for after dark rather than rain protection. None of these need separate gear bought specially; they need the same core list packed with that day in mind.

Planning tools worth checking before you pack

Two site tools are built for the run-up to a trip rather than for research once you’ve arrived: the packing list tool generates a list tuned to your travel dates, and the best time to visit tool shows how your specific week compares to the averages above. Both work off the same seasonal data used on this page, so they’re a faster way to check your dates than re-reading the averages by hand.

Frequently asked questions about packing for London

Do I need a raincoat for London, or is an umbrella enough?

Both, ideally, but a packable waterproof jacket with a hood earns its space better than an umbrella. Wind off the Thames turns umbrellas inside out on South Bank and around Westminster, and a jacket leaves your hands free for a phone, a camera or an Oyster card.

What kind of plug adapter do I need for London?

The UK runs on 230V with Type G sockets, the three rectangular-pin type used across the country, not the two-pin Type C or E used in most of continental Europe. A single Type G adapter covers hotels, Airbnbs and trains; a USB-equipped one saves a socket for a second device.

Should I bring cash to London?

Bring a small amount for the rare cash-only market stall, but plan on contactless cards or a phone wallet for almost everything. The currency is the pound sterling (GBP), never the euro, and banks cap single contactless transactions (currently £100), which only matters for a big one-off purchase, not for tube fares.

What shoes should I pack for London?

One pair of comfortable, already broken-in walking shoes covers most of a trip. London involves more walking and standing than first-time visitors expect, plus cobbles around the City and Covent Garden, station stairs where lifts are limited, and wet pavement for a good share of the year.

Do I need to pack anything for the UK ETA?

Nothing physical. The Electronic Travel Authorisation is applied for online at gov.uk/eta before you travel and is linked to your passport electronically; there is no paper or card to carry, and it should never be requested through a third-party site.

What should I leave at home when packing for London?

A single heavy winter coat, multiple pairs of shoes for different outfits, a travel adapter for continental Europe (wrong pin shape for the UK), and a large amount of cash. All four take up space or weight without matching how the city actually runs.

Does London weather really change that much in one day?

Yes. It is a temperate, changeable climate rather than a tropical wet or dry season, so a morning that starts grey and cool can turn sunny by early afternoon and cloud over again by evening. Layers that go on and off easily matter more here than any single garment.

Does it matter which London airport I’m flying into for how I pack?

A little. London is served by five separate airports, not one, and each has its own rail link into the city: Heathrow (Elizabeth line, Piccadilly line or Heathrow Express), Gatwick (Gatwick Express), Stansted (Stansted Express), Luton (Luton DART plus Thameslink) and London City (DLR). Pack your first day’s essentials in your carry-on regardless of which one you land at, since the transfer into central London can run well over an hour from the further ones.

What if I need a pharmacy or run out of medication in London?

Boots is the pharmacy chain you’ll see most often, with branches in most town centres and several long-opening-hours locations in the West End. Bring any prescription medication in its original packaging with a copy of the prescription, since a UK pharmacist can’t simply refill a foreign one. For anything urgent, the emergency number is 999 (or 112).