What to pack for London in Fall

This past October we toured London England for a week. It was my first time really paring back my packing to fit everything into a carry on suitcase. What was in my suitcase was the essentials for sightseeing. This is my practical packing list for seeing as much as possible in the UK capital; what to pack for London in Fall.

What to pack for London in Fall

1. Perfect Rain Jacket – If there is one thing you can’t forget when you are packing for London and that is a rain coat. We were lucky while we were in London that we only had a few days of all day drizzle. But I didn’t just wear this jacket when it was raining. It was great for wind and riding on top of the hop on hop off bus.
2. Cashmere Turtleneck – I packed two sweaters for the trip. One cardigan wrap for the plane and one turtleneck that was perfect for the colder rainy days we were touring.
3. Knee length trench coat – The one thing that I forgot to pack was my trench coat. This one is even better because it has a hood. While I had no problem surviving with just the rain jacket especially since it easily packed up into my back pack, I do wish I had the trench as a chic alternative.
4. Tunic Tee – I packed a mixture of long sleeve and short sleeve tees. Especially these lightweight tees that are easy to layer and pack for just in case. This particular tee is very oversized. I was drowning in a medium.
5. Supersoft long sleeve tee – I packed the long sleeve tees in a bunch of coordinating colours.
6. Wide brim floppy hat – Pair a wide brim hat with a trench coat and you have a chic way to survive the all day slow rain London is known for.
7. Charcoal Toothpick jeans – many travel blogs talk about the best travel pants. I think that the pants that you regularly wear and are comfortable in are the best travel pants. Unless you are doing long term budget travel there is no need to consider buying special travel pants as part of what to pack for London in fall.
8. Classic Rinse Toothpick jeans – I packed three pairs of jeans for one week of travel. One pair for the plane and two in my suitcase.
9. Seize the Day tee – I packed a mixture of long and short sleeve tees. We were lucky to get some warmer days that were in the 20 degree range while we were in London in early October. I packed enough tees for the full seven days as even if it wasn’t warm enough for bare arms tees are good for layering under sweaters and long sleeve tees. I packed fewer (closer to 4 or 5) long sleeve tees as I also had a sweater for warmth.
10. Nike PreLove OX sneakers – cute comfortable sneakers are a must for travel. Especially when you are pounding the pavement like we were trying to see it all.
11. New Balance 696 sneakers – usually I would show a wider variety of footwear. Maybe some cute flat boots to mix things up. But I found this last trip I only wore my sneakers because they were the most practical for the type of travelling we were doing. If you are going to take cabs and ubers instead of walking the streets sure pack some boots but if you are going to take transit only when necessary and walk the streets as much as possible it is smart to pack a couple of pairs of sneakers to rotate so that if you do get blisters you can get some relief.
12. Bucket bag in Leopard – I packed a few different bags for my trip. A cross body bag is a must. Great for when you just need to carry the essentials. I also used a backpack for longer sightseeing days. This allowed for cameras, snacks and a place to stuff my layers. This is the convertible back pack I used. 
13. Woven Long scarf – I always make sure to pack a scarf when I travel even if the only time I use it is when I am on the plane. There were a few days when the scarf came in handy, but truthfully we really lucked out with the weather. My turtleneck actually was more helpful than the scarf on this trip except for the plane.

I kept everything really minimal and practical for this trip. It made me less worried about what I was wearing and more focused on what I was seeing.

In addition to my clothes I did pack a makeup bag but really I only NEEDED my skin care and hair care. Everything else was a waste of weight.

I could have pared back even further if I had of used my backpack as my personal item but I didn’t need to and it was easy to keep my flight items separate and organized while we were touring when they have their own bag. More on my personal item packing here.

What do you think of the What to pack for London in Fall guide? Does it cover everything you would pack?