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Pack versatile layers, limit shoes to 3 pairs max, and invest in one great crossbody bag. Everything here fit in a single carry-on for 10 days in Paris — no checked bag needed.
I just got back from ten days in Europe. London → Paris → Disneyland Paris, one Quince carry-on per person, and a wardrobe I’ve been testing on WeTried for years. This is the honest debrief — what held up across three very different cities, what I’d change, and what turned out to be the real MVP of the whole trip.
Here’s the thing about a London-Paris-Disneyland itinerary that makes packing hard: each leg has completely different demands. London is gray, drizzly, and requires looking put-together. Paris is Paris — cobblestone streets, long dinners, the kind of city where you feel underdressed in a hoodie. Then Disneyland Paris is a theme park, which means 12+ hours on your feet, no one cares what you look like, and your shoes will either save you or destroy you. One bag has to cover all three contexts. That’s the challenge I was solving for.
I’m not a packing minimalist for the sake of it. I just hate checking bags in European airports. Everything I brought had already earned a spot in my everyday rotation. Three cities just pressure-tested it harder than usual.
Paris is a walking city — but London and Disneyland Paris are no different. Three cities, three very different surfaces (London’s wet pavement, Paris cobblestones, Disneyland’s park concrete), and 20,000+ steps a day across all of them. If your shoes aren’t right, your trip isn’t right. I brought three pairs and rotated all of them strategically depending on the day.
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Rothy’s gets written off as a “women’s brand” by people who haven’t worn them. The RS01 men’s shoe is one of the most comfortable things I’ve put on my feet in Paris cobblestone conditions. We’ve reviewed Rothy’s extensively on WeTried — the washable construction, the fit, the whole thing. What I didn’t fully appreciate until Paris: how well they hold up on uneven stone streets for 8+ hours at a stretch. No blisters. No complaints.
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afers” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow sponsored noopener” data-lasso-id=”130851″ data-lasso-lid=”39585″ data-lasso-name=”Skimresources”>Wolf & Shepherd makes dress shoes built on running shoe technology. That’s the pitch, and it’s not a gimmick. I wore these for every dinner and every museum day. We’ve tested their sneakers on WeTried and the loafers follow the same formula: looks like a dress shoe, feels like you’re in sneakers. In Paris, where you walk to dinner because Uber is a thing but walking is better, these made the difference.
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Suavs are the shoes I almost didn’t bring because I couldn’t justify three pairs. Glad I did. When you want to look put-together but you’re covering 20,000 steps in a day, Suavs are the answer. Slip-on, light, and they pass the café test (you won’t look like you’re in athletic shoes).
The Clothes: Function That Doesn’t Look Functional
Everything I packed had to clear two filters: could I wear it to a nice dinner, and could I walk 12 miles in it without wanting to change? That ruled out about 80% of men’s travel clothing.
Mizzen + Main Shirts — The Anti-Sweat Technology Actually Works
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I packed three Mizzen + Main performance dress shirts and wore them for everything from client dinners to Versailles. The thing about Paris in March: it’s cold in the morning, warm by afternoon, and unpredictable in between. M+M handles temperature swings better than anything else in my closet because it breathes while looking like a dress shirt. We reviewed the Helmsman on WeTried — still one of my favorites.
Quince Shirts — The Backup That Earned Its Weight
I brought two Quince linen shirts as the casual layer. At $30-50, Quince shirts punch well above their price point — and that’s exactly the kind of shirt you want in your carry-on for a Paris trip because if it somehow gets ruined you’re not devastated. Spoiler: it didn’t get ruined, it looked great the whole trip, and I wore one to the Louvre on a warm afternoon. Full Quince review here.
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arget=”_blank” rel=”nofollow sponsored noopener” data-lasso-id=”130854″ data-lasso-lid=”39588″ data-lasso-name=”Skimresources”>Bluffworks travel pants are the reason I can pack one carry-on for ten days. One pair of dark Bluffworks chinos goes from morning sightseeing to dinner at a brasserie without anyone looking twice. Wrinkle-resistant, stain-resistant, and they look like real pants instead of tactical gear. We’ve reviewed Bluffworks on WeTried — the suit, the shorts, the pants. The pants are the MVP of the whole lineup.
Ministry of Supply Joggers — The Plane and Downtime Pair
Ministry of Supply Kinetic Joggers are technically joggers. They look like slim chinos. This is the wardrobe hack most men miss. I wore these on both long-haul flights, for three days of casual walking, and once to a coffee shop in Saint-Germain where the guy next to me had on actual dress trousers. I did not feel underdressed. We’ve compared MoS to Lululemon and similar brands — the Kinetic Jogger still wins for travel.
No bag. No backpack. Everything in the ScotteVest.
The Real MVP: ScotteVest
I have to talk about the ScotteVest. If you travel internationally and you haven’t heard of it, this is the recommendation that will change how you pack.
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talking 25+ pockets on some styles, including hidden compartments that are designed to not bulge. The removable sleeve version is the one that became indispensable in Paris. Morning at Versailles (cold, needed a jacket). Afternoon walking through the Marais (warm, jacket gone, now it’s a vest). Dinner out (zip the sleeves back in, it’s a jacket again).
That single piece of clothing replaced: a jacket, a daypack, and about half of what I would have needed in a checked bag. Everything I needed for a day — passport, sunglasses, portable battery, AirPods, euros, snacks, Metro card — was on my body without a bag. In Paris where pickpockets are a real consideration, and at Disneyland Paris where you don’t want to manage a daypack on every ride, the ScotteVest solved both problems without a second thought. It was the one item I used in London, Paris, and Disneyland Paris with zero adaptation required.
The ScotteVest doesn’t have an affiliate program we work with yet, but it should. We’ll be reviewing it properly soon. For now: scottevest.com. Get the RFID-shielded one with removable sleeves.
Ten days, three people. Every bag made it as a carry-on.
The Luggage: Quince Carry-On
We brought Quince carry-ons for the whole family. This was not the glamorous luggage choice — it was the practical one. At $100-150, Quince carry-ons are built to the same spec as Away and Rimowa at a fraction of the price. Ten days, three people, zero checked bags. The TSA locks held, the spinner wheels worked in cobblestone courtyards (barely, but they worked), and nothing got damaged. We cover Quince broadly on WeTried — the luggage is worth a dedicated review, coming soon.
What I’d Do Differently
One fewer shirt. I overpacked on tops. Quince does same-day laundry in a hotel sink and dries overnight. You don’t need as many as you think.
Better cobblestone-specific walking shoes. This is the one gear regret. Paris (and honestly London too) runs on uneven stone surfaces — and cobblestone is a completely different challenge than flat city walking. The Rothy’s RS01 held up and I had zero blisters, but my feet were fatigued by day 3. What you actually need for cobblestone: a shoe with a slightly rockered sole, real arch support, and enough cushion to absorb the constant micro-impacts from uneven stone. I’m testing a few options for a future dedicated “best shoes for cobblestone travel” piece. The Wolf & Shepherd loafers were surprisingly good here because of their running-shoe construction — that’s probably the move if you’re packing two pairs instead of three. Avoid anything with a flat, thin sole.
Bring the ScotteVest earlier. I almost left it at home. That would have been a mistake.
The Full Packing List (What Actually Made the Trip)
The best travel wardrobe isn’t the most expensive one — it’s the one that disappears. You stop thinking about what you’re wearing because it just works. That’s what this kit did across ten days and three cities: London rain, Paris cobblestones, and a full day at Disneyland Paris with kids. Same bag. Same clothes. No compromises.
The ScotteVest is the thing most people haven’t tried. Everything else on this list we’ve reviewed properly on WeTried. The combination of all of it — road-tested on actual European cobblestones — is the validation we can’t get from a product PR box.
