The Essential Airbnb Packing List For Families (2024)

Planning a vacation with an Airbnb stay? Whether you’re an experienced traveler or first-timer, packing efficiently can make a big difference in how you experience your trip. In this guide, we provide an essential Airbnb packing list to help make sure that you have what you need for a fantastic vacation.

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CLOTHING AND PERSONAL ITEMS

Weather Appropriate Clothing

The climate and weather will have a big effect on what clothing you decide to bring on your vacation. Check to see if your Airbnb has a washer and dryer.

That can help lighten the load of clothes that you bring. It’s much easier to stick to one color palette and mix and match during your stay. It’s even easier if you can wash clothes right in your apartment.

Sticking to neutral colors is also a great plan, that way you can get creative and use an item of clothing more than once and create different outfits.

Toiletries

You’ll have to pack your toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, soap and any other personal care items that you feel are essential. Especially if you prefer a certain brand.

Depending on what you’re looking for, you may be able to purchase some of those items at your destination if you don’t’ want to have to deal with packing and traveling with a lot of liquids.

Either way, have a plan in place because unlike a hotel, you can’t call down to request extras.

Medications

Don’t forget any prescription medications or even over the counter medications that you will likely need on the way. If it’s nothing critical, don’t feel that you need to bring everything because depending on where you’re going, you can likely find equivalents at your destination.

TECH AND ENTERTAINMENT

Chargers

Chargers are necessary with the amount of electronic devices a family will bring. It’s good to have an organized place to store them. It’s also a good idea to bring a power bank to keep things charged when you’re on the go.

Adapters

Before you leave, check the type of electrical outlet that is in use in the country that you’re visiting. It may even be helpful to just ask your Airbnb host to verify that you have the right one.

This adapter was excellent during our trip. It charges several devices at once, is versatile and can be used in several different European countries.

Also be sure that all of your devices are rated to use the outlets that you’ll be using.

Entertainment

Tablets and cell phones are sure to be used quite a bit on a family trip. It’s helpful to have a good backpack to store your electronics.

This will keep things organized and easy to access. Even though entertainment is often provided on the plane having your own devices loaded with movies and games is great for layovers and downtime during the trip.

KITCHEN AND FOOD ESSENTIALS

Reusable Water Bottle

Having a good sturdy, easy to carry water bottle is one of the most essential items that you’ll bring on your trip. It helps keep you and your family hydrated when you’re out and about

Snacks

Bring a small amount of snacks that can keep you from getting hungry. This will save time by preventing you from haveing to stop so often and find snacks.

Reusable Grocery Bags

Take advantage of the benefits of having a full kitchen in your apartment and visit some local markets to grab a few items. This helps to cut costs and makes things more convenient when you have busy days scheduled.

Having a small bag to carry your purchases will make it much easier.

We often will stop for fruit and other small snacks that are easy to eat on the go, or breakfast items that we can eat in our apartment before we leave for the day. It saves time and money.

SAFETY AND HEALTH

First Aid Kit

Some locations will have a first aid kit on site, but you want to check ahead of time to make sure that you have one. It doesn’t need to be large or complicated, but just the basics can fill the need.

These kits are compact and can fit easily in your backpack or carry on.

Hand Sanitizer

Keeping little hands clean and germ free is a full time job. That job doesn’t quit just because you’re on vacation, so having sanitizer at the ready is a good idea. It’s good for the whole family.

Sanitizer Wipes

You can expect your apartment to be cleaned prior to you arriving, but an extra wipe down with disinfectant wipes never hurt anybody.

A quick wipe of high use items such as door knobs, handles and light switches is a good idea. Wipes can also be used to wipe down surfaces on the airplane such as arm rest and tray tables.

BEDDING AND LINENS

Pillowcase and Sheet

Most hosts will provide basic linens and bedding for your apartment but if you are particular about bedding materials, you’ll want to pack that as well.

MISCELLANEOUS

Travel Sized Laundry Detergent

Staying in an apartment instead of a hotel has several advantages. One of which is being able to use a washer and dryer so that you don’t have to bring so many clothes.

This makes it easy to travel light or carry on only. To do your laundry you’ll need to bring along laundry detergent that is compact enough to travel with. Either liquid in small quantities or some other form of detergent will work.

Travel Iron

Most places will provide an iron for use, but it’s not something that’s guaranteed. Even if it there it may not work, which is something that happened to us. Fortunately for us we brought our own iron. It’s small and compact but it does the job.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS

Passports

It’s enough to keep track of one passport, but when you have a family, you’ll likely be keeping track of several. Have a system to keep them organized. Some backpacks have interior compartments specifically to carry important documents.

As soon as you know you’re leaving for a trip, do a check of the family’s passports to verify that they are not expired and that they won’t expire within 6 months of return.

This is important because many countries require your passport to be eligible for 6 months past your return date.

Drivers Licenses

As long as you have your passport, you likely won’t need your driver’s license when traveling with one notable exception. If you decide to rent a car or any other motor vehicle, you’ll need to have your license present. So if you have it, it would be good to bring it just in case.

Travel Insurance

You should not only have electronic copies of your travel insurance information, but having a paper copy as backup is advisable. It should be easy to tuck it away in your backpack, leave it there and hopefully you won’t need it.

Host Contact Information

Many hosts will use WhatsApp as their primary means of communication, and we’ve found that to be very easy. Whenever we’ve needed to contact our host in whatever country we’re in, we’ve found that it’s easy to text and call through the app especially when there are questions regarding arriving at the location.

Save Locations In Google Maps Prior To Leaving

A helpful tip that I used on our last trip was to save the locations of places on our itinerary, including our Airbnbs, in Google Maps.

This makes it so easy upon arrival if you have to take a taxi or Uber to just show your driver the address. It cuts down on confusion especially if there is a language barrier.

This also makes moving around day to to day much easier.

ENJOY YOUR AIRBNB STAY

When planning your trip, check the amenities for where you’re staying so that you’ll know specifically what you’ll need to bring with you. Once you have that information, you can make a more customized list for you and your family. Now that you’ve got you Airbnb situation settled, it’s time to pack. Check out our guide for travel essentials so that you’ll have everything that you need for an awesome vacation.