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Honeymoon Packing Checklist

The honeymoon is your time to relax after the wedding―not go shopping for items you forgot to pack. Here are the essentials for all types of destinations, plus where to stash them.

Carry-on Bag: All Destinations

  • Airline boarding passes and other travel tickets
  • Passport, visas
  • Driver’s license
  • Credit, ATM, auto-club, and telephone calling cards
  • Money and traveler’s checks
  • Hotel, theater, restaurant, or other reservation confirmations
  • Photocopies of all cards, travel and traveler’s check documents, vaccination document, prescriptions, health-insurance card(s), and medical or trip insurance documents detailing coverage and contacts. Also photograph your luggage contents in case of loss. At the hotel, store all this in the main or in-room safe. Leave copies—and your itinerary, contact numbers, and a sealed envelope with copies of your wills and life insurance information—with someone back home.
  • Phone numbers for your doctor, other emergency contacts, and credit card companies
  • Prescription medicine (in the original bottle)
  • Contraception
  • Aspirin or ibuprofen and travel-sickness pills
  • Toothbrush and toothpaste
  • Small bag of makeup
  • Brush and comb
  • Camera
  • Any valuable jewelry
  • In-flight reading
  • Light sweater
  • One change of clothing, including underwear
  • Headphones for in-flight movies
  • Travel pillow and blanket
  • Sewing kit

Checked Bag: All Destinations

  • 2 to 3 pairs of shoes or sandals (stick with ones you’ve worn before and have broken in)
  • 3 pairs of light cotton socks
  • 2 pairs of shorts (for warm destinations)
  • 2 pairs of pants
  • 2 to 3 skirts or dresses
  • 4 T-shirts or casual tops
  • 2 blouses or shirts
  • Lingerie
  • Slippers
  • 3 to 7 pairs of underwear, 2 to 3 bras
  • Evening wrap or jacket
  • Evening bag
  • Swimsuit (if appropriate for destination)
  • Shampoo and conditioner
  • Soap and face cleanser
  • Deodorant
  • Hand and body lotion
  • Lip balm
  • Personal-hygiene items
  • Tooth floss
  • Cotton balls or swabs
  • Tweezers
  • Nail file or clippers
  • Razors and shaving cream
  • Hair dryer (if your hotel does not provide one)
  • Insect repellent (if appropriate for destination)
  • Sunscreen and sunglasses
  • Contact-lens solution and extra contact lenses or eyeglasses (if needed)
  • Chargers for cell phones, iPods, and digital cameras (leave home with everything fully charged)
  • Electrical adapter for destinations outside the U.S. (if needed)
  • Camera film or memory cards and tripod.
  • Video camera
  • Extra camera batteries
  • Various sizes of re-sealable plastic bags
  • Maps, guidebooks, and a translation dictionary (if needed)
  • Antibacterial wipes
  • Travel alarm clock
  • Addresses of friends and family for postcards
  • Comfortable daypack for carrying guidebooks, snacks, and essentials
  • Swiss Army knife (for picnics or emergencies)
  • Travel umbrella or rain poncho
  • Travel medical kit (Band-Aids, antacids, antihistamines, diarrhea medicine, antibacterial cream)
  • Foldable, lightweight tote for bringing home souvenirs
  • iPod (loaded with romantic music) and iPod dock or CDs (if hotel room is equipped with a player)
  • Travel candle with a romantic scent, matches
  • Bubble bath
  • Scented massage oil

Add-ons for Beach Honeymoon

  • Paperbacks
  • Aloe vera gel or after-sun cream
  • Beach bag (can double as tote to bring home souvenirs)
  • Sun hat
  • Second swimsuit and cover-up
  • Flip-flops or day-to-night sandals
  • Water shoes

Add-ons for Skiing Honeymoon

  • Waterproof ski pants and jacket or snowsuit
  • Turtlenecks
  • Heavy sweaters
  • Underlayers (such as long underwear)
  • Gloves or mittens
  • Warm hat or headband
  • Neck warmer or scarf
  • Goggles
  • Skis, poles, ski boots (consider express-mailing ahead to your hotel)
  • Waterproof socks
  • Hand and foot warmers
  • Waterproof boots
  • Ski lock
  • Ski bag

Add-ons for Sightseeing or Safari Honeymoon

  • Comfortable walking shoes or hiking boots
  • Small compass
  • Mosquito netting (if needed)
  • Binoculars
  • Clothing in neutral colors (include long- and short-sleeve shirts, long pants, and shorts; avoid bright and white clothing, which can distract wildlife)
  • Safari or sun hat
  • Wildlife guides

Related Content

Creative Guest-Book Ideas

There’s nothing wrong with setting out a traditional guest book at the reception for friends and family to sign, but you’ll probably slide it onto the bookshelf and never look at it again. Here, a few innovative options: 

  • Place a variety of note cards and paper on a table so guests can write short letters. Seal them, then open them on your first anniversary.
  • Provide a stack of construction-paper strips―like the kind used in grade school to make paper chains―and ask each guest to write a message on one link that he or she then attaches to the chain. Beginning the day after your honeymoon, remove a link and read it together to relive your big day.
  • Buy a coffee table cook. If you’re looking for something a bit more personal than a standard guest book but you just don’t have the time (or the skills) to make something yourself, buy a coffee-table book that has beautiful imagery of something of significance to you or your wedding. You could find a photography book of your wedding location (the mountains of Colorado), where you plan to honeymoon (Italian countryside), or a favorite children’s book (Good Night Moon). Set it on a table with Sharpie markers for guests to customize.
Get more guest-book ideas.

Did we forget anything on this checklist? What would you add?

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