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Solo and budget travelers · Any

Packing list for a hostel trip

Dorm beds in Bangkok, Lisbon or Berlin for less than a hotel night: the padlock that fits the locker, the towel the hostel will not lend you, the earplugs that save the night, and the half of your bag you should leave at home.

Open in Waystop

On a phone with Waystop installed, the button adds the list to your trip as a bag you can tick off. Otherwise copy it and paste it into Waystop’s Chat with “add this to my packing list”.

Checked October 10, 2026.

Tick things off as you go and this browser will remember. Changed your mind?

Packing

0 of 16 packed

Locking up and charging

0/3

Sleep and shower

0/5

Bag and clothes

0/4

Food and money

0/4

What the weather is like

Any season; the kit does not change with the weather, the one layer does. Bangkok is 91°F (33°C) by day all year and the dorm air conditioning runs cold; Prague, Berlin and Budapest sit around 32°F (0°C) in January; Seoul's January averages a high of 36°F (2°C) and a low of 21°F (-6°C).

Leave at home
  • A full-size towel and a second pair of shoesThe towel never dries and weighs half a kilo wet; one pair you can walk 20,000 steps in and the flip-flops cover the rest
  • A wheeled suitcaseHostels have stairs, lockers take a backpack, and the night bus does not wait while you unload the luggage hold
  • Anything you would be upset to loseA dorm is a room with eleven strangers and one lock; the laptop you do not need, the watch, the second camera
Buy when you land
  • A SIM or an eSIM on landingHostel Wi-Fi is shared with sixty people, and a week of local data costs less than a dorm bed.
  • Breakfast from the supermarket or the 7-ElevenBread, fruit and yoghurt for a few euros, or a 40 baht breakfast in Bangkok; the hostel's paid breakfast is rarely worth it
  • The padlock, if you forgot itMost receptions sell or rent one at a mark-up; the supermarket or a hardware shop nearby does it for less

Worth knowing

Trips to pack this for

Bangkok

3 days in Bangkok

Three days that start early to beat the heat: the Grand Palace and the river temples with Chinatown at night, a market day with a canal boat, then the old city and a view from above. Each day stays in one part of the city, with trains and boats for the long gaps and no taxi in traffic.

Lisbon

3 days in Lisbon

Three days on the hills: Alfama and the castle, Belém and its pastries, then Sintra's palaces before a last sunset over the river. Trams where they help, feet where they do not, and dinner late the way the city eats.

Prague

3 days in Prague

Three days that take the old city before the crowds, the castle and its hill, and then the parts of Prague where people actually live: Vyšehrad, Vinohrady and a beer garden with the bridges below. One tram ride a day and the rest on foot.

Budapest

3 days in Budapest

Three days split by the river: Buda's castle hill and a Turkish bath, Pest's Parliament, market and Jewish Quarter after dark, then the Széchenyi pools and the Danube at dusk from the 2 tram. One ride a day, the rest on foot.

Berlin

3 days in Berlin

Three days, three districts: Mitte from the Brandenburg Gate to Museum Island, Kreuzberg from the painted Wall to a currywurst on Mehringdamm, then the real Wall at Bernauer Strasse and a Prenzlauer Berg beer garden. Register for the Reichstag dome first.

Mexico City

4 days in Mexico City

Four days across the Centro, Roma and Condesa, Coyoacán and Xochimilco, and the pyramids at Teotihuacán. Big breakfasts, late lunches, a day where the Anthropology Museum alone fills a morning, and the altitude to respect.

Seoul

4 days in Seoul

Four days north to south: the palaces and Bukchon's hanok lanes, Jongno's temple, teahouses and market stalls, the river at Yeouido and a Hongdae night, then Namsan and Seongsu's converted factories. One subway ride a day on a T-money card.

In the app

Never leave the charger in the hotel again.

Waystop keeps a list for each bag and each person. On the morning you change hotels it walks you through a quick pack-up check, and Chat can suggest items to add when you ask what to bring.

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