Southern Italy and Sicily · April to October

Packing list for Naples and Sicily

What to bring for Naples, Pompeii, Palermo and the islands from April to October: shoes for basalt cobbles and Pompeii's stones, sleeves for the churches, shade and water for sites with no roof, cash for the places that matter, and a bag that stays shut on a scooter street.

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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.

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What the weather is like

Naples averages 64°F (18°C) in April, 86°F (30°C) in July and August and 72°F (22°C) in October, with nights around 66°F (19°C) in high summer. Palermo is similar: 68°F (20°C) in April, 88°F (31°C) in July and August with record heat above 113°F (45°C) in 2023, and 75°F (24°C) in October; July has almost no rain. The sea is 75 to 79°F (24 to 26°C) from June to September. October rain arrives in short, heavy bursts of about 80 mm in Palermo and more in Naples.

Leave at home

Heeled or thin-soled shoesNaples' basalt slabs are slippery when wet and Pompeii's stones twist ankles; thick, flat soles only
Expensive jewelry and a visible watchScooter thieves in Naples and Palermo pick the obvious target. Leave it at home and wear a cheap watch.
A heavy rain coatSummer is dry; even October showers pass in an hour and a light shell or a €5 umbrella does the job

Buy when you land

A folding umbrella or cheap ponchoSold at every tabacchi and street corner the moment it rains, for less than the airport price
Sunscreen and bandagesFarmacie are everywhere and open through lunch in tourist districts; the green cross is lit when they are
A cloth shopping bagMarkets in Ballarò and Pignasecca are where lunch and souvenirs come from, and a bag that closes doubles as a beach bag

Worth knowing

Pompeii opens at 9 a.m. and the summer last entry is 5:30 p.m.; be at the Porta Marina gate before opening, do the Forum and the Villa of the Mysteries before 11 a.m., then eat in Pompei town and come back for the quieter eastern streets after 3 p.m.
Carry a photo of your passport and leave the original in the hotel safe except on Pompeii day, when the gate checks it; a snatched bag then costs you only the bag.
Ferry days are cold at 8 a.m. and hot at 2 p.m.: a sweater for the deck, a hat for the island, and a plastic bag for the swimsuit on the way back.

Trips to pack this for

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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Packing list for Naples and Sicily

Shoes and clothes
- Sneakers or walking shoes with thick soles (Naples is paved in basalt slabs polished smooth; Pompeii's streets are rutted stepping stones and you walk six kilometers there)
- Pants or a skirt below the knee, and a top with sleeves (Monreale, Palermo Cathedral and the Cappella Palatina turn away bare shoulders and short shorts; Naples' churches are the same)
- A light scarf or shawl (Covers shoulders at the church door and your neck at Pompeii; it dries in ten minutes)
- Swimwear and a quick-dry towel (Mondello, Cefalù and the islands are a bus or ferry ride away and the sea is 75 to 79°F (24 to 26°C) from June to September)
- A light sweater for the ferry deck and April evenings (The wind on the Aeolian and Capri hydrofoils is cold even in June, and Naples evenings in April are around 50°F (10°C))

Heat and sun
- A brimmed hat and sunglasses (Pompeii, Herculaneum, Segesta and the Valley of the Temples have almost no shade; the Forum at 2 p.m. in July is punishing)
- A refillable bottle (Pompeii has drinking fountains inside the site and Naples' street fountains run cold; buying water at the gate costs three times the shop)
- Sunscreen and lip balm (Open sites, white limestone and the sea reflect the sun at you from every side.)
- Electrolyte tablets or sachets (A full day at Pompeii in 86°F (30°C) heat with a scirocco blowing is when people faint in the line)

Money, cards and security
- A cross-body bag with a zip, worn in front (Scooter snatch thefts happen on narrow Naples streets like Spaccanapoli and in Palermo's Ballarò; nothing hangs off your shoulder)
- A hundred euros in small notes (Market stalls, pizzerias in the Quartieri Spagnoli, street food in Palermo and many island bars are cash only or say the machine is broken)
- A card with no foreign fees (Bank ATMs (not the Euronet boxes) give fair rates; hotels, museums and the Circumvesuviana machines take cards)
- A spare phone in the hotel, or a copy of your documents (If the phone goes, you still have the Pompeii ticket QR and the ferry booking)

Documents and tickets
- Passport or ID card on Pompeii day (Tickets are personal and capped at 20,000 a day since 2024; staff check the name on the ticket against a document)
- Pompeii ticket booked for a morning slot (Summer entries are split: 15,000 before 1 p.m. and 5,000 after; the full site ticket is €25, the ancient city alone €20, and the first Sunday of the month is free and crowded)
- Ferry and hydrofoil bookings screenshotted (Ischia, Capri, Ustica and the Aeolians run to timetables that change by season, and the port has poor signal)
- Hotel confirmations, saved offline (Naples B&Bs often have a buzzer and no desk, and the host wants the booking name, not a story. Waystop's Documents keeps them available offline.)

From https://waystop.app/packing/italy-south-and-sicily

Packing list for Naples and Sicily

What the weather is like

Worth knowing

Trips to pack this for

3 days in Naples

3 days in Palermo

3 days in Rome

Never leave the charger in the hotel again.