Packing List for St. Bernard's Way

The following is a suggested packing list for a long distance walk, including items for camping and for walking in France.

 

Navigation & Communication:

• Smart phone + charger for internet searching and accommodation booking
• UK to European converter plug
• In UK - Ordnance Survey Explorer maps ( 1: 25,000 4cm = 1 km )
• In France - Top 100 series French maps ( 1:100,000 1cm = 1km ).
• GPS Garmin Oregon 600, with ‘TOPO France Nord-Est v3 Pro’ ( 1: 25,000 ) downloaded to it + charger.
• Pack of AA batteries for GPS

 

Clothes ( summer / autumn walking ), per person

• 1 pair of walking boots or shoes & 1 pair of plastic crocks or flip flops ( for summer evenings when not wearing walking boots )
• 2 pairs of walking socks
• 2 pairs of underwear
• 2 x walking t-shirts ( 1 x for walking, 1 x for best or sleeping in )
• Pair of zip-off walking trousers ( doubled as shorts and as evening wear )
• Windproof fleece
• Waterproof outer jacket
• Waterproof over-trousers
• Lightweight snood or scarf
• Baseball cap or sunhat ( for sun protection and / or rain )
• Boot wax & cloth
• Small plastic bottle of shower gel, that can double as clothes washing liquid
• First Aid Kit including Compeed, nail clippers & insect bite cream
• Survival bag
• Whistle
• Toothbrush + mini toothpaste
• Comb or lightweight hair brush
• Notepad and 2 x pens, 1 x highlighter
• 1 x leki ( for walking + tent erection - see our Gear page for details of tent )
• Small suntan lotion
• Chapstick
• Sunglasses
• Sunhat
• 2 litre platypus / water bottle
• Toilet roll
• Several loose plastic bags for dirty laundry, and misc other use.
• Lakeland ( shop ) soup bags to use as bathroom bags + first aid kit.  Soup bags weigh nothing, are hardy and have sturdy zip closures
• Rucksack + rain cover
• Mini dictionary if walking in foreign country
• Lightweight sit mat

 

See our Gear page for details of GPS, rucksack, walking boots etc

 

Camping:

• Lightweight tent
• Travel towel
• Sleeping bag
• Sleeping mat
• Sleeping bag liner
• Travel pillow
• 5 x plastic clothes pegs
• Lightweight clothing line
• Lightweight high absorbency cloth ( for wiping dew from tent in the morning )
• Tea towel
• Sponge scourer
• Set plastic cutlery
• Plastic bowl
• Plastic plate
• Plastic cup
• Camping gas canister
• Camping cooker / stove
• Box matches
• Mini salt & pepper

 

See our Gear page for details of tent, sleeping bag + mat, stove etc

 

Phones:

 

We found it no cheaper ( indeed it was a hassle ) buying a pay-as-you-go French sim card than using our UK phones.  Good deals are often available with UK providers for European calls.

 

Money in the UK:

• Debit or credit card
• GBP cash
• Lakeland soup bag to carry card + cash ( weighs nothing + is see-through = very useful ! )

 

Money + ID in France:

• Debit or credit card (same one as UK ). An alternative is to load a Euro Bank Card e.g. from Post Office and withdraw Euros from suitable cash machines.
• Euro cash
• Passport
• European Health Insurance card

 

DISCLAIMER : Walkers + campers should use this list as a Guide only