When we spend a summer hiking in Europe, it’s essential to have a few high-quality, easy-to-hand-wash, quick-drying clothing items that look good when wandering through European villages and cities in the evening. We don’t carry much because we don’t want to haul large suitcases along the cobblestone streets, but we need clothes that breathe, are easy to manage, and can withstand handwashing and drying on a clothesline.
Cheers! Brian is wearing a Belong shirt, and I am wearing a Kühl dress
It doesn’t matter whether I am taking a backpack or a small suitcase; the goal is the same: I only pack lightweight, breathable, high-quality pieces that roll up small and don’t wrinkle, saving space for my favorite luxury items. We spent the summer of 2025 in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, walking the Way of St. Francis in Italy, leading a group on the Camino Frances in Spain, and spending time with friends in Portugal at the end of our two-month trip. During the summer, Brian and I carried two clothing brands: Kühl and Belong, which I will review for durability, breathability, and the style factor.
Brian is wearing a Belong shirt and shorts
Why did we choose these two brands? We have a local outfitter store, Base Camp Outdoors Co., that carries the Belong brand, which we had not previously heard of until we shopped in their store. We loved the look, and the clothes held up well in our pre-Europe tests. We’ve teamed up with our outfitter store to offer our readers a discount code, which is featured a bit later in the blog. Kühl reached out to us to review a few pieces of our choosing, which was perfect because we already loved the brand and had been wearing their clothing for years.
Wearing our Belong t-shirts and holding the Testimoniums we earned from walking the Way of St. Francis
Belong Designs
This is a smaller company based in Colorado with sustainability practices that we can stand behind. Brian had with him a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and a button-down shirt. He loved wearing the shorts in the evening, to bed, and even hiked comfortably in them. The button-down shirt looked great when he dressed up for the evening, and he loved the breathability while hiking. We both took Belong t-shirts with us. The design on the t-shirt looked great and is nice for everyday wear; however, we both struggled with the breathability of the t-shirt when hiking. Though made of polyester and rayon, they acted more like a cotton t-shirt than a good tech shirt. They felt heavy and “sticky” when hiking. However, I cannot say enough about how much I love wearing our Belong t-shirts when we are not hiking. You can shop all of our favorite items at Base Camp Outdoors Co. Use “COLEMAN15” for 15% off your hiking gear.
I am wearing my Belong t-shirt and Kühl skort. Brian is wearing his Kühl shirt and zip-off shorts
Kühl Clothing
Kühl has been making clothing since 1983 and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. We have been wearing their performance hiking pants for years. Brian has been wearing their button-down shirts for years, too. Speaking of Brian, pictured above, he took with him a non-tech material button-down shirt (Intriguer) and a pair of convertible hiking pants (Renegade). He owns a button-down Kühl shirt made of tech material, which he wore on our 2024 trip (photo below). He doesn’t like to wear the same shirt multiple years in a row because we are on camera so much.
Brian is wearing his Kühl shirt in 2024
He absolutely loved his pants. However, it was so hot this summer that he only wore the legs of the pants one day. Haha! They were comfortable and hand-washed well. The non-tech shirt was great for off-days (non-hiking days) and evenings. They hand-washed easily and didn’t wrinkle. Both looked great on him!
Wearing my Kühl dress
I swear I am the hard-to-please and hard-to-fit girl. Please tell me you can relate! I took a Kühl sleeveless Vantage dress and the Revivr skort. Everyone complimented me on the dress, pictured above. I didn’t feel as cute as I wanted to, but I struggle with the cute factor (no, I am not fishing for compliments, but I always appreciate them. Haha). The dress was about 1” too short for me, I am 5’6”, and I like my dresses to fall just above my knee. I know it looks like that in the photo, but due to the elastic waist, it rode up a bit. The one thing that surprised me about the dress, though it was probably in the description, was the built-in bra. It was a pain, and I always had to wear my own bra in addition to it. My favorite part of the dress was the pockets! Great job, Kühl!! Girls love pockets!
The Revivr skort looked adorable! I loved how it fit and how it looked. It was a medium grey color, had great pockets, and a draw-string. The only thing I didn’t like about the skort was the “shorts” part of it. They were not fitted like cycling shorts, so they rode up more often than I want to admit.
Summary:
We will continue to wear both brands, and now we have a better understanding of their limitations. Belong is an excellent brand with clothes that hand-wash well, look great all the time, and the t-shirts are best for non-hiking days. Kühl is also a great brand with clothes that hand-wash well and look great all the time. I wish they had a tall line of dresses.
Would you like to travel with us? We will be taking two groups to walk the Camino next year. In June 2026, we are walking from Greccio to Rome, Italy. In July 2026, we are walking from Samos to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Join us! More details can be found here.
Side note: I wish companies would make cute hiking shirts for curvy women with larger chests. I struggle with looking cute on and off the trail in the same clothes. Brian has it easier. If you have a favorite clothing brand that I need to check out, please comment below!
*Disclaimer: We paid for our Belong clothes, though the store offered us a discount. They didn’t ask for a blog and have no control over the content. Kühl sent us the clothes at no charge. They asked for a blog, but have no control over our content.
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