Any Luggage tips for Eurrail travel?
 

We will be taking the overnight train from Paris through Madrid to Sevilla on Easter weekend. Would we run into any problems with 28" luggage on the train in first class/reclining seats?
Our plan was for my husband and I to each take a 28" rolling luggage and a backpack. Then we would have space for shopping!

Will this be too awkward? Thanks for your insights on European train travel practicalities --

That sounds like a lot of extra luggage to me. Unless you are taking the overnight train with a reserved compartment, you will not find a comfortable or nearby place in which to store or secure that much luggage.

We found a 21" rollaboard and small tote more than enough for our train trips in Europe.

If you must have more space for shopping, consider taking a folding bag. These are available at most travel shops and websites.

On the other hand, on the theory that there are only two kinds of luggage, carry on and lost, we have established a FedEx account and ship everything we cannot comfortably carry. It's less costly than excess baggage charges and the costs of treatment for strained backs and shoulders.

Hi B,

Fill the suitcase.

Raise the filled suitcase and put it standing up on a table, long dimension perpendicular to your body.

You have now gotten it onto the train.

Raise it over your head and put it on a shelf lying on its side.

You have now put it on a luggage rack.

If you can do this without trouble. It's fine.

((I))

Do you really want to spend a night in a reclining seat? This is a hotel train with proper sleeping accommodation.

Well, it would be extremely awkward for me, as a 28" packed suitcase would probably weigh as much as I do.

You do realize there are no porters? You'll have to schlep those bags up the stairs onto the train, down the corridors, up onto luggage racks...no way I'd travel with anything that large.

Also agree about the reclining seats. I wouldn't be able to sleep in one of those, but maybe you're a better sleeper than I am.

You don't put a 28" suitcase on the overhead rack. You put it in the luggage storage between cars. You allow enough time before deboarding to go retrieve the bag to be ready. It will be too large to easily go down an aisle with it.

that is a huge amount of luggage -- 2 X 28" plus 2 X backpacks. I sure wouldn't do it.

2 X 21" and a back pack or two should be sufficient for most trips. But 2 X 24" plus backpacks would still be manageable. It is amazing how much difference there is in the schlepp factor between 24" and 28"

travel with a simple coated cable bicycle type lock. It is easy to secure your bags and you get a little more sense of not always having to watch them. Trains in France are getting more luggage theft in last year.

I'm not one of those folks who tries to travel super-light, but even I find this an astounding amount of luggage for a vacation trip. I've never taken more than a 25" suitcase, and that was for trips of 3-4 weeks, and I didn't have a backpack on top of that.

Some people do have bags that large on a train, yes, that don't forbid them, but it certainly will be awkward. You'll have to find space in the luggage area at the end of the car, most likely. I'd get there early.

oh, I agree, you will not be putting that on any luggage rack. I have never seen a luggage rack large enough for that size suitcase. So don't worry about the part about lifting it over your head.

I would never attempt any kind of train travel with two suitcases that large.

I use a 24" roller & a small day bag (22" would be better but I can't quite pack that light).

Two 28"ers will NOT be easy to handle... from your hotel, in and out of taxis, to the train station, up and down stairs, onto the train, etc. and will be too large to keep with you at your seat on the train (you'll have to leave them in the luggage racks).

Regardless of how early you get to the station on your day of travel, unless you're at the originating point for the train journey, it's very likely that the luggage racks at the end of the cars will already be full by the time you get on. Then you'll really have a mess to deal with. Travel lighter. Especially for one of the busiest travel weeks in Europe.

One of the people we traveled with last spring in Italy had a 26" suitcase with her, and it was a huge pain on the train -- didn't fit on the racks, was hard to get on and off, etc.

el

Fill everything up, then go for a walk somewhere busy.

When you get home decide which two-thirds of the stuff you aren't taking

2x28" is simple insanity, there's no other way to describe it

&quot;<i>So don't worry about the part about lifting it over your head.</i>&quot; True, that size suitcase won't fit in the overhead racks. But if there is already luggage at the end of the car, one <u>does</u> have to lift their bags to pile on top of others or place it on a higher shelf, depending on how the luggage area is set up.

It's not just about getting them on the train, a fully packed 28&quot; suitcase is hard to handle... any &amp; everywhere you go!

Thanks for your practical input. I am downsizing the luggage we take for sure!! As for the reclining seat option -- this was THE ONLY CHOICE on the train Paris to Madrid. All the sleepers were booked on Easter Saturday night. Oh, how I wish we could have had a private sleeper car :-)

My crystal ball says you are going to have a miserable trip in an overnight sitter for that long a trip. I suggest breaking it up and staying a day in San Sebastian. You are beachies and there are few beaches in Europe to compare with San Sebastian. For practicalities of train travel I suggest you look at http://tinyurl.com/eym5b.

I agree with the others about the freight you are carrying. Why punish yourselves? You can buy clothes and shampoo in Europe, and more luggage to haul it home in. You are going to cuss yourselves with all that baggage.

Those are major bags!

They will be to large for overhead racks on many trains (we've been able to use them on very old-fashioned trains with separate compartments in First Class. But then we had 6 seats for the 2 of us.

You may have to leave them at the end of the car - in which case I would lock them to something so they don;t walk off at the first stop.

Also, if they're fully packed they can be heavy for getting up the steep, narrow stairs from the platform to the train. Just make sure you can each easily lift and carry the bag for short distances - at the same time as wearing your backpacks..