I'll be backpacking through Europe for 2 months - through Spain and Italy, hitting up the main cities - Barcelona, Madrid, Pamplona for running of the bulls, Florence, Rome, etc.
A friend of mine today suggested instead of using a backpack (which I've always travelled with) that I should bring instead a small suitcase with wheels... she said she used a backpack last year and regretted it and that a wheel suitcase would make my life infinitely easier. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I'm a student, will be staying in hostels... going mainly to cities, a few beach towns... would it be more or less convenient to use a suitcase?
Thanks in advance!

i use a backpack with wheels - much better for your type of trip i feel unless you're suitcase has excellent inline skating wheels like many backpacks do these days.

I would personally eschew your friend's recommendation.

Backpacks also are malleable - can fit better in train station lockers, etc.

I like backpacks because of all the exterior pockets they have - so useful on trains for example rather than having to open the suitcase.

Why did she regret it, has she tried touring with a suitcase and is able to compare like with like?

Suitcases are great if you are going door to door by some form of transport and if there are nice lifts to take you to the 7th floor.

If you intend doing any walking - like from station to hotel - then a suitcase becomes a major PITA as it requires at least one hand to pull it, is useless on anything but the smoothest street, doesn't do stairs very well, isn't very public transport friendly (most trains have steps into them) and if you have any form of back problem you'll find out about it. It also enciurages you to carry far too much because you've got the space and "you aren't carrying it".

Unfortunatley, I think this is a totally individual preference, as you can say. Alan makes some valid points, but I don't agree with many of them. For example, from my observations, backpacks are hardly so great on trains, either. People with them can barely get on, stagger around, whack people and are general pains. Actually, people with backpacks are pains in a lot of places because they are often so inconsiderate and whack people a lot.

I wouldn't want one, I prefer a suitcase with wheels, but do agree they are better on quasi-level surfaces. I've never had any great need for other things though -- and I personally have little problem carrying mine up a short flight of stairs, so that isn't a dealbreaker. One thing Alan said I really don't understand, though, about how a suitcase with wheels exacerbates back problems. I don't have a back problem, so maybe that's why I don't get that, but I would think backpacks would do that and suitcases would not.

He is also exaggerating some problems -- such as a suitcase being a PITA because you have to use one hand to pull it (? so what, I don't get that) and it is no good except on the smoothest of streets.

When I was a student backpacking around the British Isles, I used...a backpack. There's nothing wrong with it. They do become a pain when you have more than you can carry, which is where the wheelie suitcase comes in.

I have to say, having tried a wheeled backpack, that the backpack was unwieldy to put on my back, and the wheels just added weight. So I wouldn't go that route, but that's just me.

Anyway, if you're a young, strong student, do the natural thing and carry your backpack! Especially if you're already comfortable with one. Maybe your friend only did it once and didn't like it or something. Have a great trip!

<<< For example, from my observations, backpacks are hardly so great on trains, either. People with them can barely get on, stagger around, whack people and are general pains. Actually, people with backpacks are pains in a lot of places because they are often so inconsiderate and whack people a lot. >>>

My constant complaint about backpackers, beginners ALWAYS get too big a pack - and a day pack as well so they can really look stupid, but folk with suitcases are just as bad as they drage their cases through crowded areas or leave them in the middle of the pavement while they find a map.

If you are backpacking then the weight you carry is important (which is where I think OP's friend went wrong). You don't need a set of clean underwear for every day of the trip nor do you need to carry a tux or cocktail dress just in case the ambassador offers you dinner

"whack people and are general pains"

Christina , I totally agree with you.

Please if you do use a backpack , take it off going down the aisle in the plane or train. On the tube or metro, place it between your feet..you're taking up the space of 2 people if you don't. As one who has been whacked , sitting on a plane, and had my glasses knocked off my face and broken ...with no apology, I've had it with inconsiderate people

With backpacks you nearly always have both hands free, with a suitcase you rarely have both hands free. Try going upstairs with a full suitcase - or even on an escalator trying to balance both yourself and the case.

Try dragging a suitcase around somewhere like Edinburgh, I guarantee that even a trolley bag will try to tip over within yards - or through a puddle or, if Paris, something far worse

We used backpacks for our train trek from Amsterdam, down the Rhine, into Switzerland... we walked from the stations to each hotel and back. A couple of times we hopped off in a small town just to look around and we put our packs in a locker in the train station.

I think next time I would take the small rollie bag instead. We didn't 'hike' with our packs or anything - we had them as we went thru the train station, down the street to the hotel and that's about it. So a rollie bag would actually have been easier - in the event of stairs, I've been able to lift it to walk them, since I use the rollie most trips anyway.

I don't need to get into the suitcase for anything since I wear a small daybag/purse.

totally depends upon what you mean by "backpack." If you mean one of those big old framed things...fehgeddaboutit.

If you, like my 50-something husband and I, are willing & able to get by with a lightweight small backpack, then I say backpack. We've travelled through Europe this way for over 30 years, even when we took our 8-year-old son, who carried his own small pack. We wear clean clothes every day, too (launder frequently)! (And my husband and I both have a tendency to screw up our backs, so we're really picky about what/how we carry.) (And yes, we have done a 2-month trip this way.)

Rolling bags are great as long as you never stray from the pavement. But at times it's just so incredibly useful to be able to have both hands free, and that's the advantage of backpacks.

The most versatile thing I've seen are those bags Rick Steves sells (LL Bean and others have their own versions) which convert from backpack to a regular bag. I just got back from a trip using one as a carry-on and absolutely loved it.

On vacation I spend a lot of time taking pictures and looking at maps/guide books. With a backpack, you can accomplish both while still moving about, rather than having to stop as you would with a rolling bag. Also, it's way easier to get through a crowd with a pack on than rolling a bag behind you, imo.

Yes, that's why we don't like the wheels. The other thing about a wheeled bag is that the temptation is to pack more than you would if you knew you were going to have to lift it at times -- like up train stairs, into the overhead bin, etc.

But everybody has different preferences, that I know by now!

It's the way you're traveling.

If you're only mostly going to the main cities, as you said in the original post, and that you're staying at each place at least several days, then you'll be fine with rolleraboards. You can take a little more stuff and much easier for your back for the trip between airport or train station to your hotel.

But if you're going from town to town, staying at different accommodation each night and touring with all your belongings, then you have to use backpacks. And pack light.