backpacks vs suitcases on wheels
 

We will be travelling in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I believe we will have 6-7 train rides. Is it easier with backpacks (getting off and on and storing on trains) or would the rolling suitcases work as well. Can you store your luggage at your seat. Never travelled with a backpack for luggage, also have not done so many trainrides in one trip. Advise is partly for a mid-age woman.

type the word "backpacks" in the seach box above under the europe talk and quite a few things will pop up on the subject...even types of day bags. There was just a thread in April on this subject. I brought it to the top for you called <<backpack or rolling case in europe>>

Hope you find this helpful!

We just returned from a 10 night trip with 4 train trips with wheeled luggage and swore we will buy backpacks for the next trip. The hauling the luggage up and down the train stairs and dragging it thorough corridors on trains and subways was miserable! My boyfriend had to lift my luggage a considerable part of the time, since the storage in train compartments is usually overhead. I wouldn't have been able to do it alone. I cannot express the number of times we said we wished we had backpacks!!

First of all, a big backpack can end up being just as heavy as a suitcase (with or without wheels) and if you do have a wheeled bag you shouldn't have to drag it many places.

The lugagge racks are usually overhead as someone has already stated and if you are worried about lifting heavy items...well, you might want to concentrate on the amount you are packing as well as what you are packing it into.

Backpacks are probably somewhat easier to maneuver unless they are those huge overstuffed ones and if you'd really rather travel around with stuff on your back rather than pulling it on wheels....

DH and I have rolling duffel bags with hidden backpack straps. I tried to use the backpack part once on the trip I just took, and it turns out the thing is pretty cumbersome to use as a backpack when it's fully stuffed. I nearly ripped my arm out trying to get it on my shoulder, although it was ok once it was on my back.

OTOH, I used a normal camping backpack for backpacking around Scotland as a student, and it was smaller and really easy to manage (and I'm a woman around 5 feet tall).

I have a bag from eagle creek that is a standard size rectangular roller bag, but unzips to reveal backpack straps. I've had it for about 5 years and used it everywhere from fancy hotels in Europe to ferries in Myanmar and absolutely swear by it. When I purchased it, they made the same bag in 3 sizes - I have the medium one, which I think cost me something like $150-200 (the large one, with a removable daypack, seemed a bit too large to me). I think I've seen them sold recently in luggage stores. It's great to have the wheels for airports, long walks to hotels, and long train platforms, but the backpack is also vital for long sets of steps to reach hotel rooms and for stone streets.

As long as either one is of a small size and weight you will be fine. I use a 22" rolling suitcase weighs more ~22 lbs. packed.

I have never used, but imagine would not like having to hoist the weight onto and off my back over and over again. I feel (mid-age woman) that is it much better for me physically to roll the suitcase along behind me most of the time. Plus you don't bump into people as much as with a backpack behind you.

I do not care for 'convertibles' anything that tries to be both backpack and wheeled, because I do not think they do either one very well, plus are extra heavy because of having both the wheel mechanisms and the backpack straps, etc.

For kjenn- I kindly suggest you maybe had too much stuff packed? Even if you use a backpack next time, if you have the same amount of weight, you won't be able to lift it into the overhead rack on the train any more than you could (not) lift your roller bag.

oops... "weight no more than ~22 lbs."

I have travelled both ways: with a backpack and with wheeled luggage. Both trips required a lot of getting on and off trains. I will agree with an eariler post: the train station steps can be a drag if you have a heavy suitcase to lug. However, I found that using a backpack can be very tiresome. If you plan on doing any shopping in the destinations you are travelling to, I would recommend using small wheeled luggage and not to pack a lot. I used this technique on a recent trip to Spain and my friend and I had no troubles.

Hope that helped.
Have fun!

Speaking as a mid-fifties and fit Fodorite, I will add my strong vote for backpacks. My husband and I have travelled and lived in Italy for 10 years now and lead school groups. We urge the (college aged) kids to bring their backpacks. Those with the wheeled suitcases are slower, suffer more fatigue and strained muscles than those with the efficiently packed back-packs.

And lest you are thinking that what lurks in a back-pack is frump-city, we have managed to collect a wardrobe suitable for the high end Rome restaurant and opera night we treat ourselves to after we have hugged our charges good-bye!

Hi

I almost always use a back pack, but make sure its not too heavy for you. One drawback is you will find t very hard to secure your contents as you can not normally lock a back pack!