My friend and I are traveling throughout Western Europe for 7 weeks in May/June via trains. I am looking for advice about backpacks..or should I just bring my wheeled luggage? One other question would be should I get a rail pass to see all the countries or just do individual tickets?

Where to look for backpacks/brands to look for?
What size is good for 7 weeks?
Anything else I should look for or consider?

This is all new to me because the few times I've been to Europe was just to one city for the week and I would just bring one suitcase.

Personally, I always advise against bringing wheeled luggage while traveling around Europe because the wheels have a tendancy to pop off. The rail pass can be quite helpful, but if you are looking into individual tickets, you might also want to consider flying. New (relatively) airlines like ryan air often have extremely cheap flights that end up being much cheaper than the trains.

www.yourlifepassion.com

May/June in Europe will be warm in some places (Greece, S.France, Italy, etc) and still cool in others. So if you intend really seeing as much as possible you will need an assortment of clothing.

Logically, that means a sizeable bag/backpack/case will be needed which might be too heavy for some of the airlines who all have a 20kg limit or thereabouts. Having said that, low-cost airlines like easyJet and Ryanair are cheaper now than train fares to many destinations and if you feel the cold, you can always buy a sweater at your destination then ditch it if you move on to a warmer climate.

I would always favour the airline over rail mainly as it's far quicker - 7 weeks might sound like a long time but with so much to see, you'll be surprised at how quickly it passes and you won't want to spend half your available time cramped up on a train.

Look at the easyJet website, plan where your initial stop-off will be and work from there.

Also, as a general tip, Europe is a "big" place so rather than cram everything into 7 weeks, why not decide to visit a few select countries that are geographically close to one another? For example, you could head south and do S.France, across the border at Ventimiglia into N. Italy, then down through Croatia and the former Yugoslav territories into Greece. Just an idea....

With the Eurail pass, it all depends on what type of travelling you'll be doing and where. Typically if you're staying in each place for at least a week, individual tickets are cheaper but if you plan on travelling a lot, the pass is cheaper. German trains are typically pretty expensive, so for travel in or through Germany, the pass is usually cheaper. Italian trains are generally cheaper, but less... predictable, so it might be better to have a pass for Italian trains just because you wouldn't have to stress out when your train arrives two hours late because you missed your connection.

What is nice about the Eurail pass is that you don't have to worry about whether or not to hop on a train. That is, depending on how you travel, you might save some money with individual tickets but you would also save a lot of stress by just getting the Eurail pass and not worring about the cost of individual tickets and whether or not you have saved the most possible money. And at least when I did the math for my trips, the savings from having bought individual tickets would have been negligible.

You should also be very aware of when transit worker strikes are. I didn't see the nationality of the poster, but if you are eligible for a Eurail pass you're not European. In Europe, strikes are very weird (at least to an American) because they are scheduled and typically occur for at least a week. French and Italian train strikes occur essentially every year. The French and the Italians (and most Europeans) know exactly when this will happen and plan their trips accordingly. However, travel agents will still schedule tickets for you during the strikes. So beware -- know when the strikes are or you might get stuck in a small town in Italy by accident. It was a system which I never quite figured out and which has trapped many unsuspecting Americans.

1. Buy a backpack. You do not want to be hauling a suitcase (wheels or no) around narrow streets, up stairs, etc. Lowe Alpine makes good stuff. Eagle Creek is a little more expensive, but excellent.

There are two ways to go with the Eurail pass. You can either buy an unlimited for a two month period, or you can buy a pass with a certain number of rides. I bought a 15-trip for about 9 weeks in europe and still had like 2 trips left at the end. It's cheaper than the unlimited, but requires you to plan more. For instance, I would use it in France and Germany where trains are expensive, but not in Italy where it costs 13E to get across the country. It's going to depend on your route.

As for flights, they can be great. Sometimes you get amazing prices. One word of warning, many times they fly out of smaller, out of town airports. So from Barcelona you're really flying from Girona, which is a signifigant taxi ride out of town (I think it's like 40 min or something).Depending on the destiation, you may be better off on the train. Plus you get to see the countryside, which I particurally enjoy.

Have fun!

I would def advise a rail pass I called the internation rail line the other day as I am going to Europe in June. The charge around £300 for a months pass. You can use this through Europe and you only have to pay extra if you are going on over night or high speed trains. This is also a good idea if you are straped for cash as you can stay on a train over night for an extra £3-£7 would advise you called them: 08705878878 there address is www.interrailnet.com and www.seat61.com.
Happy traveling,

backpack every time, you can get ones that have a little rucksack/day pack on the outside that's detachable and all the strapps tuck inside another zip for flying. I've flown a few times with a normal pack and as long as you tuck all the straps in or tie them up (so they don't get caught in the conveyor belts it's fine). Much more comfortable, safe and easy (free's your hands for tickets/cash) to wear a pack.