Travel EUROPE: Travel Tips & Tricks

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I had pouring rain in Nice and a light drizzle in Amsterdam (Hence why I skipped Anne Frank's house, cbf staying in line for ~2 hours in the rain)
But everywhere else (Paris, Lyon, Barcelona, Lucerne, Rome, Venice, Florence, Vienna, Munich, Berlin, Prague, London) was beautiful weather.
Ok, maybe not London, overcast made it feel depressing, but zero rain (and I was there for 8 days in Dec)
 

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Yep, over here all winter and it was the best weather most areas had had.6-11degrees across Berlin to Budapest and i flew to Turkey just as the cold hit. No snow which was partially unfortunate. As soon as the cold hit Turkey, I flew to Israel and then back into Italy for more ice weather.

Currently waiting in Heathrow. London easily the lowlight of the trip, even if Amsterdam struggled against a Christmas solitude.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
 
Yeah I will probably just be finishing up in Italy when winter hits. No real plans where to go after that, probably somewhere east, there's quite a few places on my list, just have to figure out which are the best around that time of year. I'll more than likely be back for the start of summer, so keen to check out the countries in there best season, maybe even some in both. Who knows.
 
So to those of you who have already travelled, what type of travel bags have you taken?

I'm undecided on whether to choose a wheeled backpack, of which I've looked at:
Black wolf - Grand Royale / Grand tour
Caribee - Skymaster
Deuter - Helion

Or just go for the normal backpack, went to the shops before and they had:
Black wolf - Grand teton (expensive), cedar breaks
Deuter - 80 + 10 travellers bag (on special, normally more expensive than black wolf by a fair bit)

So any hints, recommendations, good brands i should check out?
 
wce4premiership said:
So to those of you who have already travelled, what type of travel bags have you taken?

I'm undecided on whether to choose a wheeled backpack, of which I've looked at:
Black wolf - Grand Royale / Grand tour
Caribee - Skymaster
Deuter - Helion

Or just go for the normal backpack, went to the shops before and they had:
Black wolf - Grand teton (expensive), cedar breaks
Deuter - 80 + 10 travellers bag (on special, normally more expensive than black wolf by a fair bit)

So any hints, recommendations, good brands i should check out?
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Osprey has gotten me through Nepal, India and the better part of Europe. Great brand if not a bit more expensive. Black Wolf is all right but I've never liked em. I wouldn't suggest anything too big fwiw.

I'm a pretty light packer, but I have a fairpoint 70 (55 litre main bag with a 15 litre front pack), and I always had plenty of room in the main bag. I only had about 9 kilos in my main bag at any time though *Very light packer*, not including what I was wearing at the time. If you have the room you will inevitably take way too much with you that you won't wear half the time. Heck I didn't wear 3 or 4 heavy items from that 9 kilos, including a few hefty fleeces/jumpers.

The fairpoint is their entry level travel bag, and doesn't have solid back support, but I never struggled. It isn't adjustable either so make sure you get the right size from the get go if you're going that route. I believe the next step up is the Waypoint, which has adjustable support in the back so you can specialize it to your height.

Their wheeled bag, the Porter is really good quality as well, albeit expensive again.

I probably wouldn't buy a backpack online unless you are sure they'll be comfortable for you and able to take all the weight at the waist. An uncomfortable backpack for any decent length travel is a killer, especially if you plan on training/busing it around.
 
Also, I prefer front loaders - you can't cram as much in them, but they're a godsend in regards to keeping things neat and tidy. Top loaders become a cluster* sooner rather than later... A few more weak points, especially in regards to rain if you don't buy an overcover, but I like keeping things in relative order (Had three soft packing cubes and a laundry bag in my backpack and everything I had was always in one of those four. Too easy)
 
I have never seen the the point in going to Anne Frank's house.
 
The Dice Man said:
Ok maybe you just had bad luck, but it's often our misunderstanding of their culture. They can be rude and I understand why, but I love that they can be.

I quite like their women, well I'm marrying one so I better. But I like them for their style, refinement and reserved nature.... Completely different to so many Aussie women.
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Nah man, French women are crazy. Like in a good way, but utterly crazy and let you know about it.

Betty Blue was a documentary.
 
MaddAdam said:
I have never seen the the point in going to Anne Frank's house.
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To see where a young girl lived who had her privacy stolen from her when her father published her journal?
 
Dirty Bird said:
To see where a young girl lived who had her privacy stolen from her when her father published her journal?
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Precisely.

Or, as some would suggest, young girl lived and was taken away and killed whereupon her Dad wrote a journal and put her name on it to cash in?
 

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MaddAdam said:
Precisely.

Or, as some would suggest, young girl lived and was taken away and killed whereupon her Dad wrote a journal and put her name on it to cash in?
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I deleted that last bit in my comment.
Australian culture is too politically correct to allow that sort of talk...
 
I'm not saying that IS what happened, but the whole "Anne sat in the attic writing as evil Nazis patrolled the streets unawares" line doesn't sit right.
 
Dagless said:
Also, I prefer front loaders - you can't cram as much in them, but they're a godsend in regards to keeping things neat and tidy. Top loaders become a cluster**** sooner rather than later... A few more weak points, especially in regards to rain if you don't buy an overcover, but I like keeping things in relative order (Had three soft packing cubes and a laundry bag in my backpack and everything I had was always in one of those four. Too easy)
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Have heard mixed reviews for Blackwolf, some people saying they have ripped within 2 weeks, I've heard similar about carribee. Perhaps unlucky people but it sort of makes me want to spend that little bit more. Definitely only looking at front loaded bags, haven't seen any ospreys in the stores I was at yet

Did you have a preference of backpack over wheels? (lighter for one)
or were there times you could have used the wheels?

The deuter bags I'm looking at are on sale and usually $400+ but are now on sale for the same price as equivalently sized blackwolf bags.
There is an 80 + 10, 70 + 10 and a 55+10
I am quite confident I could get away with the 55, but the weight difference between the 55 - 80 is only 400g
Was thinking that the extra space could be used to load up within my last week on any souvenirs/random crap i might want.

As for packing what exactly did you have packed?
 
I own the Deuter 80+10 and highly recommend it.

Excellent quality and very practical. Heaps of space, and very comfortable to carry on the back even when full.

It's been on long trips through Asia and I'll be taking it with me through Europe.
 
Do you use travel cubes?
I could see them coming in handy for toiletries / wet clothes if there's no time to dry them. I don't think I would come close to even filling the 80+10 even in the unzipped state so the cubes size wouldn't be an issue.
 
Never used travel cubes.

If I had wet clothes, a plastic/zip lock bag would usually do the trick.

And yeah it is quite large, but if you're going to be travelling through different types of weather/seasons, you're going to want to pack enough suitable clothing.

Never a bad thing having extra space anyway.
 
wce4premiership said:
Care to elaborate?
I'm taking none, buying over there.
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Just feel like the volume of clothing required is overstated.

Make sure you buy a (very) good jacket/coat and you're golden. With a decent set of thermals and one midlayer you're golden with that alone
 
just got a caribee mallorca 70... was only going to look at bags the other day but this was pretty well priced and was pretty much exactly what i was after so i took it home

what are peoples experiences with air bnb? found some fantasic looking places for a few of my dates but i dont know anyone who has ever used it before...
 
Jaxes said:
just got a caribee mallorca 70... was only going to look at bags the other day but this was pretty well priced and was pretty much exactly what i was after so i took it home

what are peoples experiences with air bnb? found some fantasic looking places for a few of my dates but i dont know anyone who has ever used it before...
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Air BnB is great. Have used it as both guest and host quite a few times and never had a problem. I started a thread on it here somewhere too.
 
Jaxes said:
just got a caribee mallorca 70... was only going to look at bags the other day but this was pretty well priced and was pretty much exactly what i was after so i took it home

what are peoples experiences with air bnb? found some fantasic looking places for a few of my dates but i dont know anyone who has ever used it before...
Click to expand...
I like AirBnB as a 'break' from the hubbub of hostels without the extravagance of hotels. I find that it only tends to be worth it ifyou're looking at a place for 5 days +, any shorter and its value diminishes greatly due to fees on the side.

I'm a big proponent of CouchSurfing. As a male I met some great people, who if they have the time will show you the more interesting side of the cities as opposed to the touristy bull. And it's a lot more chilled I find, especially in regards to the type of people you meet. A lot of people just want to practice English!

Love a good hostel though.
 
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