Picnic Kit

Rick Steves sells a picnic set you can pack, the knive is plastic but sturdy looking. Apparently you can carry them in your carry on bag. I guess you could buy a sharper metal knife when you get there to cut harder things,, whats 10 euros in the scheme of what you save picnicing , and the knife doesn't have to be great,, just good enough for your trip..

I believe corkscrews are permitted in carryon now. Or just pick up a cheap one where you buy your wine.

Some corkscrews come with a tiny blade to be used as a foil cutter. I doubt those would be allowed, since blades of any kind seem to be a huge no no. I've been able to travel with "waiters' corkscrews" on intra-European flights, those are the kind with one long prong and a shorter one. We did get flagged but just because nobody knew what it was. Once we explained it, it was fine.

I bought the RS plasticware set and everything was fine UNTIL I got to Amsterdam for the return flight and they took away my plastic corkscrew! This was August 2011, don't know if the policy has changed.

Solution: Buy a corkscrew in Europe.

Plastic eating utensils are acceptable both going and coming. Cork screws can go from U.S. but not return from Europe. I sent one home from Scotland because I didn't want to lose it.

I normally buy a Swiss Army knife when I get there (for a blade, corkscrew, scissors and tweezers) and add a plastic fork and some sanitizer. My wife likes yogurt so she likes to have a spoon too. We just came back from a month in Spain and didn't picnic as much as we normally do. There were lots more cheap eating options but fewer decent grocery stores than we would normally see up north.

I also traveled with a Rick Steves picnic set, and they took my plastic corkscrew away at the Helsinki airport :( Luckily, that was on our way home, so I did get to use it the entire trip, and it worked beautifully!

One word: Spork. My wife and I always travel with a couple of strong plastic sporks (I also have a titanium spork, but worry it might be confiscated and don't want to lose it). I sometimes buy a corkscrew and maybe a cheap folding knife after arrival in Europe. I purchased one of the nicest picnic knives I've ever seen at a gas station in France years ago. Still have it (brought it home pre-TSA sillyness). A treasured souvenir.

We bought RS picnic set with the corkscrew and security took the corkscrew...can't remember where but it was on our France/Italy trip 2010.

Also, save a few of the pre-packaged sets of silverware you get at McDonald's and the like. I took 4 or 5 sets along (since it is cheap fast food plastic ware, it is TSA-friendly). It was nice to have some spoons for yogurt; knives for spreading nutella. Of course it is not very good at cutting things. But a nice thing to have along.

We generally buy a corkscrew in France and bring it home if we check any baggage (we don't check bags going over). I assumed that it couldn't be carried on if it has a little foil cutter blade, but wasn't sure about a pure corkscrew.