Final Jeopardy! Do I need a raincoat?

Get a waterPROOF, breathable rain jacket with a hood that covers your butt. Serves double duty. It's basic travel stuff - - don't leave home without it. Pitch the junk, it leaks and makes you sweat.

"...with a hood that covers your butt." I'm trying to imagine what a jacket like that would look like. :)

horrible syntax, but it would well serve those who have their head up . . .

I bring a North Face waterproof shell with me when I travel. It is a very light weight rain jacket that folds down real small. In the evenings you can wear a sweater or long sleeved shirt underneath.

We each carry a good water-proof rain jacket that is extra long to cover our bottoms whenever we go to Europe and put it into our day bags once we get there. I carry one every day when in Hawaii. A good one is worth the price and can be had for not a lot of money and is certainly a good investment - light weight and crushable.

Jeff, you have probably already been all over www.accuweather.com checking the forecast for cities in Italy. Check the long-range the Friday before you leave. Not always accurate, though. Predicted rain when we were to be in Italy a few weeks ago, but wound up with lovely, sunny weather....not complaining. I think taking our Gore-tex hooded jackets and travel umbrella was the good-luck charm :) Spouse always travels in a sports coat, so that works for cool evenings, if needed. I always take a few long/wide scarves that are usually worn around my neck, but then opened to be worn as shawls for cool evenings.....takes little space in carry-on and a nice look. Have fun!!

I think the secret is to buy a jacket that is water proof not water resistant. There is a big difference. They also work well if you should get a cool windy day.

I think it depends on exactly what you'll be doing. In cities I've always done quite well with a couple of the $1 emergency ponchos that you mentioned for light rain. In a pinch you can usually also buy a cheap umbrella from the street vendors that will appear if it starts to rain (yes you can bargain with them). One plus - an umbrella will keep you and your stuff drier. If you're going to be touring a lot of sites that are outdoors, you could follow Scott's advice and bring a backpacker's rain jacket. You can also get rain pants that are equally compact. Good luck.

In addition to these good suggestions, my husband and I use waterproof spray (sold for shoes) before we leave home - not only on our shoes but on our backpacks, travel umbrellas, hats, hooded jackets, and my fanny pack. This just gives an extra layer of protection. On one particularly long, rainy trip, we needed to respray our shoes and had to search for shoe spray in Italian. We eventually found some!

A good waterproof breathable rain jacket, such as Ed and Charlie describe, will do double-duty as your jacket for cool evenings. We never travel without them, and have used ours (Patagonia brand) on every trip, including summer in Italy. Both of us have roller bags with a zipper panel that provides access to the handle area. We fold the jackets in half and stow them there. They take up no space inside the bag that way.

Nix the raincoat. I am even leaving my umbrella home this year. Its only rained a couple times in the last 5 years worth of trips and my $1 poncho works just as well!

I'm with Cindy...nix the raincoat for the buck raingear.
It's summer,vacation!!

Cindy and John are right. I've been in Rome many times (am here now for about 6 weeks) and have not needed a rain coat--I purchase an umbrella on the fly or just enjoy the rain (or getting out of it).