Luggage - Soft Bag or Rolling

Peter: You can browse a hundred replies to this question. Go to Adv Google Search, in search within a site box enter ricksteves.comin all these words enter helpline and then some appropriate keywordsthe hits you get will be prior discussions of this very popular topic here.

Really depends on your personal preference. Italian streets don't really get along well with wheels, nor do the millions of stairs in that country. But then you have a car, and so hopefully will have less time lugging your luggage around than those of us who travel via public transport.

Soft duffle bags also have the advantage of being more flexible if you have to stuff it in the overhead bin or under your seat or into a small car trunk. On the other hand, it will also not do as good a job of protecting your Italian wine and olive oil.

For me though, I find the weight of wheels not worth their convenience in a place like Italy where the terrain is unforgiving, to say the least.

I used a small rolling duffle for my trip to Italy and there were times that the wheels came in handy. I really did not have any trouble rolling it along even on cobblestones but then it was also great to be able to throw it over the shoulder for the many stairs or getting on trains, etc.