Should I stick with a carry on?

You will be happy if you travel light. Look beyond the flights and think about getting on and off trains. With a carry on sized bag you can usually keep it by your seat on a train. Larger bags need to go near the doors on the ends of the train cars. Many hotels don't have elevators and will require you to carry your bag up and down stairs. Venice has many bridges with stairs.

Whether you choose a backpack type bag or a wheeled bag is personal preference.

I agree with Andrea. Look at the trains. It is MUCH easier to handle a smaller bag getting on and off of a train plus having it near me during the ride is important to me.

For 2 weeks, I am betting you can go smaller than the Osprey Porter 46. It's the size of Rick's convertible back pack and I've done 8 weeks with that bag and wound up with it overpacked at the end. This fall I did 5.5 weeks in Rick's 20# roller bag and had plenty of space. I would guess for 2 weeks you could do something a size down from a 22".

On several Rick Steves tours, group members had the Porter 46 and my brother also had one. While I never used it that doesn't stop me from having an opinion. What bugs me about that bag is that it is sloped in on the top and bottom (if that description makes sense) and I like a squarer shape as I can fit my packing cubes in better. My brother also feels it works out to be a bit long for standard carry on. You can make it fit in a sizer if it is not full.

editing to add: You will thank yourself in Venice if you have a smaller bag. If your hotel is any distance away from a vaporetto stop you will be carrying it up and down all the stairs on every bridge you come to. Many think that the bridges are ramps, they aren't, they are steps.

My husband and I have traveled for 3 weeks in both England and France using Rick Steves' roller bag carry on (one bag each); I was amazed that we could fit everything in, including his biking clothes and shoes! Definitely go with a carry-on bag or pack; you will appreciate it in the long run.

First, most of us on this forum have made several trips to Europe and have experienced the travel with several different approaches. Once you have traveled for 2-3 weeks in Europe with a small carry-on (21" x 14" x 9") your will never go back to larger bags, trust me on this.

Second, you will find that it is very liberating to pare down your belongings to just what you need and will find that you spend more time enjoying the sights and sounds of the country your in.

Finally, for many of us, travel has become a religion and taking one or more large suitcases borders on heresy! (This is meant to be humerous!)

I have spent as much as a month in Europe with only the RS classic convertible carry on (no wheels). I did have to do laundry at least once on each trip, but I had everything I needed.

You will be happier with having to carry less. :-)

I just got back from three weeks in Europe and checked a bag for the first time in years. Never again! The line just to drop off the bag was longer than the security line, the process was automated, the machine malfunctioned, and it was a nightmare. This was at Schiphol.

Carry on. It doesn't have to be a backpack - a rolling carry on would work if you prefer. While you can bring any size bag on the train, a bigger bag is a bigger hassle. You want it to fit above your seat, not on the luggage rack at the back of the car, for security purposes. Plus, you will need to get it on the train, off the train, to your hotel, up the stairs, and then do all that again when you move cities. Yes, I suppose a roller bag that is just a bit bigger than carry on would be fine for all this- but not one that is much bigger. If you check it, you run the risk of lost or delayed luggage, which is annoying. So I vote carry-on if at all possible.

Jeremy,
I vote for carry-on for the various reasons the other posters have mentioned above.

I usually pack enough clothes for 7 days, then plan to do laundry during my trip rather than to lug around excess baggage.

On my very first trip to Europe (before roller-suitcases, many, many years ago) I took a medium sized suitcase and I regretted my decision the whole trip!

On my last trip (2015), I was traveling with my elderly mom & we each had a 22" roller carry-on suitcase.
We ended up leaving one of them in a locker while we traveled to a nearby city.
I joked about it with my mom by saying; next time we will bring only ONE 22" suitcase not 2!

Enjoy your trip & travel light!

I used the RS convertible backpack for my two week tour, and was more than satisfied. Remember with carry-ons for major airlines, you get one bag for the overhead, as well as a "personal item." Make use of that personal item - I used the small RS daypack, but any lightweight bag would probably work. Of course, if you're a serious photographer, you might be taking a camera bag. But I found it easy to put clothing, toiletries, shoes, and electronics in the overhead bag, while guidebooks and paperwork went in the small bag.

I would recommend carrying on - I cannot overstate how easy that made the flights. I did online check-in, and went to stand by the gate. For all the horror stories you hear about long lines and arriving 3 hours in advance at airports, avoiding the check-in desk is a big plus.

And like others, I was a bit unnerved by the thought of packing everything into a carry-on for a two week trip, but I figured it out. My own little bit of advice is to pack some white undershirts, t-shirts, or whatever. Wear them under your sweater or regular shirt for the day so your outer shirt doesn't get too dirty. The white shirts are easy to wash out in the sink, and in my case, they got left on the bed in the last hotel in Rome so I could make room for some small souvenirs.

I also think that carry on is a good idea. Generally, I carry on my luggage going and often while flying around my trip destination(s). Occasionally because I am returning with a libation or I bought some souvenirs I will expand my luggage and check it on the way home. So far that has worked out well for me, but I don't do it much. Because I take some extra camera gear I also take a smallish personal item which I can store under the seat in front of me. If not for that, I likely would fit just about everything in the one I stash overhead. It is pretty easy to pack light once you get used to it. After you do, you will most likely be grateful you learned how.

Just be careful which "carryon" you use, here's the latest update from Consumer Reports showing that most bags actually measure out bigger than they claim (and can thus be rejected)

http://www.consumerreports.org/luggage/When-carry-on-luggage-isnt-carry-on-size

My other question is with me taking only the two flights two and from my home and trains while in Europe, would it be more beneficial/easier to just bring a medium sized roller bag and not have to stress about packing as light?

When you get off the airplane and go to baggage claim and then watch the carousel grind to a halt without your bag on it, then you'll understand what travel stress is ;-)

I was extremely glad for my carry-on sized roller bag on my trip last summer. 3 weeks and no problem fitting in what I needed. I could roll it or lift it easily anywhere it needed to go. I used the Rick Steves carry-on with rollers. I feel the ability to reasonably handle your own luggage is essential for travel.

I was shocked at what some of my fellow tourists were trying to lug on and off of trains. It got even worse if the husband was the designated "Sherpa" and was trying to haul both his and his wife's oversize bags. If you are hoping to do a quick cross platform transfer and have the misfortune to be behind one of these individuals, it can be a little stressful. It can't have been pleasant for those individuals either who always seemed overwhelmed with the task of moving the luggage around.

Very rarely do I hear people report that they wish they had packed more. Usually, they wish they had packed less.

Jeremy,

Travelling with just carry-on does make things a bit easier but it's certainly not necessary (IMO), especially as you won't be taking any flights while in Europe. I've always travelled with a checked Backpack as well as a companion Daypack for carry-on, and that method has worked well.

I'm not in a great hurry when I arrive in Europe, so if my pack takes a few minutes to appear on the carousel, it's not a big deal. On the flight home, once I've dropped the main Pack at the check-in desk it's much easier navigating several airports and making connecting flights with just the much smaller and lighter Daypack.

Venice is THE city to justify packing as light as possible. And, packing light is nice when going up/down stairs at train stations. We don't take flights during our trips, either, just traveling by train and easily pack for 3 weeks with a carry-on.

My travel companion never wishes she had packed less, she wishes she had packed DIFFERENT things. Sigh.

Going carry-on is awesome, but the trick is that it has to be light enough not to get burdensome. On my last trip I shlepped this Tom Bihn Aeronaut 30 all over Israel, and it worked pretty well. People would comment on how well I packed, but the truth is that it got kind of heavy at times, and sometimes I wished I'd taken a roller.

I traded it in for the same bag in a lighter fabric, and intend to try again for my upcoming trip to Germany in March. I'll pack a little less -- paring down the heavier items, such as toiletries and gadgets, can really help.

Don't confuse a carry on as being something that doesn't have wheels. I've used both a backpack type bag and rolling bags, but I carry them all on. My back can't handle a backpack anymore, but my rolling bag will be carried on as always.

Cloths for several days fit into a carry-on bag, but likely exceed the carry-on weight limit of most international flights which are in between 11 and 17 lbs. Usually passengers are not requested to put their carry-on bags on the scale or in the jig, but it happens, for instance if flights are fully booked and all show up with lots of carry-on luggage. If it happens, passengers with obviously oversized, overweight or wheeled bags are asked first.

Wheels and telescopic handle add at least 3 lbs and bulge the bottom of the bag from inside. This is 3 lbs more to haul, eventually 3 lbs more to hide or 3 lbs less to pack. The wheels are not great on other surfaces than in terminals, hotel or office corridors. On foot healthy people are faster and more flexible with a backpack. Think about unpaved surfaces, stairs, doorsteps. But for those who do not mind the risks from an overweight bag, do not want to wrinkle or their jackets, wheels are fine.

The only serious damage I ever experienced on check-in luggage were broken telescopic handles and a heavily skewed aluminium suitcase. Guess what I now no longer use. I never lost one. Twice they did not make the connecting flight and were delivered the following day to my home or hotel. Check-in isn't that bad.

Packing smart and light makes sense in any case, but don't impose stress on yourself and enforce carry-on or one-bag-only. It is unconvenient to carry a big, heavy bag on these long walks and waits in the terminal or to find space for it in the cabin, near your seat. In a worst case, you are forced to give it away, and the contained valuables. Many airlines allow an additional, small bag in the cabin, i.e. for laptop or camera gear, that serves as day bag at destination.

My hisband and I both have the Osprey Porter 30, we love them- a lot! They are more structured than other convertables but still very light, and they fit a ton (especially if you use cubes). We went with the 30 because we wanted them to fit the budget Euopean airlines' requirements. The 46 is the exact same bag, just a bit bigger.

If you are moving around at ll, carry on. Your back will thank you.

Carry-on bags is recommended for light travelers. It's easier and quicker for you to wander around without dragging so much heavy and dead loads. You can also have that instant access to your valuable stuffs without the fear of losing them.

Tried the Osprey Porter 46 and disliked it intensely - very uncomfortable albeit I am a very slightly built 5'7" and it is possible it just did not fit me well. My husband has an Osprey Meridian which is a wheeled suitcase that can also transition as a backpack. He has the bigger one, 28" which does have to be checked but I find it super comfortable, even full - the strap system is like the actual Osprey backpacks with all the adjustments and a really good waist belt. They Meridian comes in a 22" size that meets most carry on standards. With that said, for your trip, if you are going with a dependable airline, go ahead and consider just checking your bag. We are flying to England on Iceland Air in a few weeks and I think we are going to check our bags even though my bag will be carryon size. It is just easier but the carryon size still insures more efficient packing and easier getting around.