I'm hoping to bring bottles back home in a 12-bottle styrofoam shipper as a second piece of checked luggage. I'll be in Paris and Brussels for a few days. Can anyone suggest where I can purchase one? Thanks!
I never saw one over here in Europe - but I never needed one, so I've probably overseen them... --> in what kind of stores do you by them in the US??
I generally acquire them via ordering from wineries, but you can also get them at places like U-Haul (moving supplies) in the US.
I think we don't have them here in Europe... As for environmental reasons, styrofoam is also very hard to find. If ordering beer or wine online, it is normally packed in hard cardboard.
In that case, let's modify the question. If I wanted to get the best possible packing material for including a box of 12 bottles of beer or wine in my airline luggage, where might I look for it?
I searched for bottle shippers for you but it is almost impossible to find those in Europe... Good luck bringing them safe home! Thijs
I recently shipped a box of beers from Belgium back to the UK (they all survived). I used materials that I found in Belgium, ie. a box, plastic wrap and newspaper. As others have suggested above, cardboard might be the way to go. You should be able to find spare boxes in supermarkets - at least one that I went into had them piled up near the check-out counters for customers to use. You might also be able to grab some plastic wrap etc. from stuff that gets unpacked at supermarkets; just ask a staff member. If you choose to do this, you could make your life much easier by bringing some packing tape with you, and perhaps also bubble-wrap if you have space in your luggage. You can also buy packing materials at the post office if you don't mind spending money. Good luck!
Hardware stores generally have bubble wrap, as well as stores that sell moving material. One place in Paris easy to find is BHV, you'll pay a bit more but it's right in the center. For bottles you plan to take home that you buy from Cave à Bulles in Paris, Simon will wrap 'em up for you...
If you are looking to bring back more than 12 bottles, I've used 5 of these Gorilla Box on Wheels boxes (70 lbs each) to bring home 80 750s with no losses...padded them with synthetic blankets, styrofoam peanuts, newspapers, etc...and bubblewrapped each bottle. If you can buy one Stateside, recommend travelling to Europe with it full of the packing materials (cheaper and easier to find in the States) and come back with it full of beer! Should yield 14-16 750s. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...Kbu0gGVo-G_Aw&sqi=2&ved=0CIwBEPUBMAQ&dur=1330
It's not that easy to find styrofoam (aka polystyrene) shippers in Europe in general. You can order them from http://lazenne.com. They can ship anywhere in Europe to, say, your hotel room or place of stay.
I'm traveling to Paris and Barcelona. Any tips on bottle shops and/or methods for shipping them back stateside? I've heard that in Belgium there are companies that will ship bottles for you. Anything similar in Paris and Barcelona?
You can also ship them by own with the help of cardboard or moving boxes. Place bottles in it and ship them it will save your money.
I bought an inexpensive hard case roller at Walmart that also has an expansion zipper. I put bubble wrap and tape in it plus a giant ziplock bag. I b-wrap then put the bottles into the ziplock. The case pushes the limit of a carry on but I've never been measured on Lufthansa or Delta.
I'm not following. You can't bring liquids of that scale back on carry on. Do you mean that you are brining it with no bottles one way in carry on, then planning on checking as a bag on the return trip with the bottles in it?
Bring 2 cases where the smallest fits in the biggest. Use inflatable bottle protectors. Then you don’t waste your precious time in Europe.
