[akalic]

Hi guys, I did a search on RS and I couldn't find exact answers to some amateur questions that I have.

Hopefully some of you can shed some light on this as this is my first time backpacking europe (france/czech/poland/hungary/austria/germany) for a month.

1) I'm planning on getting a really nice backpacking bag (no luggage), would MEC do? I'm quite sure no one brings a rolling luggage...I don't want to.

2) Is it absolutely essential to book hostels before flying over? Would it make more sense to just buy a nice guide book and plan as we're heading to the next city? I don' tknow where i'm getting with this question lol, but I'm just wondering if getting into hostels are difficult or not (fully booked often)

4) any guide books that any of you can personally recommend? I was reading some threads and Frommer's is apparently decent? Michelin? I guess the emphasis would be on a good map of hostels/hotels/attractions/foods, wait I just mentioned pretty much everything.psh..

3) random tips? Some of the sites I've looked at to find tips have just sent me a crap load of generic tips with a lot of ads...

Again, thanks guys