I've been traveling with my violin for well over 10 years, so it's safe to say that I've had a lot of experience traveling with my instrument on airplanes and trains. In this post, you'll learn all of my best tips for making traveling with your violin as seamless and stress-free as possible.

Tips for traveling with your violin on an airplane

1. Never check your violin! It should always be taken with you as a carry-on. Our violins are extremely fragile, and if they are being put underneath the plane, there's no way to tell that they are being treated with care. This means that in order to take your violin on an airplane, you cannot purchase a basic economy ticket, as it does not include the option to bring a carry-on.

2. Try to avoid boarding groups 5 and above. I'm sure we have all been on flights where the overhead bins get full before everyone has boarded the plane, which is the worst-case scenario when traveling with your violin. If possible, try to get priority boarding or boarding groups 1-3.

3. Ask the crew to store your instrument for you. If the scenario above does happen, you can ask the flight attendants to store your violin for you in their own crew closet. In my experience, as long as you're kind, the crew is more than happy to help you out.

4. Print out a copy of the airline's guidelines for musical instruments. Having this on hand can be very helpful if a crew member says that your violin is too big to fit in the overhead compartments (which it's not!)

Things you do not need to do when traveling with your violin on a plane

1. Tune down your instrument. This was something that I did when I first started flying with my violin, but I have since found that it is unnecessary. It's highly unlikely for your strings to pop or your violin to be damaged simply due to the pressure.

2. Pad your instrument with socks. Again, this is something I did in my early days of traveling with my violin, but your case should be protection enough. Hard shell cases are definitely superior to soft shell cases when flying, to give added protection to your instrument.

Tips for traveling with your violin on a train

I think that traveling with your violin via train is a lot simpler than via plane! The biggest tip is to try to be one of the first people to board your train car. Obviously trains do not have as strict restrictions as trains, so in the worst-case scenario, you can store your violin at your feet, underneath the seat in front of you.

Do you have any horror stories about traveling with your violin? Leave a comment and let me know!