Are there any precautions I should take in order to make sure my violin is not damaged/ kept safe whilst in Prague? I am travelling from London to Prague by coach.

Obviously I will make sure that it is secure in its case and that the case is zipped up! I was just wondering if any other people have any tips for me.

It can get EXTREMELY hot in the baggage hold underneath a coach, I WOULD NOT put it there if I were you! Keep it in the overhead space with you.
Apart from that, enjoy your trip

I was told it would go in the baggage compartment underneath or the trailer. We need a trailer we are taking 5 celli, a harp, 2 timps and a double bas! Plus all the smaller instruments of course.

I was told there would be no space on the coach as we have 47 people coming. Already a squeeze as the coach seats just 49.

as well as potentially extremely bashed up to pieces - if things start moving around!

Definitely one for the overhead compartment thingy

give your violin plenty of ice cold coke to drink on the way?

on a more serious note....
don't know then, I hope your violin is insured and that these people are ready to accept liability just in case and keep your fingers crossed? I am out of suggestions

Whenever I travel on the train I rest it between my knees so it doesn't bash anything, but I'm not sure you would want to do that for a very long coach journey

It is insured on my mums home contents cover. I am useless at changing strings......

I will be taking one spare set. Also will take tuner for emergency re-tune after the heat has affected the violin. I was told the journey is 18 hours!!!

jacobi I travel to rehearsals by train and put the violin on the luggage racks above the seats for the 24 minute journey.

I was going to say that, if it was me and I was extremely worried about my violin, I'd keep it on my lap or like you said between my feet/knees, I really would not care how long I had to sit like that for or how much other people thought I was 'nuts', but they would NOT sling my violin in the baggage hold


make sure the violin IS listed on insurance and it is covered for when you take it out of the house AND abroad too (some insurances don't include abroad), if not you can get this sort of cover quite cheap (probably no more than £50 for a year or £4 a month).

If you leave it in the hold, make sure you don't play it straight away when you arrive if it was a hot journey, let it settle at room temperature for at least a couple of hours I would say (then add some whipped cream and enjoy )

I put mine by my feet.
I refuse to put it in the baggage hold, or overhead
My friend had her violin damaged in the hold, and another friend had her violin fall from an overhead compartment and down the bus stairs and the fingerboard came clean off...
If there's no-one sat next to me i'll put it on my lap, otherwise it goes by my feet

obviously it would be a 'tad' difficult to do that with my double bass hope I will never have this dilemma with it!

My daughter's school orchestra do regular school trips to Europe by coach. The violins go in the hold. Exceptions are only the very expensive ones ..like Benslow loaned ones etc, go on the overhead rack. But all have additional sheets of bubble wrap on the bridge and strings. The 'celli go in flight cases in the hold. The double bass goes in a seat!

Check insurance covers either Europe or Worldwide Before you go, also check that if it is stolen/damaged the insurance covers the cost of hiring one for the duration. Ensleigh Insurance does not cover this Hire cost!

If you are worried about your instrument whilst you are out of your room, sightseeing, get a pacsafe. HERE A medium size one can wrap three violins comfortably. Make sure its fixed to an immovable object and use a combination lock (better than loosing the key). My daughter used a large one for a sax, 2violins and a clarinet and had room to spare. They are worth it even if only as a deterrent.

You'll be fine in the hold as long as it's in a good case. Temperature changes in the hold won't make a great deal of difference, apart from putting it out of tune.

For your insurance, try to make sure that you don't need a separate policy - if it's an expensive violin (say 3k or more) then you may need a separate policy, whereas if it's a cheaper instrument it may be coverable under the household one.

Enjoy your trip!

Violin and bow cost £1500. Case is a hinderisde costing £95. It is covered on insurance.

Insurance is useless if you arrive with a broken violin and can't play, after having traveled all that way specifically for an orchestra tour. Ruined holiday. Just don't put it in the hold and insurance isn't an issue. If you must put it in the hold, invest in a humidity and temperature controlled case like a Musafia, with good cushioning. Frankly you would be foolish not to invest in a good case if you will be doing this kind of traveling again. For the sake of a £1500 violin and your insurance premium, spending £300 on a Musafia is the most sensible thing to do. I took my violin on a tour where it was required that it would be stored in a van in temperatures over 40 degrees celcius. Mine was the only instrument still in tune and intact when they were unloaded. I had bought the Musafia weeks earlier and saved myself from having to run round Paris looking for new strings, a new bridge etc, as some others had to because they used cheap cases. What use is insurance in that situation?

All that I know is that insurance covers damage of the instrument. I am told that if the instrument gets damaged in any way that is accidental then it is covered.

Yes but what good is that if you can't play on the tour?

Insurance also covers THEFT. Instruments do get stolen. If you are insured you have the option to hire a replacement one if it is stolen. Then you can play on the tour

Instruments do get damaged, didnt someone recently trip and their v expensive violin get smashed. Whilst its being repaired you have to find a replacement...

My daughters teacher lost his viola, thought it was stolen after a performance (I am making this story short) but someone else packed it into thier car in error, (this guys wife had already packed his own viola inside the car as opposed to the boot) and it ended up in Glasgow, so original teacher who was flying to Germany next day, was without his viola for a week and had to hire one. Insurance covered cost of hire...

err that was in a very expensive case..but it came back in tune...

S**t happens

But it happens a lot less if you have a proper case

Absolutely..a lot less. Yes if I wanted to protect my instrument from damage I would go for an expensive case.

But if I was a thief I would be attracted to an expensive case. My husband put his trumpet down at his feet, to buy a ticket in the station and some one picked it up., gone! And that case was pricey. The chap in Phil Parker said that Instrument thieves tend to steal to order and know good cases will have expensive instruments in them.

In addition to not covering Hire of an Instrument, Engsleigh rarely pay out for theft unless it is "violently stolen or similiar". E.g. they refused to cover my daughter's instrument worldwide, (she is on a course in Boston) as she would be sharing a room with two people who could in turn invite strangers to the room, whereas Allianz has no problem with this feature. However she does have a pacsafe to secure it when she is not in the room with it.

Wow, thanks for that information, it's the kind of thing I would never think to ask, I'd just assume that petty theft was covered.
Your point about expensive looking cases is very true, I think BAM cases must be a real problem, but my Musafia actually looks dirt cheap at first glance - for one thing I bought the dart shaped one for that exact reason (people assume big case = expensive violin) and it's just boring black...not very interesting to a thief unless they take the time to open it.

Just wondering Bohemian how much is the value of your violin, case and bows?

I will be locking the case with the key that came with the case. If for some reason it breaks, gets a crack or strings snap it will be most likelly that I won't be able participate in the performances. So long as I report any damage to the police I will have an incident number etc and that should make claiming relatively simple. At least in theory anyway.

My case definatley does not look expensive. It is one of those cresent shaped ones that cost ?95. Would have got a better one but I blew my whole ?1500 budget on bow and violin so had little left to spend on a case.

There will be people there will instruments of a much higher value that mine. However doubt anyone will steal the double bass which will be coming with us, which is worth consdierably more than my violin.

My case is insured for £300, violin for £7000 (although this maker now sells for nearer £9000 but I can't afford the premium) and bows for £3000 and £600. But that's really not the point, the point is that even though I have insurance I am not willing to let my violin be treated in any way which might require me to use my insurance.
I do use some watermark stuff that my insurance gave me, don't know what it does but it's on them so hopefully that would make a difference...? Anyone know what this stuff is? Think it's called smartwater.

To be honest I think violins are not an obvious target in most places, since they're hard to resell for a good price, when it's easier to nick a handbag left lying around during a rehearsal and use the credit cards or commit identity theft...trying to resell a violin worth anything more than about £500 for its true value is difficult and, I imagine, hard to trace.