I would never use a soft-sided case for airline travel. Have you seen how the baggage people toss stuff around, not to mention the baggage that falls off the carts when they whip around corners! Padding with clothes will not provide the protection of a hard-shell case.

I got my case from Bike Friday. It's a Samsonite, and it adheres to the size limits. It is a hard plastic case with wheels and an extension handle, just like a normal suitcase. You can find more information on that particular case on the Bike Friday website. I think it's the Oyster case or something similar.

There's lots of good packing advice on the Bike Friday website, and I think alot is quite useful even if your bike is not a Bike Friday. There's also a pretty active Folding Bike Forum at BikeForums (bikeforums dot net).

I've taken my bike to Europe and out west (I live on the east coast). I have a friend who has had great success in shipping his bike ahead, in the hard case. Of course, you would need to have someone trustworthy on the other end to receive it.

I do have a soft case for protecting the bike when I put it in my car. That works fine.

It's wonderful to have a bike in Europe. If you are going to be in one place, you might want to look into bike rentals as well. I did that years ago when I visited France for a month. I used the rental bike to get around town, and I also took it on some longer trips. It was a 3-speed, so I didn't go on alot of those longer trips, but I did do a 40-miler on it. Slowly.