Is luggage really a problem on a RS tour?

They do not move your luggage from the bus to the hotel and vice versa because they don't hire staff to do that (therefore you are not paying anyone to do that).

Everyone on an RS tour has to be able to handle their own luggage, as stated clearly in all their materials. There is no surprise about it. That is how they have always operated.

It's therefore up to you to decide whether that style of travel appeals to you.

Its not a problem if you can wheel you own bags and bring them up stairs in hotels where there is no elevator.

RS tours do NOT move luggage to/from the bus to hotel. You must be able to do that.

Therefore, you need to decide if an RS tour is right for you.

Right now, I can still wheel my bags from the bus to the hotel, but I'm sure there will come a time when I can't and then I'll move to cruises.

The FAQs explain the tours:
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-help/tours-faq
They aren't for everybody, but I've been happy with all 12 I've done.

"No way that can happen."

Are you incapable of moving a bag, or incapable of packing in a carry-on? Two very different issues!

The Rick Steves’ office just released a video titled “Is a Rick Steves Tour Right for me?” You might find it helpful in deciding whether this tour would be a good fit for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4BCROdJegg

Thanks for the replies. We are capable of moving our bags from the bus to the hotel but wouldn’t want to have to drag them through streets to get to the hotel. I suspect that only happens in some areas that are pedestrian only.

Yes, you need to handle your own luggage to and from the Bus to the Hotel. I haven't been on your Tour but have been on two others and it is one of the RS Tours requirements. I've also heard "If you can handle the luggage you're free to bring what you want".

Why? The reason that made the most sense to me was a lot of the time the Bus couldn't get that close to the Hotel. Sometimes a block or two away. And you need to get to your first Hotel on your own. My first Tour started in Venice and there is only water transportation to points where you have to drag the suitcase(s) down old cobblestones(?) and across canal bridges to get to your Hotel. I did it with a carry-on small suitcase and a backpack.

That was my first trip and I underestimated how much daylight was left at that time of day. The Water Bus let me off just as the Sun was going down so I ended up doing that down dimly lit alleys in the dark. Luckily, with Venice being an island, there is very little mugging/violent type crime.

I always check a bag, because I love the freedom of moving through the airport without towing it, and not competing for overhead storage space. I know that, even in the unlikely event of a misrouted bag, they have stores where I'm going. Having said that, the bag I bring is a small Rollie. That's the size I prefer to manage up/down stairs, on the cobblestones from bus to hotel, etc. I've been on several RS tours as well as lots of independent travel, and choosing a smaller bag works for me. I've also seen people with much larger bags on RS tours, and they manage to wrestle them around, but don't seem to be enjoying it so much. You get to decide what you need to bring, and the tradeoffs (bring fewer clothes and do a little more laundry, etc.) It may well be that you'll prefer a more upscale tour company, with attendant higher costs.

dcasey1991,

" , , , I suspect that only happens in some areas that are pedestrian only. . ."

No, actually it's been the case at several of the stops on tours we've been on, not just in pedestrian only zones like Mürren (on your tour. And to get to Mürren, you will be transferring your bags from a bus, to a gondola and then a train, plus walking several blocks to the hotel. Because RS likes to use small, central hotels, the buses cant always get close or make the tight turns to get around the older parts of towns. In Baden-Baden (on your tour) we had to walk several blocks with our bags, to get to the hotel. Oh, and the noise from the roller bags on the cobblestones first thing in the morning there was awful. Sometimes the hotels dont in fact have porters or elevators, or elevators big enough for more than one person at a time.

You could get lucky and have perfectly accessible hotels, but take the conditions in the tour descriptions seriously.

Once you try it, Packing light isn’t limiting. It’s liberating.

But you can easily find a tour operator that will handle your large suitcases. You’re still stuck lugging them yourself before and after, but that’s up to you.

The very first RS tour we took was Munich, Salzburg and Vienna. It was a wonderful way to get our feet wet to see how we felt about group tours. Now we've been on three RS tours. I think there are many things to consider that will help you decide what is best for you with regard to how you pack.

Yes, it is absolutely true that you are responsible to bring your bag from the bus to your hotel room. The bus driver unloads them from underneath the bus. The bus can't always get to right in front of the hotel; (bus too big for the street, etc) and it becomes necessary sometimes that they park elsewhere and you have to walk a distance; so you have to be able to manage your own luggage. The bus drivers are so wonderful and professional and always do a great job! The bus driver arranges the luggage outside the bus and you take your luggage from there to your hotel.

You can bring any size luggage you want. There's plenty of room in the understorage of the bus, so nobody is measuring and weighing your luggage. It's just you need to know, that you will have to wheel it sometimes over curbs, on cobblestones, and you may not be dropped off right in front of the hotel. And occasionally you have a hotel with no elevator. I think maybe 2 hotels in 3 tours with an inoperable elevator. So that's why they suggest carry on size. And you must bring your luggage down from your hotel room to the bus on hotel departure days.

I know for sure on our overnight in Hallstatt on the MSV tour we had to wheel our luggage quite a distance. In Munich the bus parked fairly close and Salzburg as well. I can't remember the circumstances with Vienna. But that was 7 years ago, and hotels change all the time.

For perspective on our tour this past spring, Belgium and Holland, I overpacked and had a really heavy suitcase because we were traveling on our own for a couple of week beforehand and I frankly was inefficient. And we were going to encounter both really warm and really cold weather, so I packed too heavy. But, I knew it would be up to me to deal with it (and sweet talk my husband) to help if necessary. We happened to arrive in the Netherlands on King's Day. So our bus couldn't get anywhere near our hotel (like trying to get into Times Square on New Year's Eve) and our guide said the amount of walking with luggage was beyond the scope of normal RS reason/expectation; so he had the owners of the hotel bring their shuttle van to us; they collected all our luggage and then we all walked not having to manage luggage. So everything is reasonable and practical and professional. But do remember they live by the motto "No grumps" and with the expectation that you manage your own luggage.

My husband likes luggage with 2 wheels and I tend to prefer the 4 spinner wheels. The 4 spinners are not great for RS tours, but again I managed.

Your question reminded me about my RS tour in France in 2019. Here's an excerpt from my Trip Report during our stop in Arles.

*I have to post a story about the Rick Steves warning about packing light, and also his warnings that you may have to haul your suitcase a
distance and up stairs. Our hotel was right beside the Roman Arena but
well away from the main street where our bus dropped us off. There is
a warning on these tours that you may be expected to haul your luggage
over cobblestones a fair distance and the hotel may not have an
elevator. This warning was tailor made for Arles. About 1/2km walk,
cobblestones, uphill. We had one couple in their mid-70’s on the tour
who are in good shape for their age, but the wife was struggling with
her suitcase and needed help from one of our tour members. I sought
her out on the morning we were heading back to the bus and carried her
suitcase for her. By this time, we were a close-knit group and help
like this would be automatic for some of our older members. Back to
the day we arrived at the hotel though, to get to our 2nd floor room
meant a climb up a steep, narrow set of stairs, we got to the top,
made a sharp right and down a hall, down 3 stairs and then up 3
stairs. Along the way we ran into a solo traveler in our group-early
60’s who didn’t pack light. She’s a very nice woman-a librarian, but
today she was dropping f-bombs about stairs and suitcases. I couldn’t
help but laugh, but also took her suitcase and got it to her room. I
believe I learned a few new words that day and she swore she’d learned
her packing lesson.

Other tour providers and cruises typically handle your luggage to and from the hotel. Is that not the case here?

RS isn't "other tour providers". You have to get the bags from the bus to the hotel, which may or may not have an elevator. The type of hotels RS uses do not have 'bellmen'.

Why wouldn’t they move luggage from the bus to the hotel?

Cost is one factor; another is it acts as a 'screening tool' to eliminate/discourage travelers who want 'silver platter' service. (Not the type traveler RS caters to. He chose to serve a different market segment.)

The bus will get as close as possible, but that could be several blocks away.

Yes, this was my first Rick Steves tour. Salzburg was the longest drag of suitcases, several blocks uphill if I recall correctly. I'm a big fan of packing light, so I had a day pack and a carry-on sized rolling bag. I was 69 at the time. I brought maybe four outfits and did sink laundry as needed. For the night in Hallstatt I put a change of clothes into my day bag and left the suitcase in the storage area under the bus. That day we left the bus on the outskirts of town and took a boat around the lake to our hotel. There was a walk the next morning through town back to the bus. So, as others have said, the tour information on-target where it describe the need to move your own luggage. As for the flights, I prefer to carry on my suitcase at the beginning of the trip, buy some souvenirs near the end (in this case in Vienna), and check my now-heavier suitcase for the flights home. That way the airline can't lose my bag before my adventure and if it disappears on the way home it's merely an inconvenience until they locate it. We all have our own preferred travel styles and I'm comfortable with the Rick Steves program but realize not everyone will be.

Yeah, I did that tour last year. Luggage was a pain. They don't move it for you between the bus and hotel, you're responsible. It's not terrible, but definitely more schlepping than a cruise. Cobblestones in some of the old towns are a real killer for rolling suitcases.

Until they get rid of those cobblestones I am not going on a RS tour.

Until they get rid of those cobblestones I am not going on a RS tour.

So independent tourists or those on a non-RS tours, get to use the special ('secret') paved streets?

I went on my first tour that provided porterage last summer after having traveled on 5 RS Tours. There are certain disadvantages to having porters. First, bags must be left out in the hall by a certain time. Second, you will only stay in hotels where it easy for them to load and unload luggage. You aren’t schlepping bags around which can be nice, but for me bringing my own bags between bus and hotel room has not been that big of a deal.

I can think of a few occasions on RS tours where the guide did pay for porters due to the distance.

No matter how I am traveling I stick by my own personal packing limit. If I can’t carry my bags up two flights of stairs, then I need to pare down.

I have also done tours with companies that move your luggage and prefer Rick Steves tours for the reasons Carol mentioned. People are free to choose tours that suit them.

Hi, Germany & Austria is a beautiful area! I can understand why you want to see it. My husband & I did the Rick Steves Germany, Switzerland, Austria tour and enjoyed it very much!

The RS tours are set up for the participants to handle their luggage from the point the tour bus stops until you are leaving for the next city and bring your luggage back to the bus. That includes carrying it down streets, up steps and often up some flights of stairs inside the hotels. Some hotels have elevators, some don’t, and the elevators can be very tiny, i.e.capacity for one person with a suitcase & backpack.

If this doesn’t sound fun, there are a variety of tour companies that each have their own practices. I hope you enjoy your trip, whichever one you end up choosing!