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I'd like to know as well...we are headed over in March and the guy at R.E.I. explained to me that these socks are "essential" for Europe....LOL.

I have some smart wool socks. I have taken them to Europe, but they do take at least 2 days to dry. I primarily wear them for hiking and I always wear silk sock liners with them. The silk sock liners do dry very quickly. One good thing about wearing them with sock liners is that you may be able to get by with wearing the smartwool socks a second day with a clean pair of sock liners.

If you're in the UK look out for woolen socks made by a company called Wolsey. They come in a variety of grades from very fine hosiery which is intended to be worn on very formal occasions to heavy duty which are used by kilted gamekeepers in the highlands of Scotland. They are not cheap but they really do the job. They are much loved by those of us who ride old, slow motorcycles in the winter months.

My tip for getting them dry overnight is this. Hand wash them and gently squeeze them dry over the hotel sink. Next take a large hotel towel and fold it double. Lay the socks on the towel and roll the towell up very, very tightly into a cylinder. Twist that cylinder as hard as you can, for as long as you can. Most of the moisture is transfered into the towel. Take another dry towel and repeat this process. Put the socks on the heated towell rail in the bathroom. Next morning - BINGO ! Warm dry socks.

Try tekosocks.com out of Boulder.

Well, at least my problem with these socks is not unique! The towel-and-heated-towel-rack method probably is the best solution, unless I can find a "connection" for Wolsey socks. Thank you all!

I usually take black crew socks. I'm always looking to find socks that have little or no cotton. I recently found black Nautica socks at Filene's basement that had no cotton but were sturdy enough for walking, three pairs for under $10.

I like wool hiking socks for camping. For travel I want a sock I can wear with anything, dries fast, and can be worn hiking or dressed for dinner.

I wash them in the shower each evening. I like to use a gallon zip-lock. Put in my socks and underarmor underwear, a little detergent and some water. Shake well, drain, rinse, repeat until the soap is gone. Wring inside a car chamois or microfiber camp towel, hang dry, wring the towel/chamois well and hang dry. In the morning socks, underwear, and towel are dry and ready to pack.

When traveling, I change underwear and socks after a day's hiking rather than each morning like at home.

How to dry socks quickly (the John P method):

Find hair dryer.

Lay flat.

Turn on to low speed, low heat

Place sock over air outlet

If sock tends to come off, use rubber band or any object to keep it from sliding.

Continue packing for a few minutes.

Return to hair dryer, turn off and remove dry sock.

Great ideas! Thank you all. I think I'm going to have to ramp up my wringing-out techniques (maybe start with some hand-calisthenics)8-).

I love the Patagonia merino med-hiking socks. they make all kinds. these are the best for me so far - very strudy and comfy. I also have Smart wook, Coolmax and Teko. all great. Dahlgren is Alpaca wool and also nice. All the merino wool socks will take a bit longer to dry - but the roll and squeeze method works great (or if you have heaters and towel warmers!) Icebreaker - one of my fav. travel sport gears - also now makes their famous merino socks. While all these are 15-20$ a pair - just a few is all you need and they work great - on the street or in the mountains! Just wear and air-dry 2-3 times between washings unless really muddy! Old hikers told me long ago wool socks are better worn 2-3 days vs fresh each day (maybe more for the trail!)!!