Luggage, Washing Clothes, and other Troubles with Eurotrip

Get paper maps. You can scribble info, mark locations on paper and it saves battery and possibly money if you are downloading maps on your cell. I have the same size luggage 24" and I was ok riding on the train. If your luggage is heavy and hard to lift up onto the high shelf, some nice strong =) guy will offer assistance.

About washing clothes, you can go to the laundromat or use the wash dryer at your hotel or hostel if they have one. At the laundromat, you can do your own laundry or you can drop off and pick up. The laundromats I've seen do laundry by the kilo. Some hostels/hotels can do your laundry but I found it quite costly. However, if you've got money to spare then why not. I paid about 25 euros for a some shirts, pants and socks to be cleaned. I couldn't find a laundromat in the city I was in and I needed my clothes clean.

For laundry I pack no cotton. All my clothes, including socks and underwear are washable wool, washable silk, or some blend with rayon or polyester. I wear my shirts, pants and sweaters more than once between washings unless they get dirty, stained or sweaty. I typically put on clean socks and underwear each afternoon when I settle into a hotel rather than in the morning.

I wash my socks and underwear immediately after getting into my hotel by putting them in a gallon zip-lock bag with a small amount of detergent, shake vigorously, drain, rinse with clean water, drain, repeat until it stops being soapy. I wring my clothes using a car chamois (can also use synthetic car towel or microfiber camp towel) then hang them on a twisted elastic clothes line that I pack.

I wash pants, shirts, sweaters when I check into a hotel that I will be staying in for more than a day.

Doing laudry is expensive in Europe because energy is expensive. Drying Levi's costs a ton.

For maps, I've always done paper maps but am leaning strongly toward carrying a GPS system like Tom Tom instead that can give driving directions if I'm in a car or help me find my destination by foot.

Everyone has their own method developed over time. We take no cotton clothing as it is too heavy and too difficult to wash. We generally pack two changes of clothes and three sets of underwear besides what we are wearing. Washing clothes is a loose term. We generally wash (raise ??) our underwear each night and the shirt we were wearing that day. A five minute task. I have been known to wear my underwear in the shower. At one time we waited until everything was dirty but then it became a major chore and we didn't have room to hang up everything to dry. With our current approach you wear the same thing nearly every day. About every ten days we try to find a laundry. We use CampSuds, carry a sink stopper, and use Steves' clothes line with a variety of different hooks. We have never concerned ourselves with the no wash rule. How would they know? We do it before bed and put it on in the AM. No evidence ! Personally, I think a 24" is too big but that is your choice.

Do you plan to carry your luggage onboard the plane? if so, 24 inches is too big.

Of course, it's the men who are saying "no cotton clothing".

As a female I would recommend cotton panties as using synthetics increases the chance of getting a yeast infection...and those are ever so much fun.

thanks everyone for the info, now to reply to JER, yes i do plan on taking it on the plane, but i though that 24" would be just fine? is it a certain airline that requires less?

My daughter and I traveled in 8 countries in 8 weeks. We each had a Rick Steves' 21" Roll Aboard and a day back pack each, 4 sets of clothes, 2 pairs of shoes each, 2 of Rick Steves' travel clothes line, clothes pins, 4 plastic coat hangers (for handing wet blouses, pants, etc., 9 pounds of cameras and batteries, rechargers, flashlight, silk sleep sheets, micro fleece travel towels all Rick Steves' of course...on and on. We made it just fine.

We did our laundry sometimes nightly other times every 3 days.

Before we left, we knew when our arrival and departure dates were for each city; therefore, I prepared a report notebook with tabs, train schedule for the entire day printed from Die Bahn or whatever train site. That way we could decide which train we wanted to take, etc.

My advise is to pack lite. Take the necessary things such as a dual voltage hair dryer, etc.

Locks on all of your luggage and back packs.

You can buy anything over there.

Enjoy your

Christy, check on your airlines website, but most airlines carryon size limit is 21 inches.

Christy, the critical measure is L * W + D +45 inches. And that needs to include wheels and handles if a rolling bag. On several occasions I have seen rolling 21" bags rejected because of the wheels would not fit inside the sizing boxes. A 24" bag is definitely not a carryon for airplanes.

Andrea, males have similar problems for similar reasons with fungal infections. There are a number of synthetic fabrics such as CoolMax, REI has a similar product, that work very well for that problem. Marcia has used them for years with no problems. BUT if small and light even all cotton will dry overnight.

Thanks i wasn't going to bring it as a carry on i was just going to put it with cargo. But would it be too much to put it with regular baggage, i don't think it would be because i've seen bigger go through for regular baggage, my carry-on is just going to be a shoulder bag almost like a purse. so i think that will be fine, it will probably weigh 2-3 pounds at the most.

Christy,
Two things I have found very useful doing laundry in sinks: inflatable hangers [I have one from the 80s with crazy flowers, but you can buy plain ones online] and ... balloons. Blow them up and hang your shirts on the hanger or tuck the balloons into sleeves, pants legs, etc. and things dry much more quickly. I usually take quick-dry fabrics - silk or silk-cotton undies and t-shirts, nylon travel shirts, or very lightweight cotton shirts and pants. At one B&B with a shared bath, we asked the landlady and she did a bag of laundry for us at no cost.
Have a great trip!

Getting back to your original message, you can take just about any size you want on Eurail as long as you can handle it yourself.

With the airlines, a 24" bag, or larger, would have to be checked and picked up at the luggage carousel at your arriving airport. A shoulder bag as a carry-on is fine. (If flying within Europe, some airlines charge for checked luggage.)

Most people on these boards like to travel with carry on luggage only so they are limited to that 21x14x9 size.

Most people here also don't mind washing their stuff in their room either in the sink or in a large ziploc bag. If you don't want to do that, then laundromats are available. It will cost you depending on where you are and what services you use.

If you haven't already, I suggest you get a copy of Rick Steve's "Europe Through the Back Door 2008." It will answer many of your questions and give you many useful tips.

I second the recommendation for inflatable hangers. They fold up very small, and offer a good option for hanging clothes to dry in locations without much air circulation.

Christy I see we misunderstood your " taking it on the plane" assuming you meant carry on. Your bag is fine for check in, do keep in mind if you using a cheapo airline for travel within Europe that some of them have incredibly tight weight restrictions and will charge ridiculus amounts for overweights.

Kathleen , what a brillant idea bringing some balloons to put in the wet clothig, really brillant, that should go on a tip board somewhere!

Kathleen, are u refering to regular ballons, like the ones you use at parties?

Christy here's a trick if you wash something a little heavier weight than underwear and you need it to dry overnight. Lay your item out flat on top of a towel. Roll it up inside the towel. Now stamp on it. Seriously, this takes all the water out of the garment and sends it into the towel. Unroll and hang to dry. You'll be surprised. I learned this trick as a kid from my mom and I still do this with my items that can't go in the dryer.
I love the balloon idea and will be using it!

One more thing, take note of the comments about the size of your luggage on the cheaper inter europe airlines. You can get some really cheap tickets but will pay a huge supplement for large (or too many) bags. Just something to keep in mind. As a side note, you may find that you can fly on some of those airlines for less than taking the train!

My husband and I traveled for 4 weeks with our carry on's only. I also used inflatable hangers and hand washed every few days. In addition to the inflatable hangers I brought some hangers that have the clips on them to hang pants. I had a clothes line, sink stopper and small liquid laundry soaps (ordered from Rick's site). My advice for packing light and avoiding laundermats is to bring color coordinated clothes that will dry quickly. We only went to laundermats twice during the entire trip, but never had to wear dirty clothes. We traveled with two family members who didn't do any hand washing. They brought huge suitcases and paid quite a bit at several hotels to have their laundry done for them. Not only did we save money & time, but we didn't have to lug big heavy bags around.

Hello Christy. It is good that you are asking questions, because a good trip to Europe is a trip that is well planned and prepared for. I recommend acquiring the small publication "101 TIPS FOR THE MATURE TRAVELER" from Grand Circle Travel Inc. I think that publication is free. Their Telephone numbers are : 1-800-847-4240. (I guess that telephone line is busy all of the time). And 1-800-221-2610. (Voice mail). The 101 tips are for travelers of all ages. Tips # 1 - 47 are in PART 1: Preparing for your trip. Tips # 48 - 98 are in PART 2:The Trip itself. Tips # 99 - 101 are in Part 3: Coming Home Again. Tip # 35 includes a Packing checklist. The 101 tips are divided into 14 sections.
Six of the tips have a big black star : that means it is a very importatnt tip. That publication also has definitions of words that are used by travel businesses. I do not endorse any of the cruises or land tours organized by Grand Circle Travel Inc.

Hotels get upset about doing laundry in your room for two reasons.

First, people make a big mess and leave water everywhere.

Second, people use the towels to wring their clothing and expect the hotel to replace a full set of wet towels each day (very expensive for the hotel). Wringing your laundry with a towel is a great idea but bring your own travel towel rather than upsetting the hotel owner.

I have used a travel towel in the past because they are designed to dry fast. From now on, I will always use a car chamois. They absorb way more than any cotton or synthetic towel I've ever used. They wring out to nearly dry for your next laundry item or to be completely dry before you pack in the morning. A good chamois purchased from the Auto section of a Target is also cheaper than buying a "travel" towel from the many specialty stores.

You need to be aware that the luggage itself can vary tremendously in weight. So it is not just the size. If the luggage is lighter, you can pack more stuff or save room for purchases. We traveled last fall with a 21" Rick Steves rollaboards, which worked well. Other companies also make lightweight luggage. Try lifting them in a store, or get the specs on-line or by phone. Once my wife accepted the premise that she was going to wear the same stuff, with some variations, every couple days, packing got easier.

Laundry is not simple. Even quick-dry stuff may be damp the next morning in a hotel with poor ventilation or during cool weather. We used a soft synthetic "chamois" to wring clothes; the real ones get very stiff when dry. We used local laundrettes once a week for major washing. Rick's books usually mention if a laundrette is in the neighborhood. It costs a few bucks, and was not a big deal unless you're really on a tight budget.

Have fun!

Following up on my post about balloons to help clothes dry faster - Yes, just regular party balloons from my local supermarket. I read this tip on the Helpline some years ago, I think in the "Packing Creative Extras" section. To avoid drippy water messes, I also take Rick's travel towel [a car chamois would probably work too] to wring things out; it dries fast and helps the clothes dry faster without dripping. We usually travel in summer so things dry fairly quickly.

Our first trip tp Italy, we took the washing line, soap etc; and washed stuff in our rooms. It never dried!!!, and it wasn't cotton.
Our next trip, we still brought the sink stopper, (Make sure you get one.)as it's useful for other things, though the top of a vitamin bottle works too!!!
That trip we packed way less, and went to a self-serve laundromat every 4-5 days. There was nearly always an internet point, and a coffee shop nearby, and the laundromats were superclean. We treated it as "downtime" from all the touring and walking, caught up on email, and relaxed for 2 hours, and went on with clean clothes.
Way less hassle than doing it in the sink!, and you can bring a smaller case!!

SJ,

What kind of fabrics did you take on your first trip?