Luggage and Italy tour.

Even though it is recommended to pack light on the RS tours you are free to bring a larger bag if you like, but you must be able to carry your own luggage to and from the bus and up any steps of a hotel if they do not have a elevator!

Yes, you just need to be able to handle your own luggage on a RS tour.
Do laundry once a week and there is no need for extra stuff for longer trips.

Just noticed you have asked this before and had lots of responses. Maybe revisit that post.

Hi Darlene, I spent September in London, France including the RS South of France tour and Venice, 28 days in all. I took RS carry-on, a tote, a very small purse, plus a packable backpack as a day bag. I packed just the right amount of clothes but overpacked personal supplies. I did hand wash along the way, usually every two days. If you're willing to hand wash or send clothes out, packing light is very easy. Be sure all your clothes are interchangeable so you have more outfits. Make a detailed packing list and weigh everything.

If you don't think you can, you can take a second checked carry-on size suitcase and leave if in the bottom of the tour bus while on the tour. Problem with this idea, is if you are taking trains on the non-tour portion, you will have one more suitcase to deal with. Anything larger than a carry-on can be difficult to handle. I'll be posting my tour report soon and have included a packing report.

I took the South of Italy tour in 2019. It's wonderful. You will visit areas off the tourist path. After that tour my sister-in-law and I rented a car in Naples for an overnight visit to Calabria. Afterwards we took the train to Venice.

I just did 2 weeks in Italy with a carry-on. Had to do laundry every few days and it wasn't a problem. But to each their own

We have traveled for six weeks several times, cities and rural, different climates from below freezing to warm, and only brought a 22”” bag plus personal item each.

Darlene, while some of the RS posters are fine with just a carryon for their trips abroad, my husband and I have both checked bags for our 3 week trips (+ we each have a modest carryon). Our bags are not huge - 24" - and I pack mine lightly so its only at its heaviest point by the end of the trip, when I've added books from favorite attractions and whatnot. We are independent travelers so yes, we've had to haul those bags across long expanses of bumpy surfaces, on and off trains, up and down stairs, etc.

So it comes down to no wrong answer as long as you can handle your luggage by yourself.

Even with a bigger bag, mix and match all tops with all bottoms, keep shoes to a minimum (we wear one pair and pack one) and never take anything you'll only wear once. We wear the same things over and over, and pack (aside from our jeans) easy-care fabrics I can sink-wash/drip dry overnight. We do a coin-laundry wash every week-and-1/2 or so. Leave the hairdryer at home: your accommodations are more likely than not to have them. We also share things like Advil, shampoo, toothpaste, dental floss, etc. versus both of us having our own.

I faced a similar dilemma in September when I realized that a carry on just wasn't going to do it for me. I'd been on RS tours before, so I knew that as long as I could handle my own luggage there would be no issues.

I ended up checking a rolling carryon sized bag and taking a backpack style carryon bag on the plane with me. I was able to manage these fairly easily by wearing one and rolling the other. I think I could have managed with the carryon except I wanted my hiking poles and there was a certain amount of Covid related items that took up space.

If your tour allows for storage on the bus (some don't), you could also pack in such a way that you keep one bag with your items for your extended trip in the bottom of the bus while on tour.

The Rick Steves shop on this site sells portable laundry lines that hook to bathroom showers. No clothes pins needed, per a braided elastic style. I carry mine on trips and camping too.

We just did 11 days in Norway, 5 in Switzerland, and then the 13 day Southern Italy tour with two extra days added on. Because we were doing a lot of traveling by coach and train and plane and boat (yes, you will be hauling your luggage on a boat on the Amalfi Coast), and we had been on other Rick Steves' tours, we knew that we had to travel light. My husband and I each took a carry-on and a small backpack. We found laundromats along the way, and several of our hotels did laundry for us at a fairly reasonable price.

Definitely consider that, while on tour you will be expected to walk up to a half mile, over rough streets and sometimes up long hills, with all of your belongings. And then you will need to walk up several flights of stairs to your room.