Except for when we're staying at a hotel for a couple of days, will we need to carry our luggage with us everywhere? For instance, if the tour is leaving one town for another in the middle of the day, do we have to tote our luggage around or is it stored for us so we can enjoy the tour & scenery?
Thank you!
What tour?
Nobody here knows what "tour" you're talking about.
That said, pretty much everyone here would urge you to be prepared to handle you own bags, as that's generally expected and from a practical standpoint, there's not going to be anyone else to do that for you.
Pack light. Pack light. Pack light. Pack light. PACK LIGHT!!!
You don't need a lot of stuff with you on any trip, from a few days to a few months. Follow the link for Rick's suggested "Packing Smart and Traveling Light" for starters.
Assuming your on a Rick Steves tour? Generally, when the tour moves from one town to another, your luggage goes under the bus, so is stored there if you make an interim stop. Most people have a day pack with them on the bus for comfort items. Movements have always been in the morning after breakfast on the tours we've taken.
If you have more questions about your RS tour, you should post them in the Rick Steves Tours sub-forum where you'll reach people with more interest in the tours.
Thank you, everyone. Yes, a RS tour in Italy. It seems overwhelming to lug all of my things with me I'll need for 2 weeks away from home as I explore the Vatican, the Cinque Terre, etc.
It would be amazing if our luggage is stored on a bus before heading out of town.
Yes, of course, we'd each have a day bag, but I'd prefer to not heft a 20 pound bag up & down the hills.
Oh no, you'd not be expected to carry your luggage around to sightsee. You'll leave the hotel, head for the bus, then off to the next thing on the agenda. If your tour makes a sightseeing stop between leaving the hotel in the AM and arriving at the next one, you'd just leave your luggage on the bus. You might also leave your day bag on the bus if you're just stopping for a couple of hours.
For instance, on the Heart of Italy tour you go from Volterra to Cinque Terre with a stop during the day in Lucca. We had a walking tour, time to walk or bike around the wall there and grab a quick lunch. The bus driver stays with the bus and your luggage stays in the luggage bay.
Do heed the pack light mantra. If the Italy tour you choose includes Venice you'll have to manage your bag on and off the vaporetto and over all the bridges in Venice to your hotel. The bridges are steps not ramps so you can't pull a roller bag up and over.
If it includes Cinque Terre and you are staying in Monterosso al Mare, you'll leave the bus in Levanto and take a short train ride to Monterosso. You'll have to manage your bag on/off the train and to the hotel.
If you can tell us which tour we might be able to give you specifics.
When your tour arrives at a town, your group will get off of the bus, you will collect your suitcase from the storage in the bottom portion of the bus, and your group will check into the hotel. Then you will go see sites. You’re not carrying suitcases through the Vatican, etc. The morning that you leave, there’s time to have breakfast at the hotel and carry your suitcase to the curb to load back into the bus and head to the next city.
Some people like to carry a small daypack along with them during the day. I find that weight annoying, personally, so I just carry a small crossbody purse. (Critical items are hidden away in my money belt.)
This Sarah Murdoch video is another good source of very practical packing info and examples. It all starts with the load you have to carry and how you carry it.
On RS tour your luggage is in your hotel or on the bus.
For a 4 week trip I had a 21" roller bag and 20 liter back pack.
You will have options/opportunity to do laundry
On our Best of Italy Tour, we had two hotels that did our laundry for a fee. It was well worth it as we could spend our time sightseeing and the laundry was folded and fit better into our luggage than before we left on the trip.
as I explore the Vatican, the Cinque Terre, etc.
I went on the Heart of Italy tour last year (magnificent) and the longest we had to lug our gear was through the Village in Volterra, perhaps a half mile. Everything else was from our room out the curb for the bus or a few blocks. You'll walk with it much longer in airports than elsewhere.
