We will be taking the "Best of Italy in 17 Days" tour in 2025. I would imagine we'll do some of our laundry (underwear, socks, etc) in hotel room sinks. But I think we'll probably need to find laundromats a couple of times during the trip. If you have taken this tour before, in which days (and towns) would you recommend we plan on finding a laundromat.
Any other tips or pointers on this subject would be helpful. Thanks.
Yowza, that's a tough one, as you are no place longer than two nights. Every place will have a laundromat, so it really just estimating at which two points you will need to do laundry (maybe every five days?) and plan accordingly. I would ask the tour guide what they recommend as you begin in case some of the hotels offer the service.
My husband is not much for sink washing but he does have a pair of pants from Rohan that dried overnight. I test my shirts and pants at home so I can see which ones will dry relatively quickly when washed in the sink. I do find that Tide Sport in the small packets available from Amazon are better for getting out stains, but I used laundry soap sheets for the first time on a recent trip and loved them.
On all the RS tours we've been on the guide will have a laundry stop arranged. For a 17 day tour there may be more than one. But when traveling on our own we've found that if you ask at the front desk they have arrangements for laundry, usually you get it to them in the morning and its back in the evening.
We were on this tour in October 2017 and there was a single washer and dryer available at our hotel in Castelrotto, and our hotel in Monterosso had a laundry service for 10 euro a bag. I don’t know where we would have fit in laundry elsewhere. I seem to recall we knew about the laundry service ahead of the trip, so perhaps that comes with the tour information after you sign up?
I was on this tour and had the hotel in Monterosso do my laundry. Easy and inexpensive.
Thanks all for the helpful advice. Much appreciated.
Do note that the order of the stops in 2025 is much different than 2024 and prior years.
The timing of when you will be in a particular location will be different.
Yes, I saw that, but thanks for pointing it out.
Our guide told us the first night of 2 easy opportunities to do laundry or have it done. We opted to send it out at both opportunites and everything was perfect and reasonably priced.
Put it out of your mind, guides know we all have to do it and have it figured out!
We just got back from this tour. There are some laundry mats but the first place we really had an opportunity was in Florence. Then there is a couple of hotels in Cinque Terra that will do a small bag of laundry for you for $15.00. If you and significant other combine your laundry that takes only two loads then they will do both for $15.00. We did wash out underwear in our room on the first day we got someplace the very first thing then they had two days to dry. Also used hair dryer to speed up drying so we did not have wet clothes.
Asking the hotel to arrange laundry is very convenient but be aware some use strong smelling detergent. Found that out the hard way! So, if you have sensitivities to scent, make sure you ask about unscented options.
Thanks for all the feedback.
I just returned from this tour last week. Our guide suggested having laundry done by the hotel in Florence or Monterosso al Mare. Both places charged 25-30 euro for 1 laundry bag - washed, dried, & folded. Other hotels on the tour offered laundry services, but they were expensive and not practical - for example, our hotel in Bolzano charged per piece! The rest of the time I just washed clothes in the sink, which worked fine.
This tour is really busy. There is plenty of free time, but it's easy to fill that time with activities & exploration, especially if you've never been to many of the places on the tour. I wouldn't have wanted to use up free time in a laundromat (although my feet might have appreciated the break more!).
Thank you all for the information and suggestions.
@John on the Best of Switzerland there was no laundry service where you pay for a bag of laundry like in Prague. It was a huge inconvenience as we didn't have much free time and none of the hotels had self-service laundry.
I did this tour summer 2024. Only brought a ebags backpack with 8 outfits. Sink washed 2 outfits on night one at each new location. Brought a cheap usb fan from Amazon to help dry quicker. Brought only quick dry fabrics. Tip: travel with old socks and undies. Wear them once and toss. This gives you more room to take small souvenirs home. You will appreciate traveling light rather than hauling a bigger bag around. There are lots of stairs on this trip.
We recently did Best of Italy - at Hotel Silla in Florence, many in our group handed their laundry bag over upon arrival and had clean clothes the next day. My wife and I washed our clothes in the room. We carry a travel clothes wash line with us so that helps a lot. Also, packing Merino Wool clothes and underwear and socks that are fast drying is great. I like David Archy Underwear - dry overnight - and Merino shirts from unboundmerino.com, woodlandprince.com, https://www.charlestyrwhitt.com. For men, BYLT everyday pants are amazing. Hope this helps!!! Happy traveling!
