Packing for longer tours

Not really, although it may take some planning. Plan a) (in that it always works)--sink laundry. My least favorite option but always there. b) second least favorite, find a self service laundromat....in some places they are far away and or may not be available at all. Also, if do it yourself, it takes time (is it worth several hours of sightseeing to get clothes clean?) c) have them done by a hotel or laundry service (my personal fav.) Many rail against the idea of paying "so much" for laundry. I figure an extremely expensive vacation shouldn't suffer from spending a few more $$ to make it easy. Over the years, I have found asking the guides which hotels are the cheapest makes a difference. On some occasions, they will suggest a nearby laundry service that is reasonable. So, my ultimate solution for 4-6 weeks trips -- a bit of sink washing of small items, and 3-4 times using a laundry service or hotel. No doubt some people will say finding a self service laundry is easy--well, even if you are willing to sacrifice your time, sometimes they are not close.....or even available.

jc,

Even for trips up to two months, laundry generally hasn't been a problem. The guides or hotel staff usually know of a nearby laundry, whether self-serve or a service wash place. I sink wash smaller items to increase the time between visits to the laundromat, and try to make larger items last as long as possible between washes. I've found that laundry has to be done more often in hot locations.

On the RS 17 Day Best of Italy tour, two of the hotels offered laundry service. One of the hotels charged by weight and the other hotel charged by load. Unfortunately, we we didn't realize that the weight of our jeans made the cost of that laundry by weight to be more than expected. I would still recommend having the hotel do the laundry if they offer it. I value my sightseeing time more that what it cost to have the hotel do my laundry.

I did the 21 day Best of Europe followed by the Best of Paris and in total was traveling for 8 weeks. No problem with laundry but I'm a sink wash gal...including jeans. I did misjudge sink washing a couple of times as where I thought I might wash the hotel had signs posted saying no sink washing. I did manage underwear but didn't do shirts and pants until the next stop.

It seems like on all RS tours the tour guide can give you an idea of the best places to do laundry. They will often cover this in the introductory meeting and if not put this on your list of questions to ask!

Pack the same for a week or a month. If there is a drop off laundry, fine, let them do it, as long as a drop off and pick up is convenient. You can wash underwear and quick dry stuff in your room. Otherwise, most hotels offer laundry service. Yes, it costs but you are spending $$$ to get to where you are so don't waste time looking to save on laundry. I learned my lesson in France. Instead of a hike with fellow travelers we searched out and found a self service laundromat. We had to wait for a dryer and by then wanted a snack. We fed the dryer a load of coins and when we returned my costly Tilley travel socks were fried. I not only lost them, I then had to spend time shopping for socks!

As a rule I do underwear in the hotel sink - I take a few packets of detergent with me in my cosmetics bag, or in a pinch use the hotel-provided bottles of shampoo/body wash.

For shirts, pants, jeans, etc., I either find a laundry near the hotel or have the hotel send it out for me. I generally travel 3-4 weeks when I leave the US and I'm not going to drag a huge suitcase around in order to avoid laundry. I figure it's $20-30 well spent on laundry to take a smaller suitcase and pack less.

The hotel I stayed at in London in October must cater to the self-washing crowd, as they wonderfully had one of those portable clothes lines attached to the wall in the shower. That was quite a nice surprise. I also find the heated towel racks to be good aids in drying hand laundry.

On my 21 day tour several hotels had signs forbidding sink washing- though some did anyway. We had 3-4 opportunities to have laundry done for approx $15 a load. I remember Ruette and Monterosso for sure. In Paris there was a laundry down the street about a block away. I paid for laundry service as for me, I'm on vacation, I don't want to be worrying about laundry! My trip was 5 weeks long, so I had a carry on full of clothes and my backpack with laptop and misc. I'll be back in Europe for 3 weeks next fall and I'll pack similarly. I'm not a minimalist traveler! I like my stuff! ;-)
Lisa

Many rail against the idea of paying "so much" for laundry. I figure
an extremely expensive vacation shouldn't suffer from spending a few
more $$ to make it easy.

Seriously? Tell such simpletons to mind their own business.

Happened to me several times. People will be asking about laundry on a tour (yes, I do tours because I don't like solo travel) and I will mention the hotel does it. Then I hear they would never pay $3 for a washed shirt or whatever. As I don't care for sink laundry (with the exception of small items to stretch times between hotel washings) and dislike spending time going to a laundry facility when I could be seeing the sights.... it leaves hotel laundry services. Been using them for years now and it works for me.

We've always just washed clothes in the sink regardless of whether we're on a RS tour or traveling on our own 3-week itineraries. We both wash underwear any nights that we're not leaving the next morning. For places that we're staying two nights, we alternate who is washing the larger items; otherwise, we each pick a different night to wash the larger items.

It doesn't take too much time in the evening. We trade off looking at e-mail, etc. while the other person is washing.

We pack 4-5 outfits for any trips with a few warmer items for evening.

Laundry service is definitely my preferred method (pay per size or weight of bag). Earlier this year we went on back to back tours of England/Wales (laundry in the Lake District) and Scotland (laundry at Inverness). The guide can tell you where the best option is located. During the 17 day trip to Florence the hotel at the cinque terre did laundry, however, we took advantage of a rainy day to have some down time and do laundry during a free afternoon in Florence (we had been to Florence previously) - used a self serve laundromat down the street from the hotel, had a very nice chat with a tourist from New Zealand. In Ireland next year we plan to do the laundry in Dingle (laundry service) and in Belgium at the hotel in Bruges. It feels so great to pick up freshly cleaned clothes while on a tour.

You can certainly pay more, but most of the time when I've done my laundry in Europe, I paid about 8 euros to wash and dry a load at a self-service laundromat or 13-15 euros to have a small load washed and dried by someone else. Your guide probably will identify an affordable option half-way through the trip, or feel free to ask. Rick's guidebooks list laundry options at the start of almost every chapter, or in some big cities they're described with the hotel info, by neighborhood. Of course, hotel staff often know what's closest.

I have gone to Europe for 14 of the last 15 years for at least a month. I purchased lots of ExOfficio pants, shirts, and underwear at the beginning of those travels and I wash them as needed in the room sink after dinner and hang them up in the shower/bathtub overnight and they are ready to go in the morning. I do not take jeans. We do not use laundromats.

So far my RS experience has been limited to 2 tours. on the 13 day Turkey tour (sadly cancelled this year due to current events), the hotel at our mid-point did laundry very cheaply (and hung it on the lines on the roof, so we got a look at everyone's undies). On the 9 day Alpine tour, there was an opportunity for self-services machines just about every other day - including one hotel that provided a free washer and dryer. All this was listed in the detailed tour itinerary I got about a month before the tour - and our guide also told us about it, several times.

When I first started RS tours, the guide would inform us of the best locations along the way to find laundromats. More recently, the guides have told us which hotels offered the best laundry options or the best nearby laundry where they do the wash for you and you don't have to waste your time. And of course I bring sturdy clothing on my trips that can all be washed in the same load hot or cold without worries making it nearly impossible for the laundry or the hotel to ruin anything, no special handling makes everyone happier.

At the suggested hotels, the price has always been reasonable, the suggested laundry a little more but till not outrageous, and the self laundry even better priced. But since I will probably only visit most of these places once in my life, do I really want to spend half a day washing clothes or would I rather spend the time seeing what that place has to offer? The few Euro it costs to have the laundry done are worth it. After checking with a local laundry near home of what they would charge to do simple wash dry and fold service, what I have been paying in Europe seems a bargain price. No sink laundry for me.

Hi jc, I've done 7 Rick Steves tours and on every tour the guide told us on the first night where the best options for hotel laundry and laundromats would be. This year we did the 12 night RS Switzerland tour and the hotels we stayed at did not offer laundry service. I didn't want to waste any tour time at a laundromat so I spent 5 to 10 minutes a day doing sink laundry. Most things dried overnight, no problem. After the tour we spent another 2 weeks in France. By that point, I was happy to spend a few hours at the laundromat in Paris! Agree with the others who said "pack for one week", no matter how long you're gone.

On some tours went it says "No Bus" (driving regulations), those are typically the days when it is best to do laundry. Your guide should be able to help recommend a local place. We had one in Keswick on a recent Best of England tour. Nobody remembers what you wore the previous day until it really stood out. I like a new pair of underwear everyday though. Ask your guide, that is what they are there for.

One part of this discussion I rarely see though is "What is your preference for how often a garment needs to be washed?" The advice to "pack for a week" can have very different outcomes.

For some people, wearing a shirt and pants during the day, then maybe changing to something a bit more formal at night for dinner may mean two outfits are now "Dirty", meaning a "week" may be 7-10 "outfits". Myself, a week is 2-3 pants, maybe 4 shirts (and I am wearing one of those pants and shirts on the way over), and after a week and a half I might wash those. Underwear and socks get a more frequent wash. Wonders can be done by just brushing or wiping an item down and hanging it to air-out overnight. Mixing and matching shirts with pants provides enough variety, and if I really get bored, I might pick up a neat shirt in a market or store to freshen my wardrobe. Others I am sure pack more, I rarely haul jeans along because they are heavy, never a second pair of shoes (well if beach is in the plan, then flip-flops or sandals) and I always try to have items that will work anywhere. With that, I can travel indefinitely.

A lot of guys wear jeans on tours. When it is going to be warm, I wear two pairs of microfiber golf pants. Really light and comfortable. Polyester golf shirts don't really need washed in between wearing. Just an American habit (I am the worst!). Underwear and socks get the first priority. I usually take two pairs of shoes (one pair in my backpack on the plane) but maybe I should just try just one. I never wear the same pair of shoes two days in a row at home. Always in shoe trees. Usually ECCO, Clarks or SAS. My wife doesn't want me to wear sneakers on trips but a lot of guys do wear them. Ireland June 2017 will be our fourth RS tour so maybe I can pack less this time. Thanks.

I love that guys think "airing out" a piece of clothing makes it fresh and clean - especially in warm weather.

I suspect that many/most of the folks who don't wash shirts/blouses after each full-day's wear are shoulder- or off-season travelers. My trips are in the summer (and not yet to Scandinavia, Scotland or Ireland). I figure that if I've been dripping-wet for much of the day, I need to wash more than underwear.

I prefer to hand-wash my travel clothes so I don't have to worry about excessively hot water or over-heated dryers used by a laundry service. Mid-trip shrinkage would be really inconvenient. Even at home my outer clothing gets hung up to dry.