Lame question about laundromats in Europe..
 

Ok guys. I have been to Europe many times, however..I have never done a load of laundry in my life. I don't feel like learning just before a trip. I usually just pack a lot if I'm going on a long trip.

Well, I'll be gone for three weeks and don't really want to take a huge bag..

At most places here (nyc), one can drop off clothes at a laundromat and have it done for them. Do they have this service at European laundromats? I will need to get laundry done in Paris, and possibly Budapest.

Any help? No flames please :-)

Christine

If you are not going to do it yourself, then here in Spain you should go to a "tintoreria" (dry cleaner's ), they also do the laundry for you, not just dry clean :) In some cases , there are people to help at laundromats but there are not many here. Where in Europe you want to go ? :) You know, it's very different from country to country...

I don't know about Budapest, but Paris and every other European city I've ver been in has laundromats where you can drop your clothes off and pick them up cleaned.

In France they are generally called blanchisseries. You'll need a bit of French vocabulary to choose from the options: just washed and dried; washed, dried, and pressed; drycleaned, etc.

And be prepared to pay a small fortune.

As above, depends on the country. Yes there are places to drop off laundry in many cities, just like you describe in NYC.

By the way, we assume laundromats in US are the ones with the coin machines that as I said before are not very common.

Kenderina and Suze, I did say in my post Paris (France) and Budapest (Hungary)..of course it varies from country to country, that's why I specified!

StCirq, thank you for your reply..it sounds like I won't have too much of a problem with that in Paris (My french is pretty good)..maybe I'll skip trying to get it done in Budapest! :-)

Sorry, Christine !! I didn't read it right :)

OK then (sorry I missed reading your destinations) yes you can find a place to wash your clothes for you somewhere in Paris.

Many of the hotels I have stayed at in Europe have laundry service available. Check with your hotel.

That was my thought also after I posted above, if money is not an issue just have your hotel do it for you.

One of the things I appreciate about Rick Steves is that he often gives names and addresses of laundromats in the helpful hints section of his guidebooks.

I travel with only a 22" suitcase, no matter how long I'll be gone--last summer it was for nine weeks--so being able to find a laundromat from time to time is essential.

I've used them in Salamanca, Chester, Siena, and I don't recall where else.

Oops! Didn't pay close enough attention. I was concentrating on do-it-yourself places. I didn't see anything listed in Rick's France guide, anyway, but it's an old one.

I'd be very surprised if there were not lots of places where you could drop off laundry, although that would depend on the location of your hotel.

Don't know where you are staying in Paris but close to the 5th and the 6th , there is a drop off laundramat on rue de Grand Augustines. I finally learned how to do it myself on our month long trip this year. Went to ta place on rue de Seine, loaded the clothes, stood in front of the machine to pay and looked stupid. Someone came right over and helped me, looking stupid always elicts a helpful response. Started the machine , went across the street to Paul and by the time I finished breakfast the clothes were ready for the dryer. Walked along the rue de Buci market and shopped for a bit then went back to fold and take the stuff back to the hotel!

I've done my own laundry in Paris, Madrid, and the Cotswolds; dropped it off at laundromats where they wash, dry and fold (not iron)in Berlin and Florence; and had it done at laundry/dry cleaners in London. The first option is, of course, cheap; the second not bad; and the third pricey. However #3 isn't nearly as expensive as having them done by the hotel, which I've also done. In Madrid my wife and I spent a pleasant morning doing our laundry, going around the corner for hot chocolate and churros, and helping a young Spanish soldier who knew nothing about doing wash. So staying around the laundromat proved, in this case at least, to be a nice way to meet a local whom we otherwise wouldn't have encountered. We found the Madrid laundromat in the Lonely Planet guide beforehand; in Paris it was a target of opportunity, located diagonally across from the hotel. When I travel, I always think out how I would live wherever I am, so taking time out for laundry can be travel enhancing, whether I meet locals or not.

To our knowledge, self-service laundromats are not common in Budapest, one has to use a drop-off service, which is what we did.

Thanks, Michael, that's good to know!

I'll be in an apartment in Paris, in the 18th. The ad says a laundromat is nearby, so I should be fine.

thanks!

Miss Z...Although I am not a fashionplate, I usually am tidy and told I smell "good" by he who matters. I travel light and never sink to the laundry mat. I am very careful about selecting clothes and do hand washing in the sink. It takes 5 minutes if done on an as used basis...just take some cold water powder (woolite for example)..totally hastle free and the price is right. The only difficult thing is carefully considering what you pack.

I've done my own laundry in Paris which was actually pretty easy at the laundromat.

I have also used hotel laundry service in St Remy which was ridiculously expensive. Next time I will probably do the laundry myself.(8 euros for 1 pair of underwear!!)

Some Paris laundromats will do "bulk" washing, without ironing, which is considerably less expensive. Some dry cleaners also do washing, at least of shirts and the like. Some places farm out the whites that customers bring them such as bed linen, and in that cases the delivery time can be pretty long, as much as a week

I saw laudromats in Budapest (on the Pest side), but did not avail myself of their services or make any inquiries. At least they exist.

The hotel we were in in South Kensington in London was around the corner from TWO laundries, and while it was pricey, it was very much worth it to me to have the clothes done just before we came home. We both had to get back to our jobs on Monday, and I preferred spending Sunday getting caught up on sleep, mail, relatives, and sleep!

When we were in Germany, we found an Army base and used their laundry facilities. Machines even took American coins. We were told that the land was Americn soil and Americans were welcome...but not in the PX store. We had a wonderful time talking to the soldiers' families that were there.

Just a reminder to be cautious:
When we were in Florence May 2003, we used a laundromat one morning in the downtown area.

While we were there, 3 young men came in and were acting suspicious, (no laundry with them & acting like they were "inspecting" the machines). I was a little nervous until my son returned from the bakery across the street. They took one look at him (Varsity football) and left.

There was another American woman there and I helped her figure out how to buy the tokens, soap, etc. We left before she did.

We saw her later in our trip in another city, and she told us that after we left the men came back, chit chatted with her in a friendly way, then grabbed her purse and ran. Of course she lost all her money, cards, keys, etc. The police told her it happens all the time.

My son overheard the men talking and understood enough to hear them laughing about how they stole a celebrity's cell phone and got a lot of interesting phone numbers. They seemed associated with the laundromat somehow. A new take on taking customers to the cleaners?

The victim of course broke every safety rule in the book: all her stuff in her purse, left the purse lying on a chair, allowed herself to be distracted, etc.

I'd left my daypack in our room, and had only laundry (and bakery ) money in my pocket, but I did have my money belt on with one credit card and some more cash. If they had blocked the laundromat entrance, it would have been easy for them to assault me and steal the money belt.

You are more vulnerable when you are lugging around laundry, groceries, etc. It's such a regular chore, and it's easy to be complacent.

We washed our clothes each evening and hung them on a braided clothesline, but it was nice to take all our pants and shirts to the laundromat mid-vacation and give them a really good washing.

No way would I want to be hand washing clothing every single evening of a trip. Definitely not my idea of a good time!!

The difference between taking your laundry to a place and paying them by the kilo (the usual method) to wash, dry, and fold and having your hotel do it by the piece, could be at least a hundred dollars or more, depending on your laundry. My favorite is that the going rate for most hotels for doing men's socks is 3 euros a pair. After two weeks and at least 14 pairs of socks, that alone is over $50. For fun, we once looked at a hotel sheet to see what our 15 euro laundry load would have cost had we used the hotel's service and it was something like 200 euro. No, I'm not exaggerating!