Rebecca

If we are renting a car, can we take more luggage (and more clothes) so we won't have to do so much laundry? Is luggage still a problem if you rent a car? We will be in Germany for 2 weeks, staying in each hotel an average of 3 nights. Everyone says to pack lightly, but it seems that doing laundry would be a real pain. I understand the "less" luggage if you are on a train, but if you have a car???? Thanks.

demi

You want to spend an hour or so in a luadromat?? pack enough for a week, either do it in the bathroom each night...no problem for ladies but you guys have that heavy stuff!Go once to a laundromat and do it! When we rent a car I do take more clothes , but not 18 sets of underwear.. the hotels do have laundry facilities , some B&B's washer failities, or there is always a laundromat somewhere. ...stuff it in , check out the neighborhood then return.....Take stuff that looks good after more than 2 wearings, wool pants, knit dresses and tops.. <BR>

Rex

When my wife and I have traveled like this - - just two people in a car and not moving around excessively, we pack whatever we feel like, and do not do laundry, even in the sink. Of course, we have fewer qualms about re-wearing clothes, when it's just the two of us.<BR><BR>Your instincts are right on target.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

john

Just get your laundry done for you! Yes, it may cost a little bit more but you can drop it off in the morning and pick it up in the evening. No worrying about "will this dry" or wasting time.

Suzy

What's the big deal about doing laundry? I just toss my dirty things in the bottom of the shower, tromp on them while I shower, give them a little extra rinse, and hang them up. No need to lug lots of clothes or waste precious vacation time at the laundromat.

Rebecca

I read that most rental cars don't have trunks. Is this true? Is there room in the back for luggage? I know their cars are very small. Thanks.

Rebecca

Doesn't it take an awful long time for the laundry to dry in your room? I have also read that most places don't want you to hang laundry in the room (it will drip, etc.)

Joanne

Hi Rebecca,<BR>Hanging up laundry to dry is an ancient custom still practied in parts of the world that do not have access to automatic clothes dryers.<BR><BR>If you wring out clothes and bring a piece of string so you can hang them over the bathtub, nobody will complain.<BR><BR>Just don't wash out any cotton sweaters and you'll be fine!

Sue

Travel magazines, like Magellans, have little elastic clothes lines with loops on each end that you can stretch in bathrooms from door knob to shower, for ex.

Joanne

I've always wondered -- don't those elastic lines stretch down toward the floor when you put heavy wet clothes on them?

Surlok

I've often found a device inside the shower booth to hang the items I washed, but before hanging them to dry, I sqeeze them in a towel , so they get dry quickly. <BR>I wash my undies in the sink, each two or three days, with Woolite and sometimes, when I have the time, I leave the outfits that need to be washed or cleaned in the cleaners, and pick them up later. Or I have the hotel doing it for me, if my time is short. However, I'm a lousy packer. I always bring more clothes than I actually need, and since I often travel solo, I'm the one that has to drag the heavy suitcase to and from the tracks.<BR><BR>Some cars have a bigger trunk, some don't. Since parking in small towns, mostly the touristic ones, is always a problem, a big car will make parking even more difficult. So, do what I say ( pack light) and not what I do ( too much packing..).<BR><BR>Regards.<BR><BR>S

Alice

I compromise - I wash out a few things and then walk them to a laundromat to dry them, maybe one time in a 8-10 day visit. Use the twisted rope line for undies and socks...

Sue

I only use twisted elastic rope line for socks and undies; works just fine for them; cotton knit sweater-no way!

Dina

In Greece & Italy, it was difficult to find self-serve laundromats, or at times any at all.<BR>Hand-washed items will dry overnight easily, if they're garments with a high nylon or other synthetic content. All-cotton underwear, jeans, t-shirts, sweaters, are the worst things to bring. They won't dry overnight unless you're in a desert-like climate.<BR>We tried to stay on top of laundry, because it's kind of gross to be lugging around bundles of fermenting dirty clothes, with them getting riper by the day. Imagine your bags being searched!<BR>

Geoff

With a car it may be less of a worry, but still don't over do it. It may be an hour or so at a laundromat, but isn't there always that one rainy day you decided not to do much - sit and write postcards or something. I'm used to trains or other lite travel and have always done laudry along the way. I'm surprised by not finding laundromats in Italy, I was just there in the fall and found more of them there than in London.<BR><BR>Hotel laundry services? If you can get a do it your self wash, hey, fine. But laundry services at hotels could well run you a couple of hundred dollars for a two week trip. No thanks, that's not convenience, that's too much.<BR><BR>

Bob

Think in reverse on this deal. My wife marks our old underwear that is on its last leg and puts it in a travel drawer when we buy new. We then take that old underwear with us on trips to Europe. Wear it the final time and throw it away in the room. Your bag gets less crowded as the trip progresses.<BR><BR>You can also take a fold up bag that lays empty in your suitcase and put your dirty laundry in that and leave it in the car. We never waste time in Europe going to a laundry.<BR><BR>Many of the hotels have clothes hanging cords in the bathrooms over the tub or shower in Germany so they do not mind you doing some laundry.<BR><BR>We always rent a car in Europe and always get one with a trunk that will hold all our bags out of sight as we move from one hotel to the other. Plus, you want a car with a real engine in it to drive the hills and the autobahn. Don't scrimp on power and get a small car on the cheap or you will get run over on the autobahn and you will have hell climbing the hills.

agree

Bob, you are right on target. <BR><BR>There is a story, how true I can't say, of someone who took some old clothes on a trip to Paris and left them in the hotel room. A couple weeks later at home a package came in the mail and there they were.

XXX

Here is how we do it. My wife washes the clothes in the bathroom sink, sqeezes the excess water out, then we put it in the back seat of the car, roll the windows down and go for a drive on the Autobahn!!<BR><BR>When we return to the room, the laundry is dry and ready to go.<BR><BR>XXX

june

We take four sets of undies and socks. I wash them out at night, lay them in a towel, roll it up, step on it(!), take the undies out of the towel, hang them on towel bars, etc. and they are dry in the morning--even the all cotton. I take as little as possible. You can always buy something if you need it unless you're going to Antarctica.

Patrick

Since I often travel in Europe for three to five months at a time, it isn't a question of choice, but necessity to do laundry. I've never found that things will dry in the room, especially heavier socks which I like to wear. We plan on going to a laundromat about every two weeks. And oddly enough we have great memories of the people we've met in laundromats. Sometimes fellow travelers, often locals who all love to show the Americans how to work the machines. When I was a bit upset in France once when there was only one empty washer left, the nonEnglish speaking owner came over and just stuffed all my clothes into the one washer till they were jam packed. They didn't get all that clean and came out looking more wrinkled than when they went in, but we got a big laugh out of it. I think going to the laundromat is one of those fun non-touristy things to do when traveling. Sort of like shopping for toothpaste or deodorant.<BR>The worst place for laundromats however, seems to be Italy. They are very hard to find in the cities. The option is either to leave your laundry to be done and have it priced by the kilo rather than the piece, or often you can check at the hotel and see if one of the maids will take it home and do it. The only time my underwear and socks were all ironed was in Positano when the maid took it all home. I think for two of us all our laundry for two weeks--and I do mean a lot of it--cost us about $5.<BR>