Laundry Service on Tauk Tours
We’re new to Tauk and excited to experience our first tour this fall! We are going on the Sicilian Odyssey tour with fairly short (2 or 3 night) stays at multiple hotels. I’m wondering about laundry service, given that there is a lot of turn in the hotel stays. Does Tauk support access to laundry service or advise which hotels can get laundry back in 24 hours or so? I can research on each hotel website, but I don’t want to duplicate effort, or possibly there is a special arrangement with Tauk? Thank you for any wisdom on this question!
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There are no special arrangements for Tauck guests, not on any of their tours. If you pack wisely, you may not need to do any laundry. Best tip is to decide what laundry needs doing, have it ready and give it to the hotel as soon you get there. It can sometimes comes back the same day or the following day. I’ve been to Sicily but not with Tauck.
First of all, it's Tauck not Tauk. Tauck does not make any provision for laundry. Many of the hotels will do laundry service, but at exorbitant prices. I've done 3 weeks just washing smalls in the sink. You should be able to do your 10 day tour without a problem, if you pack wisely.
Happy travels!
Welcome! We travel to Europe for 2-3 weeks each time and we never have the need to do laundry. Use packing cubes, rewear things, pack things that coordinate together. Some of the hotels may have laundry service, but we find we don't take the time, find the time, or have the time to deal with laundry on vacation. I'm sure others will chime in who do laundry that may be more helpful, but you can certainly go for 2-3 weeks without the need to do it. The Sicily Tauck tour is on our list - please post a review here for us when you return.
If you really have to send items out, just do it the afternoon you arrive at a new hotel and double check with the front desk that it is sufficient time.
As others have said, it's best not to have to rely on that. It is doable to pack for a 2 week tour in 1 checked bag and moderate hand luggae that meets Tauck limits. Everyone's wardrobe preferences are different so you need to develop a strategy that works for you and the clothing you prefer to wear. Things that have helped me:
Best wishes on your tour.
As one Tour Director said to our group, "Re laundry, it may be cheaper to buy new clothes."
I don't believe it! " Re laundry, it may be cheaper to bug new clothes".
Silicy is hot! Wearing sweaty clothes for two weeks in a crowded, seat assigned Tauck bus. Oh no!
Dont you want to be part of the Tauck crowd? Look at the posts regarding dressing up at this forum. Look at all the previous posts, many people said that they have to dress in suits and cocktail dresses just to sit and eat dinners at the Ponant dining room or the regular Tauck farewell dinner. The other company, one of Tauck's competitor, made Ponent drop its policy requiring every one dressed up in nice clothes in order for them to eat the dining room. For guys, the only requirement is: shoulders and knees have to be covered and that's it.
Sink washing on vacation. You must be kidding! You need to call the front desk asking for hooks and hangers to hang your wet underwear. Where is the detergent?
I can easily pack for more than two weeks, apart from maybe washing the odd pair of undies, and who needs detergent, what’s wrong with shampoo!
I went to Sicily a couple of years ago and on a much longer tour than Tauck does. For a start, I went early in the year when it was pleasant weather. Also, when you are a seasoned traveler you learn all the tricks of what you can take and need to be appropriately dressed. In fact, on that very tour, some people on the tour just had carry on. While I do so much more prefer tours that don’t have ridiculous dress codes, I’ve still managed to dress to the so called Tauck standard and often get compliments.
Th troll is back
The horror at the thought of hand washing clothing. Apparently this is the image some have. Hilarious.
I am a carry on only woman. I like detergent sheets. What other people think of me is none of my business.
We used to travel frequently w/Rick Steves Tours and we often did 'carry on only' and had to do sink/shower laundry in hotels = it was MISERABLE and we are happy NOT to be doing that anymore. On occasion, hotels had a washer/drier room, but we found the driers in Europe VERY different and the clothes never got fully dry - so we hung them mostly.
We learned to pack 'smarter,' rewear items more, and we gladly 'check' a bag now.
Our friends are 'carry on only' & don't mind sink/shower washing at all.
Agreeing that fancy clothes for both Welcome & Farewell dinners, which are the only time we ever considered something outside the regular daywear rotation, need not be fancy. My husband stopped packing a sport coat which saves tons of room. My strategy is wearing some makeup and doing my hair up those nights and not any other time & pack lots of black clothes.
We still try (not always successfully) to do carry on only after some gut wrenching experiences with lost luggage, albeit long ago. We too are Rick Steves veterans having done a dozen tours. Our travel clothes can be hand washed but we try to get multiple wearings, sink washing only underwear and socks. Hotel laundry can wreak havoc with clothes meant for cold water washing only as much of ours is. We use little sheets designed for hand washing we buy at REI, so one less liquid for the 3-1-1 bag. I think one thing has made it easier to repeatedly wear items without being offensive: we carry Dial bar soap and use it exclusively while traveling. I know, TMI, but there it is….
What about the toiletries provided in the Tauck fancy hotels.
Dial is antibacterial. At home we use olive oil soap but for travel we have found using Dial makes it possible to re-wear shirts and blouses. We don’t use the hotel toiletries unless they have that great Italian toothpaste, Marvis.
All soap with water is anti bacterial.
Soap and water bind with lipids on your skin and in doing wash away dirt and bacteria. Dial contains a bactericidal chemical which kills bacteria (I think at present it’s benzalkonium chloride-it’s changed over the years). Using such products kills both good and bad bacteria so over the long run probably not a good thing. And it may contribute to bacterial resistance. But our anecdotal experience is that when we use Dial soap when traveling it keeps our clothes fresher. YMMV.
I use earth breeze laundry sheets. Lightweight, inexpensive, easily stored in a ziplock and don't cause an allergic reaction on my skin. One sheet does 2 medium machine loads or 4-6 sink washes. This summer we have back to back tours and will need to visit a laundromat so those will come in handy.
And in the case of emergency (what you wanted to wear smells a bit funky), don't forget a spritz Febreze in strategic areas cures all!
(actually it does)