A system for monitoring a drying process for damp laundry items outside a laundry treatment appliance includes, as components to be located in a plurality of appliances that are spatially separate from one another, at least one sensor device including at least one air humidity sensor and a first radio unit for a wireless information exchange with an external evaluation unit and/or an external display device which, to this end, have at least one second radio unit and a first sensor device to be placed in the vicinity of the damp laundry items. An evaluation unit is provided for sensor signals from the sensor device. A display device displays information for a user of the system. A method for operating the system is also provided.