The seventh season of Rick Steves' Europe — 14 new episodes — debuts this Fall on public television (check your local listings). This three-part special distills Rick Steves' 30 years of travel experience into 90 minutes of practical advice on how to have a fun, affordable, and culturally broadening trip to Europe. In Part I, we'll learn how to get settled once in Europe, then how to travel by train and car. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descriptio...
Dec 19, 2012•35 sec
The seventh season of Rick Steves' Europe — 14 new episodes — debuts this Fall on public television (check your local listings). In this episode, we'll sample the treasures of Venice's Accademia Gallery and explore the city's back-street wonders. Then we'll we cruise its lagoon, stopping in fiery Murano for glass, pastel Burano for lace, and murky Torcello for a sense of where Venice was born. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descriptions, scripts, pa...
Dec 12, 2012•35 sec
The seventh season of Rick Steves' Europe — 14 new episodes — debuts this Fall on public television (check your local listings). In this episode on Venice, we'll cruise the Grand Canal, luxuriate in a venerable café, and savor fresh fish canalside with Venetian friends. We'll also be dazzled by masterpieces of the Venetian Renaissance and get intimate with the city of Casanova...on a gondola in the moonlight. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descripti...
Dec 05, 2012•35 sec
The seventh season of Rick Steves' Europe — 14 new episodes — debuts this Fall on public television (check your local listings).
Nov 28, 2012•35 sec
The seventh season of Rick Steves' Europe — 14 new episodes — debuts this Fall on public television (check your local listings). In this week's episode, we'll visit many-faceted London, where we'll ponder royal tombs in Westminster Abbey, discover treasures in the British Library, enjoy the vibrant evening scene in Soho, uncover Churchill's secret WWII headquarters, join the 9-to-5 crowd in the new London, shop where the queen shops, and straddle the Prime Meridian at Greenwich. For more informa...
Nov 21, 2012•35 sec
The seventh season of Rick Steves' Europe — 14 new episodes — debuts this Fall on public television (check your local listings). Returning to Europe's "City of Light," we ride a unicorn into the Middle Ages at the Cluny Museum, take a midnight Paris joyride in a classic car, get an extremely close-up look at heavenly stained glass in Sainte-Chapelle, go on a tombstone pilgrimage at Père Lachaise Cemetery, and savor the Parisian café scene. Few cites are so confident in their expertise in good li...
Nov 14, 2012•35 sec
The seventh season of Rick Steves' Europe — 14 new episodes — debuts this Fall on public television (check your local listings). In this first of two episodes on Paris, we'll cruise the Seine River, visit Napoleon's tomb, and take in the Louvre. Then we'll feel the pulse of Paris — shopping in village-like neighborhoods, attending church in a grand pipe organ loft, and celebrating the mother of all revolutions with a big, patriotic Bastille Day bang. For more information on the Rick Steves' Euro...
Nov 07, 2012•35 sec
The seventh season of Rick Steves' Europe — 14 new episodes — debuts this October on public television (check your local listings). In this second of two episodes on Florence, we'll enjoy more of the exquisite artistic treasures of the city that propelled Europe out of the Middle Ages. Then we'll side-trip to a couple of rival cities and cultural capitals in their own right, Pisa and Lucca, where we'll marvel at a tipsy tower, circle a city on its ramparts, and enjoy some Puccini in his hometown...
Oct 31, 2012•35 sec
The seventh season of Rick Steves' Europe — 14 new episodes — debuts this October on public television (check your local listings). Fifteenth-century Florence was the home of the Renaissance and the birthplace of our modern world. In this first of two episodes, we'll gaze into the self-assured eyes of Michelangelo's David, enjoy Botticelli's Birth of Venus, delve into the 3-D wonders of Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise, appreciate Fra Angelico's serene beauty, and climb the dome that kicked off the ...
Oct 24, 2012•35 sec
The seventh season of Rick Steves' Europe — 14 new episodes — debuts this October on public television (check your local listings). In this third of three shows on the Eternal City, we'll explore this grand metropolis — so rich in art and culture — on a more intimate scale, delving into its back lanes and unheralded corners. Venturing through the crusty Trastevere district, visiting the historic Jewish Ghetto, and enjoying art treasures in a string of rarely visited churches, we uncover charms o...
Oct 17, 2012•35 sec
The seventh season of Rick Steves' Europe — 14 new episodes — debuts this October on public television (check your local listings). This second of three episodes on Rome reveals a city busy with life and bursting with Baroque. We ramble through the venerable heart of Rome, admire breathtaking Bernini statues, ponder sunbeams inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, and mix and mingle with the Romans during an early-evening stroll. Following an exquisite Roman dinner, we join locals after dark...
Oct 10, 2012•35 sec
The seventh season of Rick Steves’ Europe — 14 new episodes — debuts this October on public television (check your local listings). Part one of three on the Eternal City, this episode resurrects the rubble and brings back to life the capital of the ancient world. Focusing on the grandeur of classical Rome, we marvel at the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the empire's exquisite art. Then we go offbeat by bicycle to see the Appian Way and marvels of Roman engineering. For more information on the Rick...
Sep 26, 2012•35 sec
Trinity College — founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I in the center of Dublin — has long been Ireland's most prestigious college. The big draw on campus for tourists is the precious Book of Kells, a beautiful monk-decorated copy of the four Gospels from about the year 800. Trinity's Old Library is stacked to its towering ceiling with old books including a rare edition of the Proclamation of the independent Irish Republic and another national icon — Ireland's oldest surviving harp, from the 15th...
Sep 19, 2012•4 min
Trebinje, nestled along a river in a fertile valley just over the border from Dubrovnik, is a showcase town of the semi-autonomous Serb state called Republika Srpska. It's a pleasant and relatively affluent town with a leafy main square that hosts a fine Saturday market. Overlooking the town from its hilltop perch is the striking Nova Gračanica church, with its gorgeously vibrant world of Orthodox icons. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descriptions, ...
Sep 12, 2012•4 min
Europe's most famous amusement park is Tivoli Gardens, an ideal place since 1843 to see Danes at play. One admission price lets you lose yourself in a Hans Christian Andersen wonderland of rides, restaurants, games, marching bands, roulette wheels, and funny mirrors. By day it's a children's fantasyland, but as night falls Tivoli becomes more adult-oriented. Day or night, with or without kids, the cozy confines of Tivoli are a true magic kingdom. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe T...
Sep 05, 2012•1 min
Terezín, an hour north of Prague, was built by the Habsburgs in the 1780s as a fortified town with (still intact) massive state-of-the-art, star-shaped walls designed to keep out the Prussians. In 1941, the Nazis removed the town's 7,000 inhabitants and brought in 60,000 Jews, creating a concentration camp — a propaganda model "Jewish town." Life in this sham town appeared tolerable to human rights visitors but the reality was far more cruel — virtually all of Terezín's Jews ultimately ended up ...
Aug 29, 2012•2 min
The town of Amalfi is perched on Italy's stunning Amalfi Coast just south of Naples. Amalfi has a proud history that peaked in the 10th century when it was a maritime trading power with a fleet that rivaled Genoa, Pisa and Venice. That's why the town boasts an art-filled cathedral grander than a town of 7,000 would merit. Today, Amalfi lives off tourism and invites visitors to enjoy "la dolce vita." For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descriptions, scrip...
Aug 22, 2012•3 min
The Norwegian Folk Museum keeps traditional culture alive for visitors to Norway's capital. Over 150 old buildings from all corners of the country have been reassembled in a sprawling park. Costumed guides demonstrate slices of rural and urban life, and, every hour through the day, a crowd gathers to enjoy performances of fiddle music and dance. Don't miss the evocative wooden stave church. Located on Oslo's Bygdøy Peninsula (where many museums are clustered) the folk museum is just a short bus ...
Aug 15, 2012•2 min
The French Riviera stretches along the Mediterranean from St-Tropez to the Italian border. Two popular destinations are Cannes and Antibes. With exclusive hotels lining mostly private stretches of sandy beach — Cannes is for strolling, dreaming of meeting a movie star, and lounging on the seafront. Don't look for any actual sights to tour. If you missed the film festival (usually held in late-May), there's little to do other than shop and enjoy the beach. Just up the coast, Antibes has a down-to...
Aug 08, 2012•3 min
Good looking British towns are not rare, but few combine beauty and hospitality as well as Bath. The entire city is built of creamy limestone called "Bath stone" and beams in its cover-girl complexion. Visitors are attracted by the flower-bedecked pedestrian streets and architectural gems from many eras that fill the town. Ancient Romans enjoyed Bath's healing waters and founded a spa from where the town takes its name. Bath's 500-year-old Gothic abbey is lit with enough stained glass to earn it...
Aug 01, 2012•2 min
Hagia Sophia has served over the centuries as one of the greatest houses of worship in both the Christian and Muslim worlds. It was built as a church in the Byzantine style in A.D. 537 when Europe was on the eve of its Dark Ages. For four centuries after that, Christians in Europe looked to Constantinople (today's Istanbul) as the leading city in Christendom and this was its centerpiece. In 1453 the conquering Ottomans converted it into a mosque and it became a museum in 1934. Hagia Sophia marks...
Jul 25, 2012•2 min
You can't get a complete picture of modern Croatia without a visit to the lively and livable city that is home to one out of every six Croatians — Zagreb. You'll find historic neighborhoods, a thriving café culture, fun people-watching, great parks and virtually no tourists. The city is also boasts Croatia's best museums including a wonderful collection highlighting the Naïve Art movement and its founder Ivan Generalić. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episod...
Jul 18, 2012•4 min
Lively León is a sizeable city with a delightfully compact Old Town full of small-town atmosphere. A key stopping place for centuries on the Camino de Santiago, León has a pair of sights that serve as a textbook for medieval European art styles: Romanesque (the San Isidoro Monastery, with astonishingly well-preserved frescoes) and Gothic (the cathedral, with the best stained glass outside of France). For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descriptions, scri...
Jul 11, 2012•2 min
Rick visits the home of his friend and Slovenian tour guide, Tina Hiti, to learn about family life in Slovenia, and how things have changed since living under Yugoslavia's "Third Way." Slovenia was the first Yugoslav republic to hold free elections and became independent in 1991. Thanks to its long-standing ties to the West and can-do spirit, Slovenia feels quite "Western", yet Slovenes proudly retain their own traditions and culture. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — i...
Jul 04, 2012•3 min
Aix-en-Provence is famous for its elegant streets and squares, markets, beautiful people, and ability to embrace the good life. For a tourist, Aix is happily free of any obligatory turnstiles — there's not a single ancient site to see. It's just an attractive, prosperous town filled with 140,000 people — most of whom, it seems, know how to live well and look good. Experience Aix by strolling the Cours Mirabeau, people-watching in an outdoor café, tasting the local goat cheese in the market or ta...
Jun 27, 2012•4 min
Edinburgh Castle is the fortified birthplace of the city. Used as both a fort and a royal residence since the 11th century, most of the castle buildings today are from its more recent function as a military garrison. This fascinating and multifaceted sight deserves several hours of your time, and admission comes with a fine guided tour. After the tour other sights of the castle beckon — including the National War Museum that illuminates Scotland’s proud military history. For more information on ...
Jun 20, 2012•5 min
Tallinn, like many parts of the Baltic states, has modernized at an astounding rate since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Yet the Old World ambience within its walled town center has been beautifully preserved. In the 15th century, Tallinn consisted of two feuding medieval towns: The hill-topping upper town — called Toompea — is from where the country of Estonia has long been ruled. The lower town was an independent city, filled with mostly German merchants who hired Estonians to do their ...
Jun 13, 2012•2 min
Potsdamer Platz, once the busiest square in Europe, was sliced in two by the Wall in 1961, leaving a deserted no-man's-land. Today, this immense commercial/residential/entertainment center, perched atop a futuristic transportation hub, is home to several companies' European corporate headquarters. Nearby, the Reichstag — Germany's historically charged parliament building — is a great example of striking and meaningful contemporary architecture. The building combines old and new, just like the re...
Jun 06, 2012•3 min
One hour north of Dublin in the Boyne River valley, evocative 5000-year-old (older than the pyramids!) burial mounds sprout from the lush Irish countryside. The best place for a glimpse of prehistoric Ireland is Brú na Bóinne, an archaeological site with two amazing ancient passage tombs — Newgrange and Knowth. Upon arrival, visitors receive appointments to tour the tombs, spend waiting time in the state-of-the-art museum, then catch their shuttle bus to the site where a local guide explains the...
May 30, 2012•3 min
Barcelona's once-seedy waterfront was completely transformed when the Olympics were held here in 1992. The man-made beaches — a series of golden crescents that stretch for miles along the Mediterranean — are a huge hit. Each comes with lively cafes and bars and all are laced together by inviting promenades frequented by strollers, joggers and bikers. Surprisingly nearby is Barcelona's old center — the Gothic Quarter, a tangled-yet-inviting grab-bag of charming squares, rich cultural treasures an...
May 23, 2012•2 min
