In addition to being Sicily's most spectacular beach resort, Taormina is home to tasty, traditional cannoli and an impressive 2,500-year-old Greek theater. More info about travel to Sicily: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/sicily
Lisbon is a great foodie destination. Create your own food crawl by hopping on one of the city's famous funiculars to explore everything from modern market halls to traditional bakeries to hole-in-the-wall bars. More info about travel to Lisbon: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/portugal/lisbon
Nice offers grand examples of the belle époque — literally, the "beautiful age." Travelers can step into an age of refinement at the Hotel Negresco, or visit Czar Nicholas II's gift to the city: the exquisite Russian Orthodox cathedral, which claims to be the finest this side of the Volga. More info about travel to Nice: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/france/nice
The Highlands’ rich history stretches back 4,000 years. In prehistoric times, Highlanders lived in homes built out over lochs, called crannogs, and buried their dead amid mystical stone configurations, or cairns. Thanks to the efforts of modern Scots, you can still admire crannogs and cairns today. More information about travel to Scotland: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/scotland
Warwick Castle is England’s most spectacular castle, with a lush, grassy moat and fairy-tale fortifications. This medieval masterpiece, which has been turned into a virtual theme park, is historic and fun, and may well be Britain's most kid-friendly experience. More information about travel to England: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/england
Coimbra is the Oxford of Portugal — home to the country's oldest and most venerable university. When school is in session, the city bustles with exuberant students. And with a charming old town reflecting its Roman and Moorish history, Coimbra invites exploration any time of year. More information about travel to Coimbra: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/portugal/coimbra
Paris dramatically changed during the Enlightenment and the French Revolution: The Panthéon was built, cemeteries were moved underground to the catacombs, and churches were turned into “temples of reason.” More information about travel to Paris: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/france/paris
In the 11th century, when the Muslim Arabs were tossed out by the Christian Normans, the Normans made Sicilian civilization grander yet — building monumental Norman churches. More information about travel to Sicily: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/sicily
Ravenna is on the tourist map for one reason: Its 1,500-year-old churches, decorated with best-in-the-West Byzantine mosaics. For more information about travel to Ravenna, visit https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/ravenna
One month ago, another treasured Paris church — Saint-Sulpice — was touched by flames. Fortunately, the brief fire caused only minimal damage, and Saint-Sulpice's impressive pipe organ remains intact.
Somerset House, a grand 18th-century civic palace, now houses several fine galleries and museums.
Montmartre — a Parisian hill crowned by the dramatic neo-Byzantine Sacré-Cœur church — was famous for the ambience captured by the Impressionists.
Because so many great 20th-century artists chose to live and work here, the Riviera is studded with world-class modern art museums. Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, and many others raved about the region's light and vivid colors. They were charmed by the simple lifestyles of fisherman and villagers.
Glasgow's rough urban-scape — with its many blank walls — provides an inviting canvas for city-approved street artists. This clip comes from "Glasgow and Scottish Passions," a brand new episode of Rick Steves' Europe Season 10. Check your local public television station for this new episode or watch it on https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/glasgow.
Skye's best home base is the town of Portree, nestled deep in its protective harbor. Portree, with its narrow streets and humble shops, restaurants, and hotels, is the island's largest town and tourism center. This clip comes from "Scotland's Islands," a brand new episode of Rick Steves' Europe Season 10. Check your local public television station for this new episode or watch it on https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/scotland-islands.
Scotland's Inveraray Castle is a stately, turreted royal palace set in a delightful garden. The castle's public half is a museum filled with precious Campbell clan artifacts, and an impressive armory collection. This clip comes from "Scotland's Highlands," a brand new episode of Rick Steves' Europe Season 10. Check your local public television station for this new episode or watch it on https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/scotland-highlands.
Mozia is a tiny, historic island in Sicily's salt-making region. For thousands of years, locals have labored in its salt pools as part of this essential industry. It was a Carthaginian stronghold centuries before Christ, and you can still see Carthaginian ruins amid Roman ruins. This clip comes from "Sicilian Delights," a brand new episode of Rick Steves' Europe Season 10. Check your local public television station for this new episode or watch it on https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/...
Sicily’s Villa Romana del Casale was the mansion of a wealthy Roman senator who traded in exotic animals. Its mosaics, made of dozens of different kinds of multicolored marble and glass chips, give us a colorful peek at the lifestyle of Rome's elite. This clip comes from "The Best of Sicily," a brand new episode of Rick Steves' Europe Season 10. Check your local public television station for this new episode or watch it on https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/sicily.
Rhodes is built upon layers of civilizations — Italian, Greek, and Turkish, with a dash of medieval Crusader lore from all over Europe tossed in. Today, luxury yachts crowd the harbor. This clip comes from "Greek Islands: Santorini, Mykonos, and Rhodes" — a brand new episode of Rick Steves' Europe Season 10. Check your local public television station for this new episode or watch it on https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/greek-islands.
Santorini is an island you could explore for days, but with even a short visit, you sail away so glad you came. Whether you took the cruise excursion, or hopped a donkey, or just had lunch in the port, you'll take home unforgettable memories. This clip comes from "Travel Skills: Cruising," a brand new episode of Rick Steves' Europe Season 10. Check your local public television station for this new episode or watch it on https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/cruising-skills.
While touristy in the summer, Nazaré offers a good look at how bits of traditional Portugal survive. For example, the traditional way of preserving fish has carried on, unchanged for generations. This clip comes from "Portugal's Heartland," a brand new episode of Rick Steves' Europe Season 10. Check your local public television station for this new episode or watch it on https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/portugal.
The Alfama and Bairro Alto neighborhoods in Lisbon are two of the city's most characteristic and charming districts. While new affluence and tourism is bringing inevitable change, bits of the Old World allure hang on. This clip comes from "Lisbon," a brand new episode of Rick Steves' Europe Season 10. Check your local public television station for this new episode or watch it on https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/lisbon.
Blenheim Palace is Rick's pick for the number-one stately home in Britain. As a sightseeing experience and for simple visual grandeur, Blenheim is among Europe's finest. This clip comes from "The Heart of England," a brand new episode of Rick Steves' Europe Season 10. Check your local public television station for this new episode or watch it on https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/heart-of-england.
One out of every five Scots lives in greater Glasgow, and Glaswegians are friendly, unpretentious, and happy to rave about their town. The accent can be a little hard to understand, but you'll develop an ear for it. This clip comes from "Glasgow and Scottish Passions,” a brand new episode of Rick Steves’ Europe Season 10. Check your local public television station for this new episode or watch it on https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/glasgow.
Offering some of Scotland’s best scenery, the Isle of Skye is understandably popular. Narrow, twisty roads wind around Skye in the shadows of craggy, bald mountains, and the coastline is ruffled with peninsulas and “sea lochs,” or saltwater inlets. This clip comes from "Scotland's Islands,” a brand new episode of Rick Steves’ Europe Season 10. Check your local public television station for this new episode or watch it on https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/scotland-islands...
Check your local public television station for this new Rick Steves’ Europe episode! Glasgow, once an industrial powerhouse, offers a fun look at Scotland's vibrantly gritty urban side — full of edgy street art, trendy dining, and the striking architecture of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Leaving town, we'll tap into Scottish passions as we tour historic Stirling Castle and nearby battlefields, sample a dram at the land's most beloved distilleries on the Speyside Whisky Trail, watch a sheepdog demo...
In Scotland, the Highlands have more than half the land and only 5 percent of the people. Still, it’s these Highlands — so vast, yet so sparsely populated — that give us the classic image of Scotland. This clip comes from "Scotland's Highlands,” a brand new episode of Rick Steves’ Europe Season 10. Check your local public television station for this new episode or watch it on https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/scotland-highlands.
Check your local public television station for this new Rick Steves’ Europe episode! We'll begin on the tranquil Isle of Iona, where Christianity first reached the shores of Scotland. Then we'll visit another of the Inner Hebrides, road-tripping across the Isle of Skye, where we'll explore Iron Age forts, peat fields, a venerable distillery, thatched crofter huts, and the dramatic Trotternish Peninsula. Finally, we'll sail to Orkney — more Nordic than Celtic — with its stony remnants of a thrivi...
The ancient Greek city of Syracuse (in present-day Italy) is long gone. But wandering through its scant remains in the city’s archaeological park, you pick up hints of its former power. This clip comes from "Sicilian Delights,” a brand new episode of Rick Steves’ Europe Season 10. Check your local public television station for this new episode or watch it on https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/sicily-delights
Check your local public television station for this new Rick Steves' Europe episode! The Highlands stoke kilted dreams of Scotland...where legends of Bonnie Prince Charlie swirl around lonely castles. We visit the "Weeping Glen" of Glencoe, bustling Inverness, and the battlefield at Culloden. Then we'll make a pilgrimage to the spiritual capital of a major clan, and go prehistoric at Stone Age burial grounds and Iron Age island forts. Venturing along the Caledonian Canal and watching for Nessie ...
