Rick Steves's Blog, page 25

Misty Gryon

Join me in Gryon, a tiny village in the French-speaking part of the Swiss Alps that is — just as my Rick Steves Switzerland guidebook says — perpetually shrouded in mist (and a fine example of the Swiss charms that await the driver who ventures off the main highways).

 

Looking for the Matterhorn

I’m home now from my spring trip to Europe — a busy month and a half of travel across Italy, Switzerland, and Ireland. It’s been fun to stow you along with me here on Facebook — and I hope you can stick around, because I’ve still got a few more little videos to share with you.

I was just in Zermatt, high in the Swiss Alps. I’ve been here twice now, and I have yet to see the fabled Matterhorn. I spent a day in my hotel room writing — and constantly wondering if she’d peek through the clouds…

Zermatt Before the Tourists?

Hello from the Swiss Alps! I’m in the shadow of the mighty Matterhorn, in the little town of Zermatt. Zermatt is extremely touristy, but once upon a time, it was a humble village of farmers. Walking down into town from the high lift stations, you pass through hamlets with 300-year-old buildings of stone and larch — and it’s easy to imagine a simpler time.

An advantage of being here before the summer peak season hits is that there are no crowds. While high-country hikes are snowed in, lots of...

Who’s the Highest Person in Europe?

I suppose there are people higher than me right now in Europe, but nobody who is just stepping out of a lift is higher than me. Joined by local guide Amadé Perrig, I’m in a whiteout on top of the Little Matterhorn, looking at where the big Matterhorn would be on a nice day. We’re 12,740 feet above sea level, high above Zermatt — and higher than the lifts above Chamonix and the Jungfraujoch.

Amadé, who’s climbed the Matterhorn many times, spent his career promoting tourism in Zermatt, perhaps...

Discovering a Great Tool for Wine Lovers: The Coravin

I was dropping by the various wine bars in Bellagio (as one does when working) — and at Aperitivo Et Al, Andrea demonstrated a clever tool that pulls wine from a bottle with the ease of a nurse pulling blood from an arm. With the Coravin, he can serve fancy wine by the glass without worrying about finishing the bottle before the wine goes bad.

Maybe I don’t get out much. (When I got back to my hotel and Googled the Coravin, I learned that it was invented in 2011 in Massachusetts.) Is this old...

Italy’s Honeymoon Country: Lake Como

After the intensity of Milano, Lake Como (just an hour’s train ride away) provides a great place to simply relax. Let me show you why…

Milan’s Risorgimento Museum: Now Free…and Still Empty

I’m a sucker for Risorgimento history — the thrilling story of how the small countries of the Italian peninsula united, against the wishes of the established European powers, to create modern Italy in the 19th century. And the only real museum dedicated to that story is in Milano.

I spend four months of every year in Europe, notebook in hand, researching the new editions of our guidebooks and keeping all our listings up to date. This museum is a good example of how things change: Last year, i...

Rick Steves’ Europe Announces Our “Climate Smart Commitment”

When we travelers fly, we contribute a lot to climate change. And as a promoter of travel and a tour organizer, I’ve long been aware that my business is a part of the problem. I’m excited and proud to announce that, as a tour company, Rick Steves’ Europe is taking action to go carbon neutral.

As travelers, we often see and experience climate change: floodgates installed to protect medieval lanes in the south of England from rising seas; no more summer skiing in Switzerland; massive storm su...

The New Milan at Porta Nuova

It’s always good to enjoy the contemporary energy of Europe’s great cities in our travels — and when in Milan, be sure to drop by the gleaming high-rise neighborhood of Porta Nuova. My friend and fellow guide Lorenza Scorti, who’s been showing me around her city now for 20 years of visits, was appalled that this wasn’t in my Rick Steves Italy guidebook. Well, now it is.

Where are your favorite places to see the future today in Europe’s great cities?

Milano Gets Flipped the Bird

Built after the economic crisis of 2008, the statue decorating the square at the doorstep of Milan’s stock market seems to be giving Joe the Plumber the finger. Locals also interpret it as a fascist salute with three fingers knocked off. It resonates with people who, in the last decade, have watched as corporate, finance, and banking powers have become ever more friendly with ever more fascist governments…against the interests of the 99%.

Here’s how I wrote up this site in the Rick Steves It...