Rick Steves's Blog, page 31

The Rick Steves Tour Reunion: Welcome to the Party

Photo Credit: Tour guide and guidebook researcher Trish Feaster (The Travelphile)

For the last 23 years, I’ve thrown a big party every winter for everyone who has traveled with us over the previous year. We fill my old junior-high-school gym with tables and balloons, and pack in hundreds of people for five big Rick Steves’ Europe Tours reunions over two days.

This year’s party was the best and busiest yet. 1,500 tour alums traveled from across the USA and Canada to reconnect with their travel...

Joy and Gratitude: $1,187,352 for Bread for the World

I just got great news: the final update from Bread for the World about our holiday fundraiser. (Gifts just kept coming in, well into January.) More than 3,200 of you participated — and together, you donated $487,352. With my $700,000 “double match,” we raised a total $1,187,352 — far exceeding our million-dollar goal — to help build the political will to end hunger. Just thinking about what this money will accomplish fills me with joy and gratitude…and pride in the big hearts of my fellow tr...

Name Rick’s Books: The Finalists

Thanks so much for the outpouring of creativity you shared after I asked for your help finding good titles for my two upcoming books: my “” and my “.”

Each book is a beautifully illustrated collection of 100 short chapters. The “art book” features my 100 favorite pieces of European art, along with descriptions designed to stoke the joy travelers feel when they see great paintings, statues, and architecture. The “articles book” is a collection of 100 of my best articles,...

Your Help Needed: Name Another New Book!

 

Thanks a lot for all the creative assistance you gave me yesterday. It was so fun reading through all your ideas about . We’re mulling over the list now, and I’ll be sure to let you know what our final choice is.

In fact, you were so helpful that I’m hoping to tap into your collective creativity again. Can you help me come up with a title for another new book of mine? This one showcases 100 articles about my favorite slices of Europe. It’s designed to give trave...

Your Help Needed: Name My New Art Book

 

I’m very excited about a new book I’m working on, featuring my favorite 100 works of European art. I like the cover my publisher is proposing, and everything’s looking really good. There’s just one problem: I don’t know what to call it. Can you help?

The book showcases 100 masterpieces across 100 two-page spreads, and describes each in a way that helps travelers appreciate and enjoy that work of art. I need a title with no more than six words, and maybe (or maybe not) a subtitle. Here are...

“Reality Touring” with Nation Travels

Nation Travels

Honolulu or Havana? The world is full of travel opportunities that are more than enjoyable — they can be transformational. By getting out of our comfort zone, we realize that different people find different truths to be self-evident and God-given. We gain an understanding of the other 96 percent of humanity — and in many ways, we can learn a lot about our own country by viewing it from afar.

My tour company has been taking Americans on the road for more than 40 years now. From...

Our Airwaves Are Under Siege

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been thinking a lot about fascism lately. It’s said that Mussolini believed that fascism could be called “corporatism.” When a government goes from being “by, for, and of the people” to being “by, for, and of the people…through our corporations,” public wealth is under siege. And I believe that’s happening in America right now.

Think about it: Public health care, public education, social security retirement accounts — they are all at risk. Public infrastructur...

A Chance to Give Back to a Classic Back Door: Gimmelwald

I always say, “If heaven isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, send me back to Gimmelwald.”

Thirty-five years ago, as a young tour guide, I brought my groups to a remote and impossibly idyllic village high in the Swiss Alps — and I’ve been going back ever since. Gimmelwald is a classic “Back Door”: an off-the-beaten-path place where travelers can get away from soulless resorts and big-time tourism. This is a place where the air feels different — where the only noises are bees, bugs, and birds pe...

In These Times of Change, Let’s Celebrate the Trusty Rail Pass

In 2019, European rail passes are undergoing the most sweeping changes in a generation. Gone are “Select” passes, where you can mix and match countries as you like to suit your itinerary. Now, it’s all of Europe, or just one country.

This time of change has me nostalgic for the glory days of rail passes. In my backpacker days, there were just two choices of Eurailpass: one month or two months, covering most of Western Europe, with a second-class option available only to people under 26.

Over...

Best of Turkey in 13 Days — A Video by Andy Steves

I just helped send 25 of our European guides on one of my favorite tours — the Best of Turkey in 13 Days. (I wanted to join them so badly!)

It’s been a lot of fun to hear about everything they learned and experienced, and to see the beautiful photos and videos they all captured along the way. But there’s one guide that I’m particularly proud of — and that’s my son, Andy Steves. Andy just capped off a year as an Apprentice Guide by lead guiding his first Rick Steves tour. Check out this wonde...