Rick Steves's Blog, page 18

My entire office staff is working from home. But were not alone. Much of Europe is also taking part in quarantine and social distancing measures to halt the spread of coronavirus. One of the rare bright spots of these last several days have been the beautiful, touching, and sometimes funny reports from my European friends, which have been trickling in from all over the Continent. Its clear that we are all in this together.

Here are a few highlights:

Im...

I keep thinking of all my Tuscan friends, hunkered down in their farmhouses while waiting out the coronavirus. At least theyre well-fed. 

Because of the coronavirus, Europe is effectively off-limits to American travelers for the next few weeks (and likely longer). But travel dreams are immune to any virus. During these challenging times, I believe a daily dose of travel dreaming can actually be good medicine. Heres another one of my very favorite travel dreams-come-truea reminder of whats...

O waves of the salty sea, where do you get your salt? From the tears shed by the women in black on the sad shores of Portugal. 

Because of the coronavirus, Europe is effectively off-limits to American travelers for the next few weeks (and likely longer). But travel dreams are immune to any virus. During these challenging times, I believe a daily dose of travel dreaming can actually be good medicine. Heres another one of my very favorite travel dreams-come-truea reminder of whats waiting for...

Spending St. Patricks Day stuck in my house makes me very nostalgic for many wonderful visits to Ireland. And one of my favorite corners of the Emerald Isle is the dreamy Dingle Peninsula.  

Because of the coronavirus, Europe is effectively off-limits to American travelers for the next few weeks (and likely longer). But travel dreams are immune to any virus. During these challenging times, I believe a daily dose of travel dreaming can actually be good medicine. Heres another one of my very...

I love Amsterdam. And I love it even more from the seat of a bike.  

Because of the coronavirus, Europe is effectively off-limits to American travelers for the next few weeks (and likely longer). But travel dreams are immune to any virus. During these challenging times, I believe a daily dose of travel dreaming can actually be good medicine. Heres another one of my very favorite travel dreams-come-truea reminder of whats waiting for you in Europe on the other end of this crisis.  

...

Need to get away? The tiny Swiss alpine village of Gimmelwald is about away as you can get.

Because of the coronavirus, Europe is effectively off-limits to American travelers through at least mid-April. But travel dreams are immune to any virus. As we work through these challenging days, I believe a daily dose of travel dreaming can actually be good medicine. Heres another one of my very favorite travel dreams-come-truea reminder of whats waiting for you in Europe on the other end of this...

I always used to wonder if all those French food snobs were just faking it. But then I thought about baseball.

Because of the coronavirus, Europe is effectively off-limits to American travelers through at least mid-April. But travel dreams are immune to any virus. As we work through these challenging days, I believe a daily dose of travel dreaming can actually be good medicine. Heres another one of my very favorite travel dreams-come-truea reminder of whats waiting for you in Europe on the...

Lets go for a nice dinner in Rome. On the menu is filetti di baccalà...Roman-style fish sticks.

Because of the coronavirus, Europe is effectively off-limits to American travelers for 30 days starting today: Friday, March 13. But travel dreams are immune to any virus. Through this crisis, join me for a quick, daily escape from the headlines as we count down the days until we can head back to Europe.  

Anxiety is something I like to sweep away when guiding a tour. And anxiety is not welcome at...

Its astonishing how much the world has changed in the week since I wrote this message. Italy went into full lockdown. The CDC moved most of Europe (except the UK, Ireland, and Turkey) to Level 3 travel advisory: Americans should cancel nonessential travel there. And across the US, everything from local schools, to NBA and March Madness games, to theme parks and music festivals have been cancelled. And thats just as of March 13.

Weve decided to cancel all of our Rick Steves Europe tour...

Coronavirus has reached Europe — and it’s spreading. There’s no way to predict how the virus will impact travel in Europe in the coming weeks. The crisis may be old news in a month, or it may cause economic activity (including tourism) to grind to a halt through 2020. By any honest assessment, nobody knows for sure.

In the meantime, should you cancel your trip to Europe? I see two considerations: the danger of actually getting the virus, and simply not wanting to risk the possibility of...