Rick Steves's Blog, page 24

Join me for brunch?

Last year, I discovered a delightful podcast called “Rick Steves Over Brunch,” hosted by travel writers Stephanie Craig and Christopher Mitchell. In each episode, Stephanie and Chris share travel tips and stories — and thoughtfully examine one episode of my own public television show, Rick Steves’ Europe.

The way they mix their travel experience and their enthusiasm is both endearing and infectious, and I enjoy eavesdropping on their conversations. They’ve produced a tota...

Many years ago, I traveled through Japan — and one of my most vivid memories from that trip is was the toilets. In the middle of one January night, I got up, needing to go down the hall. The rocks in the Zen garden were covered by snow. There was no central heating. I could see my breath. A kimono had been put out for my trip to the bathroom, but it was comically small, and my slippers ended at the start of my heels. Shivering as I shuffled, I made my way to the shared bathroom of my ryokan....

Talking short is harder than talking long. I had eight two-minute talks to give as my part of a Boston Pops concert last week, and I worked hard to get it right. I practiced in my hotel room, on stage before people arrived, and then did it for real — in front of a sold-out house. Each time I introduced a piece, it was an opportunity to show off the value of a tour guide who can set the scene to help you appreciate European culture.

I was reluctant to distract myself by playing with my phone,...

I’m still buzzing from a thrilling experience I had last week in Boston. For two nights, I teamed up with the Boston Pops and conductor Jacomo Bairos to host a live performance of my public television concert “Rick Steves’ Europe: A Symphonic Journey.” Together, we shared seven stirring anthems from the Romantic era that celebrate how different European countries mix a love of music with patriotism. I got to be the tour guide, setting up each piece with historical and cultural context — and t...

I love London’s Heathrow Airport, and I was happy to spend a couple of hours there as my spring trip wrapped up, just getting a bit of work done before my flight home to Seattle.

Stay tuned — because soon enough, I’ll be heading out again. Next up: guidebook research in England and three new TV episodes, high in the Alps.

It was a rainy day on the Emerald Isle, and I was somewhere I had never been before: St. George’s Market. Join me and my guide Jackie there now in this little clip.

Here’s how I wrote this place up for our Rick Steves Ireland guidebook:

St. George’s Market was the largest covered Victorian produce market in Ireland. Today, the farmers are gone and everyone else, it seems, has moved in. Three days a week (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, about 9:00-15:00), St. George’s Market becomes a thriving...

I have always believed that no trip to the Emerald Isle is complete without a visit to Northern Ireland. And I recently spent a few days there, after a stop in Dublin, researching the next edition of our Rick Steves Ireland guidebook.

In Belfast, I spent a fascinating 90 minutes with Tucker, a guide from Cab Tours Belfast — a taxi tour company that is made up of both Catholic and Protestant driver guides who are committed to giving unbiased, dual-narrative tours. On Bombay Street, we stopped...

I just enjoyed a very busy day on Capitol Hill, meeting with key members of Congress and advocating for an end to the federal prohibition on marijuana.

My host for the day was Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer, and we packed a lot into our schedule. Take a peek here as we work with lawmakers to find a path forward for marijuana legalization, I join forces with Bread for the World — and even bump into Jon Stewart.

I had breakfast this morning with some of my friends from NORML, and we were marvelin...

Enjoy a quiet moment with me in Gimmelwald, a little traffic-free village in Switzerland surrounded by alpine splendor. It was the evening magic hour, and I was just poking around the village, in perfect peace. The sun sets early when the sky is squeezed between mountains.

BTW, it was a handful of discoveries like Gimmelwald back in the late 1970s that I called my “Back Doors.” And these gems were the special destinations upon which I established my business, which back then was called “Europ...

I just had to share this little moment with you from Gimmelwald — a cliff-hanging village high in the Swiss Alps. I’ve been visiting since I was a kid, and its appeal is timeless. Join me from the deck of my B&B as the sun peeks out from behind the peaks.