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Destination: Italy

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Experience Is Good Travel

Every time I huddle with my guides, exploring ways to improve Rick Steves Europe Tours, our goal is the same: “How do we maximize the experience?” There are many clever ways to pack each day with lifelong memories and cultural lessons. While standard-issue tour guides often don’t go beyond the basic sightseeing schedule, a Rick Steves guide is constantly finding creative ways to carbonate the experience with fun little extras.

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So many towns in Europe have classic carousels on their main squares. Why not buy tickets for the gang and enjoy a chance to be kids again…and another rich travel memory.

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A good guide steers tour members away from the tired sandwich for lunch, and into a characteristic local bar where you’ll enjoy a plate like this: At my favorite bar in Venice (Osteria al Mascaron), just ask for the mixed seafood antipasto plate. It’s €16 and — unless you’re squiddish about fish — a delightful lunch.

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You can’t travel through France without a good wine-tasting. Here in Burgundy, we enjoy sharpening our wine-tasting skills in a classic cellar under our favorite hotel with a local wine expert.

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Anyone who dreams of going to St. Peter’s Basilica will consider a chance to go through the Holy Door (open only in Jubilee Years) a once-in-a-lifetime experience. As 2016 happens to be a Jubilee Year, our group got to do that with our Vatican visit. As I see it, it is the responsibility of a professional guide to know when these opportunities present themselves, and not to miss it.

(Thanks for following along here on my blog and on Facebook as I guide our Best of Europe in 21 Days tour.)

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Teaching in Europe

Rick Steves and tour group in front of David sculpture

Photo: thetravelphile.com / facebook.com/thetravelphile

I enjoy many aspects of my work. But perhaps the most gratifying is to stand before a great piece of art and explain it in a way that helps travelers fully appreciate it. And that’s what I got to do in Florence, in the inspirational presence of Michelangelo’s David, as I guided our Best of Europe in 21 Days tour.

(If you can’t physically be with me or one of our guides at David’s beautiful feet, you can still have my voice in your ear. Just download the free Rick Steves Audio Europe app and search for the “Accademia & Michelangelo’s David” audio tour.)

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A Tight and Happy Group

One of the great things about taking a tour is the people you get to travel with (assuming you join a tour that markets itself in a way that attracts enjoyable travel partners). With our “no grumps” policy, our “carry-your-own bags” policy, and our unapologetically “characteristic” hotels, we do our best to scare away the high-maintenance travelers. I love looking at the happy faces of a group like the one I was fortunate enough to guide — especially after two weeks together.

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Here’s the group, giddy to be with each other (or maybe it was just the thin air — at 10,000 feet above sea level, high atop the Schilthorn in Switzerland’s Berner Oberland).

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While touring the newly renovated and wonderful Museo del Duomo in Florence, we stayed until the very last minute. The museum guards, eager to call it a day, made sure we all packed onto the huge elevator at closing time and headed for the exit. Ciao!

Rick Steves on crowded bus

Photo: thetravelphile.com / facebook.com/thetravelphile

Part of the fun of leading a group through Europe is introducing them to public transportation — whether subway or bus. In Rome, our bus #280 from St. Peter’s Square to Trastevere for dinner was running late, meaning that when it finally arrived, it was jam-packed. With 28 of us on board, let’s just say it was a very local experience. Our “whisper system” headsets allowed our local guide to be in communication with each tour member…no matter whose armpit they were staring into.

Rick Steves and group on traghetto

Photo: thetravelphile.com / facebook.com/thetravelphile

As a guide, it’s fun to grab spontaneous experiences when they present themselves. There are always two considerations: Can 28 people actually do it efficiently? And is it a budget-killer? On my orientation walk through Venice before dinner, we were running a bit late. I came upon the traditional traghetto (gondola ferry) that crosses the Grand Canal where there’s no bridge, and I thought, “Wonderful — that’ll get us to dinner on time, and be memorable, as well.” The maximum capacity is 14 per boat, and they go every 3 or 4 minutes for €2 per person — so two boatloads got the entire group across quickly for less than €60…and we all enjoyed an experience we’ll never forget.

(Thanks for following along here on my blog and on Facebook as I guide our Best of Europe in 21 Days tour.)

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Video: Our Favorite Bites…So Far

We’re waiting to catch our early train out of the Italian Riviera. We have six days left in our Best of Europe in 21 Days tour and I’ve asked our group to recall their tastiest bites so far. Along with the creamy pumpkin ravioli we enjoyed in Rome’s crusty Trastevere neighborhood, yummy favorites include octopus, pineapple-mint gelato, pesto, and (my favorite) wild-boar salami. Great food is an essential part of any good European vacation.

(Thanks for following along here on my blog and on Facebook as I guide our Best of Europe in 21 Days tour.)

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Video: Good-bye Italy; Hello Switzerland

After a glorious free day on the beaches of the Italian Riviera, my tour group is heading north for the Swiss Alps. Because we sleep deep in the characteristic nooks and offbeat crannies of Europe, we often can’t get our bus to our hotel. In this case, we need to hop a train for a five-minute ride from Monterosso to Levanto, the nearby bigger town. In this clip, our hearty gang of tour members is packing light, and walking (past the stretch of beach where we had our happy hour last night) to the train station as the sun rises over the Cinque Terre.

(Thanks for following along here on my blog and on Facebook as I guide our Best of Europe in 21 Days tour.)