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Destination: Portugal

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Video: My Favorite Beach in Europe

My favorite beach in Europe? Salema, on the Algarve — the south coast of Portugal.

It’s Day 39 of my 100-day trip to Europe, and I’m here to make sure our Rick Steves Portugal guidebook is right up to date. It’s the end of May, the weather’s perfect, and there are no crowds. (Right after I shot this video, I bumped into a happy gang of four Americans using my guidebook — but I hadn’t seen a single American here before that.)

In this clip, you’ll hear me, in a moment of unbridled travel-writer ecstasy, declare Salema “the quintessence of a back door.” This little fishing village was one of 20 discoveries (I called them “back doors”) that made up the bulk of my very first guidebook, Europe Through the Back Door, in 1980. And thankfully, Salema is still great.

Do you have a favorite “back door” discovery of your own to match this? Let me know in the comments below, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

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Two New Portugal Shows in the Can

After 12 days in Portugal, the crew is flying home with two new episodes in the can. As we’ve done every two years for over 20 years, we’re kicking off the production of another series. It’s a two-year process, and in the fall of 2018 we’ll have a dozen or so new shows to share.

In Portugal, we had great local guides, great weather, total access to whatever we wanted to film, the support of beautiful people, and nice coffee.

We danced around the 100th anniversary of the vision of the Virgin Mary at Fatima. (Pope Francis was in town gathering over a million faithful for the occasion.)

And we worked hard to capture local life (like “dining” in a “republica” fraternity at the University of Coimbra).

Basically following the route that our Rick Steves Portugal tours enjoy with the help of our Rick Steves Portugal tour guides, I could see why Portugal has become one of our most popular tour destinations. As always, Portugal was a joy to experience and to share.


This is Day 46 of my “100 Days in Europe” series. As I travel with Rick Steves’ Europe Tours, research my guidebooks, and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences in Italy, Portugal, France, Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, and more. Thanks for joining me here on my blog and via Facebook.

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Video: A Peek Inside a Designer Hostel in Lisbon

Lisbon is famous among hotel connoisseurs for its boutique hostels. Here’s a quick peek at the Lisbon Destination Hostel. One of the best (charging €20 to €40 per bed), it’s actually located in Lisbon’s Rossio train station. (Also included is a peek at the security now in place at the station. All over Europe these days you find turnstiles that keep anyone without a ticket off the platforms.)

This is Day 43 of my “100 Days in Europe” series. As I travel with Rick Steves’ Europe Tours, research my guidebooks, and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences in Italy, Portugal, France, Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, and more. Thanks for joining me here on my blog and via Facebook.

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Video: Looking Around in Lively Lisbon

While filming in Lisbon this week it kept occurring to me that this city is so interesting, you can turn on your camera almost anywhere and create a fun, stream-of-consciousness video clip. Check this out.

(By the way, when we first got to town, we hired a little three-wheeled tuk-tuk like the one in the video to scout all the scenes we planned to film — €50 per hour and lots of fun.)

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This is Day 42 of my “100 Days in Europe” series. As I travel with Rick Steves’ Europe Tours, research my guidebooks, and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences in Italy, Portugal, France, Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, and more. Thanks for joining me here on my blog and via Facebook.

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Video: Beauty — Brought to You by Spice

I love cloisters, and perhaps my favorite anywhere is in Lisbon at the Monastery of Jerónimos. In this clip, I marvel at the beauty spice-trade money could create 500 years ago. There are gorgeous cloisters all over Europe. Which is your favorite?

This is Day 41 of my “100 Days in Europe” series. As I travel with Rick Steves’ Europe Tours, research my guidebooks, and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences in Italy, Portugal, France, Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, and more. Thanks for joining me here on my blog and via Facebook.