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Destination: Italy

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Beat the Crowds: How to Avoid Long Lines in Europe

I just returned from an exhilarating visit to “The Big Three” of great European cities: London, Paris, and Rome. And one inescapable trend these days is the spike in tourist crowds. Simply put, these great cities — and their major sights — are jammed. It’s more important than ever to be smart and strategic to avoid long lines. A major purpose of my trip was to confirm the crowd-beating tips in our Rick Steves guidebooks. Sure enough, that advice worked like a charm — and saved me hours in line. No matter where you travel, a few overarching strategies can help you avoid lines and minimize crowds. These five favorite road-tested tips allowed me to spend this spring sightseeing at Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Versailles, the Orsay, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and many other world-class sights…without wasting precious vacation time.

Why so crowded? For one thing,  more Americans than ever are traveling to Europe. And now, in recent years, they’ve been joined by even more travelers from China, India, and Russia — three populous countries with emerging middle-class families who want to see Europe, too. But the Sistine Chapel, Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors, and Westminster Abbey are the same size as ever — and are now trying to squeeze that many more visitors into the same space.

The one overarching tip for beating crowds is simply this: Do your homework. All of those sad, wretched people you see standing in long, long lines at major sights? Those are the tourists who didn’t bother to prepare one iota before they woke up, had a lazy breakfast, and then — around 10:00, just as lines all over the city were summiting — said, “You know what? Let’s go to the Louvre!” If you plan ahead, you can avoid those lines almost entirely. But if you try to wing it, you can count on spending much of your precious European trip standing around, getting sore feet. The choice is yours.

1. Reserve or prebuy tickets online.

This has been essential advice for years at many of Europe’s top sights. If you don’t reserve ahead for Rome’s Sistine Chapel, Granada’s Alhambra, Paris’ Eiffel Tower, Amsterdam’s Anne Frank House, Milan’s Last Supper, or Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp Memorial in Poland, and you try to just show up, you will not get in…period.

Find out which sights require (or effectively require) reservations. (You’ll find a complete list on the right side of this page). Then, once you’re confident of your dates, book your visit as far ahead as possible. The procedure varies from sight to sight, but in every case, you can book online, with English instructions, using an American credit card. Typically, you’ll reserve a slot for a specific time window. Just show up at that time, and you’re golden.

The one big sight in Paris I did not get to visit on this trip — even though I wanted to — was the Eiffel Tower. Why? Because I waited until I arrived in Paris to try to reserve a slot online. And by that time, even several days out, the only time slot available was to enter at 11 p.m. I consoled myself by taking lots and lots of photos of that Parisian icon…from the ground.

In other places, booking ahead is more “optional,” depending on the crowds from day to day. When it’s quiet, reserving is not necessary. But given the unpredictability of crowds, prebooking can still be very smart…just in case.

For example, a big trend in London is that major sights — including  Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Churchill War Rooms, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tower of London, London Eye, and Windsor Castle — are encouraging visitors to prebuy tickets online. This usually saves a couple of pounds off your admission cost, and it also lets you skip the ticket line when you arrive at the sight.

One afternoon, I tried to swing by the Churchill War Rooms — the underground warren of offices where the UK engineered its victory in the Battle of Britain. But even late in the day, a couple of hours before closing time, there was a one-hour line to buy tickets. I missed out on that particular sight — and as I stood there, watching people breeze right past the long line because they’d prebooked tickets (at a discount, no less), I wished I’d done the same.

Won’t this cramp your style? Look — I respect spontaneity in travel. But the stakes are very high these days. If you enjoy being spontaneous on vacation, then you can be as spontaneous as you want to be — except when it comes to avoiding exhausting lines at major sights. Think of it this way: If you save an hour in line, that’s an entire hour of priceless serendipity that you can spend however you like.

2. Some combo-tickets and sightseeing passes let you skip the line.

My all-time favorite line-beating tip remains the same: At Rome’s Colosseum, you can join the excruciatingly long ticket line. Or you can walk five minutes up the street, to the ticket office for Palatine Hill (which is included in your Colosseum combo-ticket  — regardless of whether you wind up visiting that sight). You can walk right in, buy your ticket, then head back down to the Colosseum and stroll past the long line and into the world’s greatest ancient amphitheater. Other sights all over Europe have similar combo-tickets.

Another “oldie-but-goodie” tip — which has gotten even better with the increase in crowds — is to buy a Paris Museum Pass. Not only will this save busy sightseers money; it also lets you skip right past the long ticket-buying line at major sights all over the city. I visited most of Paris’ top sights — Versailles, the Orsay, the Arc de Triomphe, Sainte-Chappelle, Rodin Museum, the Orangerie, and more — and rarely waited more than a few minutes at any of them (at the security checkpoint). For example, at the Arc de Triomphe, my Paris Museum Pass let me walk right past the long ticket line in the underpass below the arch. By the time the folks at the end of that underground ticket line had even cleared security, I’d already climbed the 284 steps to the top and back.

However, before buying a sightseeing pass, be aware of which sights let you skip the line — and which ones don’t. For example, in London, Westminster Abbey has some of the longest lines in town. I saw would-be visitors walk up to the security guard, show their London Pass, and be sent back to the end of the line with an apologetic shrug. The London Pass does include “fast track entry” at some sights — but mostly ones with shorter lines to begin with (and not Westminster Abbey).

Also, be aware that even if you can skip the ticket-buying line, you may still have to wait in a security line. For example, at Windsor Castle, I was told that when it’s very busy, even people who prebook may have to wait an hour (or more) to get through security.

That’s why — even if you prebook tickets — it’s always a good idea to…

3. Know exactly when sights are the most (and least) crowded.

At most major sights, crowds peak from just after opening time until around lunchtime, and then crowds gradually taper off until late afternoon.  Early risers show up shortly before the sight opens, so they can be in the first wave of visitors. People like me, who prefer to sleep in, find it’s best to go late in the day.

On principle, I never, ever show up at a major sight mid-morning. Instead, I use that time to visit lesser-known sights, explore lively neighborhoods and parks, or seek out crowd-free experiences.

For example, on this trip, my Rome hotel was a couple of blocks from my favorite sight in town, the Pantheon — the best-preserved temple from the ancient world. I was sorely tempted to visit when I left the hotel in the morning. But I resisted that instinct, knowing I’d be sentencing myself to an unpleasantly crowded experience. Instead, I circled back in the late afternoon — around 3:45 — and was able to walk right in.

Later, I stopped by Rome’s Colosseum at 5 p.m. Even though I could have gotten a ticket with no wait just up the street (see that tip earlier), as an experiment, I joined the quickly shrinking ticket-buying line. In about 25 minutes, I was inside, snapping photos of the place where gladiators fought for gore and glory. When I was done there, I walked across the street and slipped in the gate for the Roman Forum just before they closed it, at 6:15. In the 45 minutes before they kicked me out, I had the Forum almost to myself — strolling amid the ancient ruins, feeling the breeze, and listening to the birdsong.

On the other hand, be careful not to cut it too close. The next evening, I was feeling overconfident at the Vatican. After snapping some photos around St. Peter’s Square, I joined the security line to enter the greatest church in Christendom at about 6:20 p.m. (hoping to squeeze in for a peek before the 7 p.m. closing time). The line moved quickly, but after about five minutes — when I was maybe 10 people away — the security guard slammed the gate shut with a decisive clang! The people ahead of me in line gestured frantically, begging the guard to let them slip in. He simply pointed to his walkie-talkie and shrugged. He’d been told it was time to close the gate — and when you work at the Vatican, you don’t mess with authority. (I imagine he didn’t want to have to answer to his boss’s boss’s boss.)

Sometimes it’s not just the time of day that matters, but the day of the week. Visitors to Paris who do their homework know that the Orsay — with Europe’s greatest collection of Impressionist artwork — is open late on Thursdays. After walking past that museum at other times, and seeing lines out the door, I waited until the time was right to visit. Then I showed up around 6:30 p.m. on a Thursday — and breezed right in.

At Windsor Castle outside of London, the ticket-sellers warned me that on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays — when there’s a Changing of the Guard at 11:00 — everybody shows up around 10:30 in the hopes of entering the castle grounds to watch the ceremony. But many of those people are still stuck in the security line when the ceremony begins. If you’re determined to see the Changing of the Guard from inside the castle, arrive plenty early. But also be aware that the guards march up the main drag on their way to the castle. As an alternative, you could arrive outside the castle just before 11:00, watch that parade, then chill out, visit the rest of the town, and have a relaxed lunch. Then enter the palace in the early afternoon — when the lines are almost nonexistent.

4. Take breaks from the crowds — and find alternatives to major sights.

Trying to sprint through three or four big-name sights in one day, back to back to back, is a recipe for exhaustion and frustration. As travelers, all too often our eyes are bigger than our stomachs, sightseeing-wise. Don’t over-program your time in Europe’s big, intense cities. I’d aim for just one or two major, crowded sights per day. Then take a break — check out a bustling local market hall, nurse a coffee at a sidewalk café, go for a walk in a park or along a scenic riverbank, or explore an up-and-coming neighborhood. Or visit a lesser-known sight that’s almost as good, but much less crowded than the biggies.

In Paris, it’s understandable that people want to see the Orsay — the planet’s greatest collection of Impressionist works (and much more). But the Orsay can be jammed. If you’re a fan of Claude Monet, consider heading across the river to the Orangerie, displaying massive canvases of his transcendent Water Lilies, and — in the basement — a concise collection of works by many of the same artists you’ll find in the Orsay. But the Orangerie, too, can be quite busy. Parisians I talked to said that if it’s Monet you want to see, you can skip both the Orsay and the Orangerie and instead visit either the Marmottan Museum or the Musée Maillol — both of which are never crowded.

In Rome, instead of braving the lines to enter the Colosseum, satisfy yourself with snapping photos from the outside. Then walk 15 minutes to the Baths of Caracalla, which — like the Colosseum — beautifully illustrate the majesty of ancient Roman engineering…but are always completely empty. For aficionados of ancient Rome, the baths are arguably even more interesting than the Colosseum. (Rick recently visited the Baths of Caracalla with our Roman friend, tour guide Francesca Caruso.)

In London, I waited in moderate lines to tour both the Tower of London and Windsor Castle. And both were well worth the wait. But I also ventured out to a lesser-known royal residence, Hampton Court Palace — and I found it captivating. The onetime home of King Henry VIII (and his many wives), Hampton Court Palace is perhaps even more impressive, architecturally, than the Tower and Windsor. And, thanks to the excellent, included audioguide, it comes with fascinating historical insights and vivid stories of larger-than-life monarchs. Best of all, I had the place virtually to myself.

It’s hard to convince travelers to not visit those world-famous sights. And if the only way you can be satisfied with your visit to Rome is by standing in the Sistine Chapel, then by all means, do it. But don’t do it just because it’s on someone else’s list of what you’re “supposed” to see. If you know a sight is going to be jam-packed, ask yourself — honestly — how important it is for the success of your trip. Maybe you can settle for some “also-rans.” You may well discover that — when taking the misery of crowds and long lines into the equation — you’ll enjoy those “lesser” sights even more than the biggies.

5. Expect challenging crowds…and be zen about it.

The hard reality is that, these days, even “A+” travelers who do everything just right must simply accept the fact that Europe is at capacity, and some lines are unavoidable. You don’t have to like it, but you will need to pack a little extra patience.

Every savvy traveler in Paris knows to avoid Versailles on a Tuesday — because the palace’s Monday closure, combined with the Tuesday closure of the Louvre, create a perfect storm of demand. Unfortunately, the week I visited, I had to go to Versailles on Tuesday — since Wednesday was a holiday. Visiting one of Europe’s busiest sights on the one day out of three that it’s open is a recipe for frustration.

I did my best to beat the crowds — arriving at the château later in the day, about an hour and fifteen minutes before closing time. My Paris Museum Pass let me skip the ticket-buying line. However, the (obligatory) security line filled the entire grand courtyard — twisting back on itself four times, in a serpentine zigzag, with hundreds of fellow latecomers. I had finally been beat by Europe’s crowds. I hung my head in shame, found the end of the line, and joined the masses.

And do you know something? It was just fine. Although the line looked comically long, it moved fast, and I was inside within about a half-hour. That left me just enough time to follow Rick’s Versailles Audio Tour through the château’s highlights — set to double-time, with Rick chattering like a chipmunk in my ear as I walked briskly through the sumptuous halls.

Inside, the crowds were intense. There was no choice but to go with the flow. To pass from room to room, everybody had to be extruded through the same narrow doorways. Competition was fierce for the best vantage point for selfies. I witnessed a few photographers virtually come to blows, jockeying for a clear shot of Louis XIV’s toilet. I was worried someone would get jostled over the flimsy guard rope and go careening into a priceless vase or piece of furniture. It was unpleasant.

But I decided not to let the crowds ruin my enjoyment of Europe’s grandest palace. I just went numb and went with the flow, making a point to ignore the crowds and focus instead on the lavish details. By the time I reached the Hall of Mirrors, the crowds were clearing out, and I was able to linger amid the ghosts of 18th-century courtly life.

I always get a kick out of being one of the last people at a great sight. By the end of my visit, they were flushing out us final stragglers by closing the big shutters — plunging each successive room into darkness, in a not-so-subtle hint that closing time was nigh. After being essentially kicked out of the château, I headed to the gardens — which stay open later than the palace itself — and had a relaxing early evening stroll there before heading back to Paris.

I could have decided to be miserable in that line, and once inside those mosh-pit hallways. But instead, I told myself that’s the price I had to pay to visit the greatest palace on earth. I decided to enjoy it…and I did. (And the people-watching was marvelous.)

The Final Word (tl;dr)

So, in short: Accept that it’s going to be crowded…but do your best to beat the crowds by doing your homework. Know which sights let you reserve tickets ahead, and consider combo-tickets or museum passes that let you skip the line. Be aware when big sights are going to be more and less crowded, and plan your day accordingly (hitting less popular sights at the most crowded times, and vice versa). Take breaks to recover from the mob scenes at Europe’s great sights, and consider replacing some of the “must-sees” on your list with less crowded, more intimate, more purely enjoyable alternatives.

And…don’t forget to have fun and take it all in. I don’t care how crowded it is — if you’re standing in front of a painting that gives you chills, savor it. Take a deep breath and settle in. Stand like a stone in a rushing river of humanity, and commune with the majesty of Monet or Michelangelo. Just check out those brushstrokes.

You’ll find specific, detailed, carefully updated advice for beating the crowds at the big sights in all of our Rick Steves guidebooks: London, Paris, Rome, and many more.

If you’re heading to any of “The Big Three” — London, Paris, Rome — stay tuned to my blog this summer. I’ll be posting frequently about these three classic European destinations. (Or follow me on Facebook.)

 

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Europe’s 10 Best Markets

What traveler doesn’t love a great European market? There are few better windows into local life than rubbing shoulders with shoppers, browsing stands piled high with colorful produce, nibbling on street munchies, and being fully immersed in the sights, sounds, and smells of the local community.

Over half a lifetime of traveling around Europe, I’ve been collecting my favorite market experiences for travelers — where you can glean some insights into local culture and cuisine, and browse for a good, local, quality meal. This is a mix of old-school covered markets, trendier food halls, and sprawling, open-air markets that take over an entire neighborhood or town. I’ve heavily skewed my suggestions to foodie options, where you’ll find dishes that are creative and interesting (rather than just fill-the-tank), while still being affordable. Happy browsing!

10. Mercado de San Miguel, Madrid, Spain

Madrid's Mercado de San Miguel

Just steps from the grand Plaza Mayor, in the heart of Spain’s capital, sits this 1915 erector-set market hall. Fully remodeled in 2009, today it’s a bustling showcase of edible Spain. Squeezing between the crowds, you’ll find only the best jamón ibérico (air-cured ham), Manchego and other artisanal Spanish cheeses, powerfully piquant skewered pickles and olives (banderillas), delectable pastries, little skillets of paella, tinned fish and seafood, brochetas (meat or seafood skewers) grilled to order, smoked salmon, sweet vermouths from around Spain, croquetas with various fillings, Mexican dishes from a Michelin-star chef, and robust Rioja wines. It’s a culinary tour of Spain, under one roof.

9. Östermalms Saluhall, Stockholm, Sweden

A classic. Anchoring Stockholm’s posh Östermalm neighborhood, this market hall is simply elegant. Handsome, hand-carved wooden stalls display just-so piles of produce, stacked as if posing for a still-life. The wares here feel…curated. Composed. With Scandinavian precision. There aren’t many bargains in this pricey city, but the Östermalms Saluhall is fun to browse for a high-end picnic, or to settle into a market eatery for a quality deli plate, a delicately composed salad, a sticky Scandinavian sweet roll, a splurgy seafood dish, a gourmet smørrebrød (open-face sandwich), a delectable handmade praline, or a selection of Lebanese small plates. Note: The food hall is undergoing a makeover through 2020; in the meantime, the vendors have set up temporary digs nearby.

8. Markthalle Neun, Berlin, Germany

Berlin’s Kreuzberg district is home to its most cutting-edge, engaging culinary scene — and Markhalle Neun is its flagship. Tucked in a workaday neighborhood away from the tourist sights, it fills a beautifully restored 19th-century hall with greengrocers, cheesemongers, butchers, fishmongers, florists, and bakers, all with an appropriately Berlin-hipster vibe. Meanwhile, food stands sell Berlin classics like Buletten (meatballs), Stolle (open-faced sandwiches), Brezel (big doughy pretzels), and Currywurst — but also Italian pastas, French crêpes, Turkish deli meats, Spanish tapas, and even BBQ from the USA. Markhalle Neun scores bonus points for its many special events (listed at www.markthalleneun.de), including its Saturday farmers market and its “Street Food Thursday” — a beloved institution for Berliners seeking a trendy yet affordable dinner.

7. Mercato Centrale, Florence, Italy

For years, I’d peek tentatively inside this cavernous market hall in the center of Florence, which felt dark and foreboding. With tattered stalls and piles of garbage out front, it felt like it hadn’t changed since the days of Vittorio Emanuele II. Then, in 2014, they converted the top floor into a high-end food circus. Just walk past the still-grubby produce stalls on the main floor, and hike up the stairs to a world of Italian taste treats: hand-rolled pastas, prizewinning prosciutto, massive steaks cooked so rare they still moo, melt-in-your-mouth panini, gourmet burgers made from Tuscany’s prized Chianina beef, rotisserie chicken, big juicy wads of mozzarella di bufala, handheld flatbread sandwiches called trapizzini, big slabs of rustic pizza, tender stewed beef cheeks, truffle-infused oils and pâtés, the rustic Tuscan bread soup called ribollita, deep-fried tasties,  cannoli and other Sicilian sugar bombs, and high-end tripe sandwiches (a Florentine classic!). Travelers smart enough to escape the tourist-gouging restaurants on the main drag retreat to this upper level — like pigeons in the rafters — to take a break from intense Renaissance sightseeing with pretty much any Italian taste treat they can imagine. Tuscany is home to many foodie finds — but this is one of the best.

6. Belvarosi Piac, Budapest, Hungary

In Budapest, tourists flock to the Great Market Hall, an elegant palace of produce built around the turn of the 20th century. And you really do have to see the Great Market Hall. But don’t eat there — the “local”-seeming food counters upstairs specialize in ripping off naive tourists. Instead, head to a different, smaller, and far more authentic neighborhood market hall, also right in the city center (a couple of minutes’ walk from the Parliament): the Belvarosi Piac on Hold Street. In an atmospheric Industrial Age space that feels like the Great Market Hall’s little sibling, producers occupy the ground floor, while the upstairs is ringed by tempting high end-yet-affordable food stands: massive schnitzels at Buja Diszno(k), gourmet sausage at Lakatos Műhely, Russian grub at Moszkvatér (named for the since-rechristened “Moscow Square”), gourmet burgers at Kandalló, Thai-style khao man gai (poached chicken in garlicky sauce), and updated Hungarian classics at A Séf Utcaja. Anchoring the space, down on the main floor, is Stand 25 Bisztró. Here, celebrity chefs Szabina Szulló and Tamás Széll artfully fuse Hungarian classics with international influences (or is it the other way around?). While not cheap by market hall standards, Stand 25 a bargain for a Michelin-caliber lunch in a memorable setting (lunch only, plus dinner Friday and Saturday, book ahead).

5. Ballarò Market, Palermo

The Sicilian capital has some of the best, most vivid street markets in all of Europe. And the granddaddy of them all is Ballarò — seedy, chaotic, bewildering, and invigorating. Come here to jostle with Sicilians who verbally arm-wrestle for the best deals on the best ingredients. The vendors — continuing a tradition that supposedly dates back to Arab rule — warble their sales pitches with an otherworldly cadence, demanding the attention of passersby. Giant slabs of pink tuna perch on marble counters, like cadavers ready to be dissected. Produce stands overflow with vivid-purple eggplants, long, skinny Sicilian zucchini, and tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes. Best of all, scattered throughout this multi-block span of barely controlled chaos are a wide variety of tempting street food stands, selling greasy napkins topped with dirt-cheap taste treats for every level of adventurous eaters — from arancine (deep-fried rice balls) and sfincioni (“Sicilian pizza”) to pani ca’ meusa (spleen sandwich) and polpo bollito (tiny boiled octopus, eaten whole). (For a complete rundown, check out my post on Palermo’s street food.) Go ahead, dive in — this is what real travelers live for.

4. Mathallen, Oslo, Norway

I love Oslo. But I’ve rarely found a memorable meal tucked among the dreary, blocky downtown core along Karl Johans Gate. However, just north of downtown runs the Akers River Valley, where the city has redeveloped a former wasteland of red-brick factories and warehouses into a lively people zone. Its centerpiece is Mathallen (“Food Hall”), filling the scavenged brick skeleton of a 19th-century factory. Norwegians recognize the limitations of their cuisine. And so, in addition to stands selling fresh, whole-grain bread (at Smelt Ostesmørbrød) sweet and savory pies (at Mildrids Kjøkken), and farm-fresh geitost cheese (at Ost & Sånt), you can nibble tapas, pastas, sushi, tacos and tequila, pizza, Asian street food,  gourmet ice cream, and much more. Ringing the outside of the market are a variety of industrial-mod, higher-end eateries. I skipped the fried chicken and “global tapas,” and went a bit more traditional at Vulkanfisk, serving up affordable-for-Oslo, elegantly presented, fresh seafood (the garlic-sautéed scampi were a flavor bomb). Anytime I’m in Oslo at mealtime, I come up with an excuse to head up the Akers River to Mathallen.

3. Maltby Street Market Rope Walk, London

One summer, my wife and I rented an apartment in London for a week and checked out a different market each day. And at the end of the trip, the Maltby Street Rope Walk emerged as our favorite (every Saturday and Sunday). Tucked along a vintage brick railroad trestle, far from any tourist attractions (roughly across the Thames from the Tower of London), it’s an explosion of foodie energy. Beyond the hole-in-the-wall eateries, wine bars, taprooms, and Mozambique-style burger bars squeezed into the arches under the train tracks, the weekend market adds a world of pop-up food stands: grilled sandwiches oozing with tangy English cheese; little slices of rye bread mounted with melt-in-your-mouth Scottish salmon; slabs of grass-fed, dry-aged, rare-grilled hanger steaks; wild variations on Scotch eggs; Middle Eastern flatbreads with savory toppings; German-style sausages; gyoza steamed in wicker baskets; and a mouthwatering array of gooey brownies. For a more traditional “market hall,” it’s hard to beat London’s famous Borough Market. The funky Camden Market sprawls through a yellow-brick wonderland of old industrial buildings. The Portobello Road Market charms Notting Hill fans. And the Broadway Market feels like ground zero for East London’s hipster baby boom. But if I had to pick just one market that incapsulates cutting-edge London…it’s Rope Walk.

2. Mercado da Ribeira/Time Out Market, Lisbon, Portugal

My favorite European market hall has a split personality. One-half of the market is as classic as they come: traditional, rough-and-tumble vendors selling fragrant herbs, plump produce, and an aquarium’s worth of fish. It’s ragtag, ramshackle, and trapped in the 1950s, with rickety wooden stalls, puddles pooling on cracked tile floors, petticoat-clad grannies selling rough bunches of herbs, and Old World scales with dials that spin imprecisely as if digital were never invented. On its own, this market hall is endearing enough to earn an “honorable mention” on this list. But from there, you can step through a door into La Ribera’s other half: a sleek, futuristic, top-of-the-line, Time Out-themed culinary wonderland (opened in 2014). The two dozen eateries here include stands operated by five marquee, Michelin-rated Portuguese celebrity chefs selling affordably price tastes of their favorite dishes. You’ll also find smaller stands bursting with a variety of local and international meals: the beloved Portuguese steak sandwich called prego, croquetes with fillings both traditional and creative, bacalhau (rehydrated salt-dried cod), fresh-baked pasteis de nata and other pastries, Japanese-fusion dishes highlighting the long-forgotten influence of early Portuguese traders, traditional cheeses and charcuterie, catch-of-the-day, quality steaks, gourmet burgers, artful sushi, and crispy pizzas. Rounding out the scene are a well-stocked wine shop, a place to stock up on conserves (tinned fish with colorful wrappers), and a branch of A Vida Portugesa (a classy vendor of Portuguese-themed products, gifts, and keepsakes that tempt even non-shoppers).  Whether for a meal or a one-stop-shop to stock up on all things Portuguese, Mercado da Ribeira is a winner.

1.  Market Day, Sarlat, France

Sarlat’s street market is hard to top. It’s the refined yin to Palermo’s gritty yang. Twice weekly — on Wednesday mornings, and all day Saturdays — the pristine, lemony-sandstone streets of one of France’s finest towns become a big outdoor shopping mall. Locals pour in from the countryside to browse the stalls, reconnect with their favorite vendors, and bump into old friends. You’ll find baked goods, fresh meat, duck-in-a-can (confit de canard), giant wheels of rustic mountain cheese, tiny pyramids of fine gourmet cheese, nuts and dried fruits, explosively flavorful olives, mammoth chunks of nougat, snail shells prefilled for escargot, fruitcake sold by weight, a rainbow of preserves, salamis and sausages of every shape and size, and whatever produce is in season. When the noon bell tolls, the vendors begin packing up, and the shoppers scramble for café tables that catch just the right mélange of sun and shade. This is where the second phase of the Market Day ritual kicks in: taking some time to nurse a cup of coffee with someone you haven’t seen in a while. It’s all so simple…so sophisticated…so smart. If you won’t be in Sarlat, you can enjoy similar market days all over France; every community has its own, but popular ones include Uzès (in Provence), Beaune (in Burgundy), and several in Parisian neighborhoods. But Sarlat is the one that has left me with the warmest memories of an ideal market experience.

What’s your favorite market in Europe?

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2019 Discovery: Palermo Street Markets, Sicily

Crowds got you down? This post is part of a series of 10 European Discoveries for 2019 — off-the-beaten-path gems where you can escape the tourist rut and find a corner of Europe all your own.

Among Italians (and other foodies), Palermo is synonymous with street food. And its three sprawling street markets — Ballarò, Capo, and Vucciria — let you delve into gritty Sicilian culture in a way that engages all the senses.

Go ahead — taste something you’d never otherwise consider putting in your mouth. Like frittula — basically the leftover parts of veal (cartilage, intestines, little bits of bone) all chopped up, griddled, and seasoned with generous salt and lemon juice. Or pani ca’ meusa — a pillowy bun stuffed with spleen, lung, and other organ meat. Or polpo bollito — a small octopus, boiled whole and spritzed with lemon.

Too adventurous? Then stick to the oldies-but-goodies: arancina, a deep-fried ball of saffron rice and meat sauce; sfincioni, French-bread-style “Sicilian pizza,” grilled up to order; and panelle e cazzilli, chickpea fritters and herbed croquettes.

Best of all, the whole time you’re browsing these gut-bombs, you’re fully immersed in the energetic hubbub of Sicilian urban life — watching the Palermitani greet old friends, listening to the urgent musicality of the vendors’ sales pitches, and smelling all that sizzling and frying goodness (plus a full spectrum of other odors). Palermo’s street markets are quintessential Sicily.

Ready to dive in? If you’re exploring Sicily on a Rick Steves tour, you’re good-to-go: The Best of Sicily in 11 Days Tour includes a guided walk through the Ballarò street market. If you’re traveling independently, consider joining a food tour. You can read about my experience on a Palermo street food tour here — and you’ll find lots of other recommendations in our brand-new Rick Steves Sicily guidebook, co-authored by Sarah Murdoch. Look for that in stores this April.

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Europe for Foodies: How (and Why) to Incorporate Food into Your Travels

The term “foodie” is trendy these days. It sounds pretentious, and a little silly. But I’ve decided to take that word back, for food-lovers everywhere. There’s nothing wrong with being a “foodie.” It simply means that you prioritize food in your life — and in your travels.

Some travelers eat to live. I live to eat. And the more I make food a central focus of my travels, the clearer it becomes that to really appreciate a culture, you need to understand its food. Because in a sense, food is culture.

Finish this phrase: Swiss ___. For all its claims to fame, and the end of the day, Switzerland is synonymous with cheese. It’s part of their international brand and their national identity. And the government invests generous subsidies in keeping this part of Swiss culture alive. To this day, Swiss farmers — now federally funded — still make cheese the old-fashioned way. Each spring, they take their herd of cows up to high-mountain huts, on pastures called “alps,” and hang their decorative cowbells from the eaves. There they stay with their livestock for 100 days, all summer long — milking them at dawn and at dusk, and spending their days making cheese. And then one day in September, when cool weather announces the onset of autumn, the cowhands sling those giant bells around their cows’ necks and walk them back down into the village in the valley below — creating an impromptu parade of flower-bedecked cows, enjoying a victory lap after a productive summer, to a soundtrack of clanging bells and satisfied moos.

What type of food do you associate with Spain? Tapas, of course — small plates. But a deeper understanding of Spanish cuisine tells you volumes about the Spanish culture, climate, and landscape. In arid, blistering Iberia, people take a mid-day siesta to head home, eat a big lunch, and hide out from the heat for a couple of hours. They return to work for a few more hours, and then, just as the sun goes down and temperatures grow tolerable, they go for a paseo — a languid stroll through the city streets, promenading with friends and family, greeting neighbors, and dropping into a variety of cozy bars and cafés. After a day cooped up inside, avoiding the heat, the last thing you want is to settle in for a long, sit-down dinner. So instead, you nibble on little plates of food at the bar — sharing a variety of dishes with friends old and new, sipping drinks, cracking jokes, socializing. Then you head to the next bar, for some new dishes (and some new friends). “Tapas-style” dining isn’t a trend — it’s a social ritual and a way of life, shaped over eons by Spain itself.

What are the two most beloved European cuisines? If you’re like most people, you’re thinking of Italian and French. (If you’re an odd duck like me, Hungarian might have crept into the mix.) Italian and French cuisine are equally enticing, and yet, so fundamentally different.

In sun-drenched Italy — the garden patch of Europe — cuisine is all about highlighting quality ingredients. The fewer ingredients, and the less they’re manipulated, the better. I once took a cooking class in Tuscany where Marta taught me how to make the most delicious sauce ever to cross my palate. It has just five ingredients: tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt. And it makes everything it touches explosively flavorful. This emphasis on fresh ingredients also makes Italian cuisine highly localized. Why are there so many types of pasta? Because each one is engineered to highlight a particular sauce or topping, usually rooted in a highly specific place and season. (Those pasta places where you “pick your noodles, then pick your sauce” make Italians furious.) Specialties aren’t just regional — they can be specific to a town, or even to a neighborhood. And Italian law forbids restaurants from using frozen ingredients unless they’re noted on the menu.

In French cuisine, the ingredients are less important than what you do with them. I once took a cooking class in Burgundy, where every dish had at least a dozen ingredients — and each recipe involved mastering a precise, delicate technique. French chefs are technicians, who endlessly play and tinker and experiment to create something delicious. Who, but the French, would look at snails crawling across a rain-dampened path and think, “I’ll bet if I cooked those in garlic butter, they’d be delicious”? Beyond escargot, think of the other most famous French dishes: Coq au vin takes the toughest, least palatable type of poultry — rooster — and slow-simmers it in red wine and spices until it’s tender and flavorful. Bœuf bourguignon does the same with tough cuts of beef. And confit de canard is a duck that’s been rendered, preserved in a sealed can of its own congealed fat, then opened up months later and cooked in that same fat. That’s not a recipe — that’s a science experiment. So much of French cooking feels like it was created on a dare. And yet, it’s delicious. And it’s beautiful. French chefs are also elegant artists, who employ their technique to create stunning masterpieces, as pleasing to the eye as to the palate. French salads aren’t just jumbled together — they’re composée…composed.

These are just a few examples of how food can play a much larger role in your travels than simply filling the tank. And that’s the topic of my “Europe for Foodies” class, which we filmed earlier this year and is now available to view on Ricksteves.com and YouTube (and below).

Of all the travel talks I do at Rick Steves’ Europe, “Europe for Foodies” is my favorite. It’s the one that my audiences seem to enjoy the most. And, strangely, it’s also the least-attended.

Maybe people already take it for granted that food is important in travel — or are confident that it isn’t. But the purpose of this talk is to deepen your appreciation for the many vivid travel experiences where food and culture intersect. Like a French chef who makes snails delicious, I’ve engineered this talk to fine-tune your culinary sensibilities, with ample suggestions for incorporating food in your travels. If you’ve enjoyed my many blog posts about food in Europe…this talk is for you.

In the talk, I introduce age-old European culinary concepts that are newly trendy these days, including terroir, zero-kilometer, nose-to-tail, and the importance of eating with the seasons. I also suggest practical tips for finding the best restaurants, and explain some subtleties of dining in Europe that can be confusing. Sometimes this requires psychoanalyzing the way Europeans conceptualize food: You’ll learn why Italians can’t understand how anyone could drink a caffé latte after lunchtime, why they serve your salad after the pasta, and why that stubborn server won’t bring your bill to the table until you’ve asked for it.

I run through some of my favorite cheap eats in Europe (from German Currywurst to Greek souvlaki to Sicilian arancine to Polish zapiekanka) and the best food halls and street markets. And there are sections on drinking (wine, beer, spirits, and café culture) and sweets — from Belgian chocolates to Italian gelato. Finally, I suggest some experiences that allow you to incorporate food into your travels: cooking classes, food tours, visits to local farms, chasing a truffle-sniffing dog through an oak forest, getting to know a Slovenian beekeeper, and so on.

I hope you enjoy my “Europe for Foodies” talk as much as I enjoyed putting it together. And remember: Every meal you have in Europe is an opportunity to have a cultural experience.

If you enjoy reading my blog posts that focus on food, you can find a roundup here.

Check out my full 1.25-hour “Europe for Foodies” talk on Ricksteves.com and YouTube. (You can find the handout for the class here.)

If you’re tight on time, you can also check out shorter chapters separately:

Europe for Foodies 101 (23 min)

Restaurant-Finding Tips (14 min)

Eating Tips and Tricks (9 min)

Cheap Eats (9 min)

Drinks and Sweets (16 min)

Foodie Experiences (7 min)

 

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Sicily’s Ultimate Road Trip

Sicily is one of Europe’s most enticing “fringe” destinations — still largely undiscovered, but well worth the journey. For Italy aficionados, Sicily is a fascinating “continuing education” in a place that’s somehow even more intense than the mainland (with all the highs and lows that entails). For first-timers, it’s a collection of delightful surprises and an exhilarating introduction to Italy. And for people who find mainland Italy a bit too much…could I perhaps interest you in Germany?

Our brand-new Rick Steves Sicily guidebook, published in April 2019, has been a real team effort: co-author Sarah Murdoch, contributing author Alfio di Mauro, contributions from Rick and from me, and the usual talented work by our editors, mapmakers, and graphics people. We’re thrilled with how the book turned out. Its publication has inspired me to share a few more of my favorite Sicilian photos and memories that haven’t seen the light of day yet.

These photos loosely follow the route I drove around Sicily to research the new book, starting and ending in Palermo and circling the island counterclockwise. It’s also the route of our recommended two-week itinerary by car from our Sicily book. Enjoy!

Stop #1: Palermo

Palermo’s main intersection — called the Quattro Canti (“Four Corners”) — features four fancy facades facing each other. Trying to capture this lovely space on film, I made full use of my fisheye lens. In addition to being a fascinating study in the theatricality of Baroque architecture — as the day goes on, the sun moves across female statues embodying spring (young maiden), summer, fall, and winter (elderly woman) — this intersection is the navigational center of town. I found myself passing through here again and again…and was always glad I did.

Stop #2: Segesta

Sicily — which was known as Magna Graecia (“Greater Greece”) back when the ancient Greeks outgrew their little islands and followed their own westward expansion — is the best place outside of Greece to see ancient ruins: Segesta (pictured here), Selinunte, and Agrigento (described later) are the “big three,” but seemingly every town has an old temple ruin or a theater carved into the hillside.

Stop #3: Trapani and the West Coast

Sicily’s often-overlooked west coast is a fine spot to settle in for a day or two of side-tripping. From the workaday but endearing port town of Trapani, you can head up to the hill town of Erice (this photo is taken from its castle), take a thirsty stroll through medieval salt pans, ride a boat to the isle of Mozia to see scant remains of the ancient Carthaginian civilization, sample some wines in a Marsala cantina, and set sail for the Egadi Islands. (Favignana has a surprisingly fascinating museum dedicated to the tuna fishing and canning industry that put this area on the map.) While not the most spectacular corner of Sicily, Trapani and the west coast are a fine kick-off for an island loop.

Stop #4: Agrigento

Sicily’s top sight from antiquity is the Valley of the Temples, in Agrigento. Slightly misnamed, it’s a half-mile-long ridge lined with temples (in various states of repair) from Greek times. Like the Roman Forum or Ephesus in Turkey, it’s one of those places that stokes your imagination for ancient times…you can’t help but mentally don a toga and picture when this was a thriving community.

While Agrigento is famous for its Valley of the Temples, its overlooked town center — which also lines up along a promontory —  is worth exploring. I stayed in an agriturismo in the nearby countryside, but I was glad I ventured into Agrigento one evening for a stroll up its main drag and a good dinner. Forking off Agrigento’s spine is the colorful “stairs of the winds” — a popular canvas for local street artists.

Stop #5: Villa Romana del Casale

While many of the great ancient sites in Sicily are from Greek times, it also has some of the best-preserved ancient Roman mosaics anywhere. Villa Romana del Casale, strategically located in the middle of nowhere, has elaborate floors decorated with painstakingly crafted murals that depict exotic animal hunts, cherubs on a fishing trip, and mighty female athletes who have acquired the unfortunate, persistent nickname “the bikini girls.”

Stop #6: Ragusa and Southeastern Sicily

Looking back on my Sicily trip, my favorite stop may have been mellow Ragusa, burrowed deep into the island’s southeastern hills. With houses blanketing two adjacent hills, Ragusa hits that perfect travel sweet spot: It’s big and bustling enough to be interesting and to serve its visitors well, but small and out-of-the-way enough not to be overrun by tourists. I saw quite a few out-of-towners here, but it seemed that almost all of them were Italians…a good sign.

I happened to be in Ragusa during an endearing little festival honoring the local Ragusano cheese. I expected the place to be mobbed. Instead, I strolled through a floodlit town where local people, and a handful of Italian tourists, were out enjoying their beautiful piazzas. The streets and squares of Ragusa are designed with a Baroque sense of theatricality and drama…church domes seem to be positioned just so.

Another reason to like Ragusa is that it’s an ideal home base for side-tripping to a delightful variety of low-impact, lovely towns dotting southeastern Sicily. Chocolate-crazy Modica (pictured here), valley-filling Scicli, and the Baroque beauty Noto are all within a short drive. This area was severely rattled by an earthquake in 1693 — and the reconstruction coincided perfectly with the high point of Sicilian Baroque. The entire region was rebuilt in this same style, using the luscious local sandstone, giving it an unusual harmony — especially in Noto. I found this to be the prettiest part of Sicily.

Stop #7: Siracusa

Siracusa may be Sicily’s most all-around entertaining destination. The mainland is dreary sprawl, but the historic center — filling a little island called Ortigia, surrounded by a nearly 360-degree bay — is magic: ancient Greek and Roman ruins, quality restaurants, characteristic back lanes, creative artisan boutiques, colorful puppet shows, hipster cafés, pebbly beaches, and my favorite square in Sicily — facing the town cathedral, which, like Siracusa and Sicily itself, is built upon layers of history. Ancient Doric columns still line the nave.

Stop #8: In the Shadow of Mount Etna

Catania — Sicily’s second city — gets a bum rap. It’s big, gritty, intimidating, and hard to navigate. While I wouldn’t put it at the top of my “must-visit” list, I was glad to spend the night here. Its old center is made of black lava rock from Mount Etna, which smolders on the horizon. Its center has been slowly rejuvenated — leaving the old core far more elegant than Palermo’s (which wears its charm with a patina of scruffiness).

Sicily’s glamorous poster child is Taormina, dramatically clinging to the edge of a cliff, with grand views to smoldering Mount Etna. Capping things off are the well-preserved ruins of a Greek and Roman Theater — built by the ancient Greeks, but later “upgraded” by the Romans. It’s hard to imagine a more scenic backdrop for a theatrical production. While I love the theater and the setting, I have to admit I was left pretty cold by Taormina. It’s a posh resort that — like most posh resorts — feels soulless, its authentic character plastered over in favor of amenities to please deep-pocketed tourists. (To be fair, I was primed not to like Taormina by many Sicilians and Sicily aficionados who had gravely warned me it was not “the real Sicily”…one of them used a perfect Italian phrase to describe it: “All smoke and no meat.”) Yes, you’ve gotta see Taormina. But you may find that other places stick with you longer.

We’re spoiled in the USA — with our long, broad, sandy beaches in California, Florida, and Hawaii. In Europe, a “beach” is rarely sandy — and more often, rocky and pebbly. Sicily is a great beach destination, but only for those who understand this crucial difference. The most memorable beach I saw here was Isola Bella, tucked just below the cliff-clinging center of Taormina (and accessible by a quick and scenic gondola). In the 19th century, an English noblewoman bought this island — tethered to the mainland only by a slushy pebble causeway just a few feet wide — and built a villa here. I went down to check out the villa…but the beach was the real star. It was packed with holiday-makers, basking in the hot Sicilian sun, splashing in the stunningly clear water (a fair trade-off for the lack of sand), and struggling to get comfortable on the rocks.

Mount Etna — the still-active volcano that gave rise to Sicily — is famous for its steaming profile. But what really blew me away was its stunning, fun-to-explore wine region. My favorite stretch was along its northern slope, between the villages of Linguaglossa and Randazzo. Regardless of whether you enjoy the wine, the scenery and dreamy countryside culture are divine.

Stop #9: Cefalù

My favorite beach town in Sicily is Cefalù…not for its fine beaches (though it does have those), but because it has the soul of an old fishing village — you still see fishermen pulling their boats up onto the beach, between the sunbathers. Its centerpiece is an insistently likeable Norman fortress-church, decorated inside with glittering golden mosaics. Cefalù is simply a fun place to be on vacation — it reminded me of my favorite island getaways on Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast.

The most satisfying hike in Cefalù is up to the top of “La Rocca” — the Gibraltar-like giant rock that rockets up above town. It’s a steep and rugged climb, but at the top you’re rewarded with stunning views over the town’s rooftops and hulking church.

On the day I summited La Rocca, with a sense of achievement and curiosity, I checked my Health app: 21,000 steps and the equivalent of 105 floors (plus another 105 on the way down). That’s like taking the stairs to the observation deck of Chicago’s Willis Tower. Yeah, I think I earned my gelato.

Stop #10: Back to Palermo

You know a city has gotten under your skin when you’re conspiring to get back there before you’ve even left the country. I started my trip in Palermo, then circled Sicily. As the end of my loop neared, I realized I really wanted one more crack at the island’s main city — partly for my guidebook work, but also just because I enjoyed it. I gave up a day off I’d planned in Taormina and added one more day in Palermo. I loved having another shot at the city, with the benefit of all I’d learned in the rest of the country. This strategy worked well for me in Iceland, too — where I had a few days in Reykjavík both at the start and the end of my trip. I like this approach so much, I’m going to start doing it on purpose.

Our new Sicily guidebook — with all of the details about everything mentioned here — is available now.

This itinerary works great by car. Sicily is a little crazy to drive in — but once you get used to it, it’s not so bad.

For my best advice on traveling in Sicily, check out my Top 10 Sicily Travel Tips.

And if you’re a foodie like I am, you’ll definitely want to sample Palermo’s street food.

We also have a wealth of free Sicily content on our website, including a recommended itinerary, links to two new episodes of Rick’s public television series about Sicily, several interviews from Rick’s public radio show about Sicily, more gorgeous photographs, recommended books and movies about Sicily, and much more.

And if you’d like to visit Sicily — but would love it if someone else did all the driving, took care of the hotels and half of the meals, and explained it all to you — well, then, we have a great 11-day tour for you.