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Rick Steves’ Travel Blog

Here you can browse through my blog posts prior to February 2022. Currently I'm sharing my travel experiences, candid opinions, and what's on my mind solely on my Facebook page. — Rick

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On the Hunt for Top Paris Eateries

rick steves with paris guidebook

Photo: Me taking a research break along the Seine, by thetravelphile.com

I’m kicking off a busy stretch researching and updating my Rick Steves Paris guidebook with my co-author (and my guru for all things France) Steve Smith.

Each day, Steve and I “divide and conquer” — splitting up a list of places to visit and things to check for our guidebook. Then we rendezvous at the hotel to head out together to work on our restaurant listings. We spend two hours blitzing a long list of restaurants — either existing listings or new recommendations that need reviewing. Our reward: to eat at our favorite of the bunch at the end of each evening. That has us eating really late…and really well.

steve smith

Photo: Steve Smith, by thetravelphile.com

Almost every one of our favorite recommended restaurants in Paris is what I call “personality driven” — the owner is out there making sure diners are well taken care of. This gives the place its inviting atmosphere, fun vibe, and unique energy. Many times, it’s a mom-and-pop show: with one cooking and the other serving. I love the idea that when you go to one of our favorite Parisian restaurants, you’ll likely be greeted by and served by the boss, as Steve and I were by Laurent Martin, who runs Le Florimond. Here we all are with his chef, Pascal Guillaumin.

steve smith and rick steves with restaurant owner and chef

From left: Steve Smith, Laurent Martin, Pascal Guillaumin, and me

When it comes to researching my best-selling Paris guidebook, eight heads are better than one:

rick steves at cluny museum

Photo: Me at the Cluny Museum, by thetravelphile.com

This is Day 45 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 across Europe. Still to come: Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, and more. Thanks for joining me here on my blog and via Facebook.

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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.