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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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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.

tour group

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).

Rick Steves with group in elevator

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: Glasses and Crêpes in France

Just after crossing from Switzerland into France we made a quick lunch stop at a modern mall next to the expressway. In this clip, one of my tour members (Jill) explains her clever souvenir tradition (buying frames for her glasses), and I cap my welcome-to-France lunch with a Nutella-and-banana crêpe. It’s fun to be in France.

(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: Bang a Gong on a Bus

I’ve been leading bus tours since the 1970s. Back then, my groups were nearly all women. (My theory: Guys were comfortable having a travel adventure on their own. But the women, just as eager for excitement on the road, felt safer in a small group.) They would fill the bus with girl talk as if I weren’t there. I would just put on my earphones, listen to my favorite playlist, and drive. I drove countless hours and listened to the same short list of tunes on my Walkman over and over. Today, so many years later, I satisfied the urge to play one of those favorite and well-worn tunes that take me back to those minibus tour days. It’s decades later, and I’m guiding a tour on a big fancy bus with a great sound system filled with young-at-heart travelers. We have a fun music-sharing game called “Tour Member DJ Party Party” (invented by tour guide Trish Feaster). It’s a great way to help pass a long drive — open mic and any traveler gets to share a personal favorite. It’s my turn, and we’re rocking out to the great road-trip groove of “Bang a Gong” by T. Rex.

(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: I Can’t Resist Yodeling in the Swiss Alps

We’ll do just about anything to give our travelers memorable cultural experiences when they join us on a Rick Steves bus tour. And this passion for creating memories goes way, way back. In my student days, I’d both drive and guide minibus tours — groups of 7 or 8…nearly all women — around Europe. I did the same 3,000-mile “Best of Europe” route that I’m doing this month. Once — I think it was in 1979 — while driving my group through the Swiss Alps, we approached a Swiss hitchhiker. He was cute, and the women on my bus said, “Pick him up.” I said, “Only if he’ll teach us to yodel.” They agreed. We stopped and I told the man — whose name was Christoph — I’d give him a ride on two conditions: 1) He’d be OK sitting with seven American women, and 2) If he would teach us to yodel. Christoph agreed. We gathered around him, and — arcing his back and as if singing in the towering distant Alps — he yodeled. We learned…and I’ve never forgotten. Now, every time I drive that stretch of road in Switzerland, I feel a strong urge to sing the yodel Christoph taught my group so long ago. The other day, I passed it with a big bus loaded with 28 travelers. Unable to resist, I picked up the mic and did the Christoph yodel. (Don’t listen to this if you’re a music critic!)

(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: The Cows Come Home

Every guide dreams of having his or her group enjoy the happy moment when the farmers bring their cows down from the high meadow. They don’t announce the event, and even locals are taken by surprise when it happens. The Swiss will empty out of their shops and homes to smile at the farmers and their cows — all decked out in flowers and clanging bells — as they lumber by. You can’t plan it, but you can jump into the streets when you hear that bovine parade approaching. I was just settling into my room after a long and demanding day’s hike when I heard the cowbells in the distance. My first thought: “It must be something different.” But they got closer and closer and suddenly I realized, “This is it!” Grabbing my shoes and sweater and camera, I ran out to enjoy this ancient Swiss ritual. So did most of our tour group. Here’s the clip of a moment that capped a wonderful day in the Alps.

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