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
Cameron Hewitt (my wonderful co-author and fellow guidebook researcher) is at it again. He’s giving a sacred tourism cow a hard, non-dewy-eyed look: this time, it’s the Sound of Music tours. On assignment to update the Salzburg chapter of our Vienna guidebook, he was confronted with a classic guidebook researcher challenge: Two companies offer the same tour. Which is the better value for our traveling readers?
To find out, Cameron spent two half-days on buses surrounded by S.O.M. aficionados singing “Doe, a Deer.” In this take — or is it a “takedown”? — Cameron freely admits he’s not a fan of the movie…and it shows. S.O.M. fans, click through only if you have a sense of humor. Here’s the full report. (Full disclosure: The Sound of Music was so big in my family that my father actually named his piano business “Steves’ Sound of Music.”)
Cameron is reporting on his summer European travels on his blog. If you enjoy Cameron’s take on Europe, be sure to also “like” his Facebook page — he’s just wrapping up Austria, and will be reporting soon from Budapest, Bulgaria, and Romania. Don’t miss out on Cameron’s keen insights.
I am so proud of my son, Andy. He has written his first guidebook, sharing a decade of practical experience for Millennials traveling on a shoestring budget. The book, “City Hopping on a Budget,” just hit the shelves. You can find it at ricksteves.com/cityhopping — and be sure to also check out his travel tips on his blog.
From time to time, we share a random video to fuel your travel dreams. Take a short break today and enjoy some Vivaldi with me in this clip from my TV episode about Prague.
This little clip tells the saga of a day in Rome a few years ago that I’ll never forget.
An evil man pretending to be me did all sorts of wicked things, including putting Parmesan cheese on spaghetti with clams. But thankfully, three young and courageous girls — forces for cuisine justice — saved the day.
Since I’ve been filming new TV shows in Bulgaria and Romania, people have been asking if I plan to start running tours or writing guidebooks to this underappreciated corner of Europe. We do have a Bulgaria tour, but currently, we don’t have plans to produce more on these two countries.
However, during our filming, we enjoyed the support of several wonderful guides I’d heartily recommend. Guiding in these countries is inexpensive and — particularly since most travelers are steep on the learning curve here — particularly helpful. Hiring these guides is an exceptional value that adds understanding and enjoyment to any trip.
Throughout Bulgaria, our guide and on-screen sidekick was Stefan Bozadzhiev of Lyuba Tours. Exceptionally knowledgeable, well-connected, and simply fun to travel with, Stefan manages and guides our Rick Steves Best of Bulgaria in 12 Days Tour. This may be the most underrated of our 40-plus tour itineraries — and if you have a couple of weeks to spend in Bulgaria, this tour is definitely your best bet. But for a shorter or independent visit, see if Stefan or one of his colleagues is available to guide you: lyubatours.com, lyuba.tours@gmail.com.
In Romania, we worked with different guides in each part of the country. I’d recommend each one for their area of specialty, but most of them also cover the rest of Romania as well.
For Transylvania, we worked with Daniel Gheorghiţă, who runs Covinnus Travel (covinnus.com, office@covinnus.com). Daniel was knowledgeable, with a sharp sense of humor and a knack for understanding — and putting us in touch with — exactly the experiences we were seeking.
Daniel Gheorghiţă
In Maramureș, at the rustic and remote fringe of Romania, a guide is particularly helpful for navigating the extremely traditional culture — which comes with a big language barrier and plenty of cultural treasures that demand insightful explanation. Teo Ivanciuc was our man in Maramureș (www.maramurestour.com, teofilivanciuc@yahoo.com). Teo was supremely knowledgeable, tireless in helping us sniff out meaningful experiences, and a passionate ambassador for his home region.
Teo Ivanciuc
Unfortunately, we did not have time to include the famous painted monasteries in Bucovina in our new show. However, through our scouting we met Ciprian Slemco, who runs Hello Bucovina (hellobucovina.com, contact@hellobucovina.com). If you’re headed to Bucovina, Ciprian (“Chip” for short) helps bring the precious folk art to life.
Ciprian “Chip” Slemco
A heartfelt thanks to Stefan, Dan, Ana, Daniel, Teo, and Chip for all of their help as we’ve worked hard to introduce their countries to American audiences. Our crew loved filming in these places, and our hunch is that the new shows (premiering this fall on public television) will spark some serious interest in Bulgaria and Romania. I have a feeling these guides will be plenty busy…
